The Next Best Book Club discussion

Hi guys, and welcome to our May group read. This one will be led by Book Concierge. Have it guys!!!

Hope everyone who voted will be happy with this choice. I got the book from the library, but unfortunately it absolutely reeked of some flowery perfume. It's in the garage, left open on a work bench, in the hopes that the odor will dissipate enough so I can actually read it.

In the meantime ...

Is this the first book by Forster you've read?

If the fresh air doesn't work, try sealing it in a bag of rice for a few hours.

Wouldn't you know, I saw this book on the clearance shelf at HPB a few weeks ago, before it was nominated, and in good condition. In fact, I remember seeing it two weeks in a row. Wouldn't you it would be gone before I could get back there again, and they had no other copies in stock. :-\

I'll have to check the library used book sale this coming weekend...

I really enjoyed reading this. I like the Forester books I can't think what else I've read by him though. I think the genera is interesting and that he is both realistic and fantastical with fiction, so there is substance to the writing. What other books has he written? Maybe I'll remember if i've read one of them.

But yeah I made it through this one.

Evalani wrote: "I really enjoyed reading this. I like the Forester books I can't think what else I've read by him though. I think the genera is interesting and that he is both realistic and fantastical with fictio..."

Forster is probably best known for A Room with a View and A Passage to India

I am about half-way through the book. Enjoying it immensely. Love how he portrays the characters.

Which character(s) particularly stands out to you?


BTW ... I'm off on a road trip to Texas early tomorrow morning ... won't have regular internet connection until I get back home around May 18.

Happy reading ....

Kitty, the youngest sister of Maurice. I like the contrast with her other sister. She keeps the peace between brother, and has something to say that seems like her own thoughts. I was wondering might she have done better being at Cambridge. Always the youngster, she has an innocent place in an otherwise intriguing plot. I find the less she is mentioned the mere mentioning of her gives a bit of a mysterious puzzlement about her character.

Evalani wrote: "Kitty, the youngest sister of Maurice. I like the contrast with her other sister. She keeps the peace between brother, and has something to say that seems like her own thoughts. I was wondering mig..."

Great comment on character! Interesting how a "minor" character can have such an impact on a reader.

The book was written from 1913 to 1914, but was not published until after Forster died ... in 1971. What do you make of this?

P.S. At my brother's for a couple of days and then headed home. "See" you all again after May 18 ...

The book was written from 1913 to 1914, but was not published until after Forster died ... in 1971. What do you make of this?

I find it so sad that he had to hide this work for so many years to avoid prosecution as a criminal! Attitudes have definitely changed ... and then again ....

I think the dichotomy of Clide is an interesting loop. We see how virtually anything can happen in love and war as the saying goes. The two are smitten and then..... well I won't ruin it for those who have not read it , but back to your question about the publishing dates. I think it is interesting that he wrote it before the normalization of this was well excepted. Nearly 25years. so what if attitudes were somewhat bleak, I don't really know only that it is gradually changing and books like these can help to people to change their attitude.

Evalani wrote: "I think the dichotomy of Clide is an interesting loop. We see how virtually anything can happen in love and war as the saying goes. The two are smitten and then..... well I won't ruin it for those ..."

I think you can expound on anything ... members should be aware that there will be spoilers in a book discussion, because I assume everyone has finished the book.

MONTH IS 3/4 DONE ... SPOILERS past this point

I wondered about Clive as well. Is his change "true?" Was not truly homosexual, but only experimenting at the beginning? Or was he repressing his true feelings for the sake of his position in the family and social class?

Where are all the people who voted for this book?

Very discouraging....

Maurice – E M Forster – 4****
Written between 1913 and 1914, Forster’s novel of a young man’s awakening homosexuality was not published until 1971, a year after the author’s death. I loved the way that Forster developed this character, showing Maurice’s progress from a naïve student, to a young man awakening to the possibilities that a mature and loving relationship might offer him.
LINK to my review