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The Other Side of the Hedge
A short work of magic realism, from a masterful writer.
Unknown Binding
About the author
E.M. Forster
746 books4,460 followersEdward Morgan Forster, generally published as E.M. Forster, was an English novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society. His humanistic impulse toward understanding and sympathy may be aptly summed up in the epigraph to his 1910 novel Howards End: "Only connect".
He had five novels published in his lifetime, achieving his greatest success with A Passage to India (1924) which takes as its subject the relationship between East and West, seen through the lens of India in the later days of the British Raj.
Forster's views as a secular humanist are at the heart of his work, which often depicts the pursuit of personal connections in spite of the restrictions of contemporary society. He is noted for his use of symbolism as a technique in his novels, and he has been criticised for his attachment to mysticism. His other works include Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908) and Maurice (1971), his posthumously published novel which tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character.
He had five novels published in his lifetime, achieving his greatest success with A Passage to India (1924) which takes as its subject the relationship between East and West, seen through the lens of India in the later days of the British Raj.
Forster's views as a secular humanist are at the heart of his work, which often depicts the pursuit of personal connections in spite of the restrictions of contemporary society. He is noted for his use of symbolism as a technique in his novels, and he has been criticised for his attachment to mysticism. His other works include Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908) and Maurice (1971), his posthumously published novel which tells of the coming of age of an explicitly gay male character.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 9, 2023
Somehow I keep discovering more short stories from the ever-delightful E.M. Forster. Oh Morgan—what a twisted delight you turn out to be!
{Note: this review assumes you have read the story, or don't mind some plot spoilers}
The narrator of this story is tired, and pauses for a rest on the path. He yields to temptation and struggles through the hedge to see what is on "the other side."
There are parallel worlds here, and it is possible to see this allegory in different ways. Are those still racing down the path "the living" and those on the other side, "the dead"? Or does the path represent societal expectations, and those who step aside gain the freedom of life without boundaries.
This is a high concept work, and many interpretations are possible.
{Note: this review assumes you have read the story, or don't mind some plot spoilers}
The narrator of this story is tired, and pauses for a rest on the path. He yields to temptation and struggles through the hedge to see what is on "the other side."
There are parallel worlds here, and it is possible to see this allegory in different ways. Are those still racing down the path "the living" and those on the other side, "the dead"? Or does the path represent societal expectations, and those who step aside gain the freedom of life without boundaries.
This is a high concept work, and many interpretations are possible.
December 6, 2021
I have yet to be disappointed by an E.M. Forster sci-fi story! I like to revisit his stories, like this one, every few years. Now, if you'll pardon me, I must go "waste my breathe on singing"...
:)
:)
May 24, 2020
A heavily allegorical short story.
April 29, 2026
Dziwne i pełne alegorii opowiadanie które nabiera większej mocy po przeczytaniu analizy utworu.
***
A strange and allegorical short story that gains more power after reading the analysis of the work.
***
A strange and allegorical short story that gains more power after reading the analysis of the work.
August 13, 2025
Welp I just deleted everything I wrote on accident so lemme sum it up.
People racing inside the hedge road could be like the rat race of humanity.
People outside the hedge could be like how good communism could be if you stopped striving for progress and just embraced life. Might not be a communism metaphor but honestly I’m not sure when the book was written.
I think it’s interesting that the racers possessions dropped off them as they ran, it’s like nothing else matters about where you came from or what makes you interesting, if you aren’t fast and efficient and forward thinking you are helpless and will fall behind (no nostalgia), like how the brother fell behind cus he wasted energy being creative and passionate and kind.
The narrator’s inability to accept anything other than the race being important and tied to human nature is honestly pretty relatable. We crave control in our lives, fitting in with what we think the norm is, especially high achieving or striving students could understand this grind mindset.
But the place on the other side of the hedge could be like an implication of what humanity could be, which is peaceful and accept the simple pleasures in life, being apart of nature rather than a crude dirt road we built and a narrow hedge to keep us on the path to “success”. There is no success tho, like the narrator seems to want a life with no clear morals or goals, it is an illusion. The hedges prevent you from seeing anything else, and even the road ahead is monotonous and torturous.
It is not a comfortable path to strive for scientific improvement and industrial success, so many people drop out of the race and embrace a life of simple pleasures. I think it just depends on how much you want to sacrifice and leave behind, and if you are willing to embark on a life with no breaks.
I liked this story a lot and its imagery. Like a Dr Seuss world for a metaphor for the “rat race” of industrialized societies.
People racing inside the hedge road could be like the rat race of humanity.
People outside the hedge could be like how good communism could be if you stopped striving for progress and just embraced life. Might not be a communism metaphor but honestly I’m not sure when the book was written.
