AFAReads discussion

Do you have observations or other questions about the book you want to tackle with your fellow readers? Share them here!

I don't know if anyone else has as much trouble as I do with the dated vocabulary but I enjoy the challenging text with the story. I relate to the characters searching for experiences/adventures. The calculated risks are sometimes hard to judge when traveling. Then, as in the story in Chapter 3, someone could be suddenly murdered in front of you.

It was much funnier than I remembered it to be! I forgot how Lucy and Cecil broke up, so it was good to re-read the book. It makes me reminisce about my own trip to Italy. I agree with April that calculated risks are hard to judge when travelling. You're in a different set of circumstances from home. I recall a friend who thought nothing of going to a bank to withdraw cash in another country, only to be begged by the hotel staff not to go by himself again. Murder seems unlikely, until it happens!

There definitely are some turns of phrase and vocab that I am thwarted by a bit every time.

Kleros, I agree--every time I re-read this, there are parts I didn't realize were funny at first glace. And the scene at the Sacred Lake gives me a laugh every time.

A Room with a View is one of my favorite books. I rarely read a book more than once and I've read this one 5+ times. I love it for its humor and the sweeping romance. I die every time George kisses Lucy the second time. I'm excited to hear what others have to say about the book.

Sarah wrote: "A Room with a View is one of my favorite books. I rarely read a book more than once and I've read this one 5+ times. I love it for its humor and the sweeping romance. I die every time George kisses..."

Hi, Sarah! Thank you so much for joining in on the conversation here, it's awesome to see you. :)

Just about halfway through the book, I do agree that some of the outdated language/way of speech is difficult to read, so I find myself reading a bit slower than usual.

The descriptions of Florence, and Italians, are pinpointed just right and Lucy's curiosity for exploring the parts of Italy that are quite different from what she's been exposed to remind me of the moments when I step food into a new, curious place! Sensory overload!

A great quote that connects me to such a pure travel experience anywhere! "As to the true Italy-he does not even dream of it. The true Italy is only to be found by patient observation." (p.15)

The author is famous for class issues in his stories. The book was written in post Victorian era as a statement against the class system and the suppression of women. It helps me to see the plight of our heroin with her choice to marry for love out of her class and be shunned or a loveless marriage in a her class or spinsterhood. I look forward to the movie. Years ago I tried to watch it but didn’t understand the issues of the times in which it was written.

I agree -- I liked that quote very much and found it to be true on my trip there in 2018.

I'm looking forward to the movie as well.

I am not liking this book at all. I am listening to it and am 3 hours in (just about halfway through) and I am so so bored. The narrator is really good too-I like this voice! All the characters are hard to follow, I literally have no idea what is going on. I have put it down for awhile and am listening to something else now! This is typically not a book I would read so I am not surprised by my lack of interest in it! I will try it again in a few days.

I am with you, Rachel. I started it a few years ago, decided I was not into it, and went on to something else. I firmly believe in not punishing yourself for making an unhappy reading selection by forcing yourself to read it. At least, getting books at the library instead of buying them makes this easier on my wallet, but I have discarded a fair number of books that I shelled out good money for, too. The money was already spent on them, so how would things get any better by reading them and being unhappy about it?
I also find that if I am not "into" a book, I read it more slowly which then stands in the way of moving onto something I will actually enjoy.

Sara wrote: "Sarah wrote: "A Room with a View is one of my favorite books. I rarely read a book more than once and I've read this one 5+ times. I love it for its humor and the sweeping romance. I die every time..."

I'm so glad to be here! Fun fact, my debut novel, Everything She Wants, is a contemporary retelling of A Room with a View.

It is important to note the author of Room With a View was writing in England’s post Victorian era. He was known for his themes of hypocrisy and class systems. It had to be subtle to excepted by the classes of the times. Also, he was nominated 16 different years for the Pulitzer Prize in literature.

Notice: A room with a view in the beginning of the book. And then Cecil was referred to as a room but Lucy was referred to as the view later in the book. Great metaphor!

This was my first time reading this classic, although I did watch the movie in my late teens. I don’t think I fully understood its genius then, since I was, like Lucy, still sorting out my place in the world.

I love how the novel portrays her naïveté and her burgeoning self-awareness, putting it in the perspective of her young age and the prevailing notions of the time without being condescending. Of course that is one main theme, that women of all ages are belittled and condescended to in their relationships.

When I read Lucy’s words to Cecil explaining why she was breaking off their engagement, I felt a rush of familiarity. I’ve ended most of my past relationships for those reasons exactly! But unlike Cecil, my exes never seemed to understand. I think the true beauty of this book is Cecil’s sudden awareness after Lucy stands up for herself and is finally “seen” by him—the view, at last!

I have read that the reason rom-coms are like porn for women is because they often show this sort of growth in the male leads. How often does that happen in real life? It took me 40 years, but I finally found a partner who sees me as a person first and as an equal from the very beginning of our relationship. How many times have exes asked for a laundry list of things to fix when it was way too late and they just never truly saw me?

But I digress. I loved the writing of this book, the characters, the humor, the unexpectedness of astute observations from lesser characters ... definitely a timeless story, but it’s one it takes a lifetime to understand. Forster was indeed ahead of his time.

I also love how the disorientation of travel is the equal of the disorientation of love. When Lucy leaves her engagement, instead of running to George first thing, she chooses travel, perhaps to regain that same disorientation, or perhaps because she is confusing the two. Being lost without a map is exactly what falling in love feels like :)

I also find it fascinating how class is still such a player in today’s world, just not in the same ways. People marry outside of their class much more easily now, and yet how familiar are the travel prejudices and snap judgments of “other” people.

Thank you for starting the book club with this one! I feel enriched.