Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

I have to say, while out of everything I have read of him so far, I think that A Passage to India is the best of his works in story, character development, and prose, I have still enjoyed everything I have read from him, and look forward to reading more. His short stories are particularly marvelous.

I have most recently finished Howards End and thought it was a wonderful story. Beneath the light and comic exterior, it has such a rich depth beneath it. As the famous phrase goes "only connect" Forster does a rather clever job of connecting the dots within his story to bring everything together full circle again. It is a story that challenges the connections we make within our own lives, and the conventions of society. The way we connect both to individuals on a personal and intimate level, and the way we connect to mankind in general, also how we connect with ourselves or some greater force outside of ourselves.

It is also interesting the way in which fate, to a certain degree seems to play out in the background of Forester's work, it is like the guiding hand that helps push the characters together so they are able to than come to the necessary conclusions about themselves, their desires, and the state of their life.

Yes I agree, Room With a View was a decent story, and I found it enjoyable, but it does not offer that much, it is fairly simple, it does not hold a candle to Passage to India.

That is interesting....it is currious how certain books by varrious authors do tend to become more popular.

The Machine Stops is an overlooked sci fi classic by the author which an insightful English teacher brought to my attention.

The Machine Stops is a marvelous story, I abolsutely loved it. The Story of the Siren is also brillaint!

I really enjoyed A Passage to India. It looks like The Machine Stops is suggested, anything else he has written that you guys like?

I have read only one book by E M Forster. That was "Where Angels Fear to Thread". It was so-so, a little funny and quite light-hearted. It didn't have any deep impression on me.

I've only read A Room With a View, and I loved it. I do have A Passage to India on my Kindle, maybe I'll try to move it up the to-read list if it is as good as you all say! I guess that A Room With a View might have been 'simple,' but I still thought that it was beautifully written and moving.

Selina wrote: "I have read only one book by E M Forster. That was "Where Angels Fear to Thread". It was so-so, a little funny and quite light-hearted. It didn't have any deep impression on me. " This was just a warm-up for "A Room With a View"--a far superior satirical look at Brits in Italy. But even that great book doesn't hold a candle to "A Passage to India."

I had to study A Room with a View for my A-level English Literature (10 years ago) and I loved it. I remember that it seemed fairly simple on a first read but there was a lot of depth to it when you started to analyse it. I am hoping to pick it up and refresh myself of it next year. I am also interested to read another E.M.Forster - once I have decided which one!

I haven't read his larger works like Passage to India or Howard's End but I have read A Room with a View (one of my top favourite books), The Longest Journey (I think his least known book? I enjoyed it, it's very much about the characters and their journeys and realisations in this novel) and Where Angels Fear to Tread (it was all right, a pretty light read) and have enjoyed them a lot. I hope to get around to reading his other works at some point, he's a wonderful author =)

I'm still trying to work my way through his books, but so far my favorite is Maurice. It's a gay love story that takes place in, well, Edwardian England. I love that he didn't take the easy route and make the main character like himself. He made Maurice incredibly flawed, but very human. And [SPOILER!!:] I loved that he chose to give the story a happy ending. This was a book that he never really even tried to get published because of the material. He wrote it for himself.

A Room With a View I could barely recommend reading, but I do. I think as time goes by and I think of the imagery, plot, and characterizations, I like it a bit more.

I've loved everything I've read of E.M. Forster. I absolutely adored Room with a View, which I read in my college years. I just found it to be the most lovely little story, and sometimes that is enough. I did find it to have layers. It's been so long since I've read it, I should do so again.

I've also read Maurice which I loved as well.

I came to E. M. Forster by the brilliant picturizations, especially Howard's End. This is also my favorourite novel, maybe because the protagonists have a German background.

Stuart wrote: "The Machine Stops is an overlooked sci fi classic by the author which an insightful English teacher brought to my attention."

I didn't discover that EM Forster delved into science fiction until I discovered this dramatization on the BBC Radio 4 Extra website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b048jcvg