I think it’s interesting that the racers possessions dropped off them as they ran, it’s like nothing else matters about where you came from or what makes you interesting, if you aren’t fast and efficient and forward thinking you are helpless and will fall behind (no nostalgia), like how the brother fell behind cus he wasted energy being creative and passionate and kind.
The narrator’s inability to accept anything other than the race being important and tied to human nature is honestly pretty relatable. We crave control in our lives, fitting in with what we think the norm is, especially high achieving or striving students could understand this grind mindset.
But the place on the other side of the hedge could be like an implication of what humanity could be, which is peaceful and accept the simple pleasures in life, being apart of nature rather than a crude dirt road we built and a narrow hedge to keep us on the path to “success”. There is no success tho, like the narrator seems to want a life with no clear morals or goals, it is an illusion. The hedges prevent you from seeing anything else, and even the road ahead is monotonous and torturous.
It is not a comfortable path to strive for scientific improvement and industrial success, so many people drop out of the race and embrace a life of simple pleasures. I think it just depends on how much you want to sacrifice and leave behind, and if you are willing to embark on a life with no breaks.
I liked this story a lot and its imagery. Like a Dr Seuss world for a metaphor for the “rat race” of industrialized societies.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2020
Today I discover just how much erudition the CBSE school syllabus seems to have had in randomly distributed hidden gems. Chekov, Noyes, Nash, Coleridge were lampshaded strongly enough to make their presence felt. James Berry and E M Forster less so, leaving only powerful images sandblasted slowly away by waves of fading memory, left to the caprice of improbable glimpses of jutting edges caught in serendipitous angles of sunlight. Thankfully, it is the deepest works that have the most jutting edges. You make your own luck.
Tags: Status. Consumerism. Tunnel vision vs horizon. Teleologic vs Autotelic. Order-trap of differential calculus, displacement vs velocity vs acceleration vs jerk vs jounce. Objective vs Experience. Effort-weighted traveling salesman problem that mathematically reconcile journey vs destination antinomies. Death the great equalizer and kin-maker. The lie of heaven/immortality/rapture as the engine of competition.
Tags: Status. Consumerism. Tunnel vision vs horizon. Teleologic vs Autotelic. Order-trap of differential calculus, displacement vs velocity vs acceleration vs jerk vs jounce. Objective vs Experience. Effort-weighted traveling salesman problem that mathematically reconcile journey vs destination antinomies. Death the great equalizer and kin-maker. The lie of heaven/immortality/rapture as the engine of competition.
March 23, 2021
The short story “The Other Side of the Hedge” written by British writer E.M. Forster represents a genre of allegory. The main character appears in another world. He refuses to accept the fact that he is there.
E.M. Foster creates a surrealistic picture of the world, which looks as perfect but according to the attitude of the narrator, it is a questionable statement.
This is a link to the rest of the story:
http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~raha/79...
E.M. Foster creates a surrealistic picture of the world, which looks as perfect but according to the attitude of the narrator, it is a questionable statement.
This is a link to the rest of the story:
http://www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~raha/79...
September 19, 2020
Reads as an allegory not a story. Their world is presented to us as road and nothing more, I can suspend my disbelief for thier methods of acquiring food and sleeping but do please tell whu Eliza Dimbleby is now supposed to be catching a train to give a lecture at Tunbridge Wells.
The world building leaves a lot to be desired.
The world building leaves a lot to be desired.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2025
The problem with some short stories is that they can be too short to formulate a view on. This one is such. However, I feel the view or point is, in a dystopian world, life is fractured and separated. An individual is on a road, a constant path looking and moving forward. In a brief moment he wants to know what is on the other side of the hedge. His life then changes forever
October 24, 2023
I think it's a good story. It is a thought-provoking story. "The Other Side of the Hedge" presents a metaphorical journey of self-discovery through a seemingly ordinary hedge. It explores the idea that sometimes the most profound transformations can occur in the most unexpected places.
November 1, 2025
2.5!
Did not understand the theme of this not going to lie! I thought this was an allegory for heaven and that our protagonist died while walking all these trails. But, it’s about the progression of man-kind😭 oh-
Did not understand the theme of this not going to lie! I thought this was an allegory for heaven and that our protagonist died while walking all these trails. But, it’s about the progression of man-kind😭 oh-
December 31, 2018
This short story is really short. That said, it seems to me as a delirium of the main character or as a dream. The reflections it contains didn’t catch me. One must live and face the reality.
May 17, 2019
This is a really weird story. I think it's supposed to be an allegory about life.
January 22, 2020
I did not like this short story, it was too weird for me.
January 3, 2023
Not worth reading
April 12, 2023
Great little story
April 1, 2024
A fream of a dream. If you don’t know what a fream is you need to look it up in a dictionary of Olde English.
February 4, 2025
This short story gets the job done.
February 15, 2026
Short but beautiful, immediately had to read it twice
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews