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Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970)
Who?
A modest man whose best novels are psychologically acute stories and perceptive satires of English institutions and the Empire. Attacked Victorian conventions and advocated freedom.
Must reads
A Room with a View (1908), Howards End (1910) and A Passage to India (1924).
Darkest hour
In 1922, his Egyptian lover Mohammed el Adl died.
Greatest triumph
In 1946, King's College, Cambridge, where he had been a student, gave him an honorary fellowship and a permanent home. In 1969, he was awarded the Order of Merit.
Essential quotes
'Only connect.' (Howards End)
'God is love. Is this the final message of India?' (A Passage to India)
'I hate the idea of causes, and if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.' (Two Cheers for Democracy)
Gossip
At Cambridge, he was part of the bohemian Apostles set, and his revolt against Victorian values was intensified by his homosexuality, which was then illegal. His novel, Maurice, which is about homosexual love, was published posthumously in 1971.
Did u know?
In 1949-51 he worked with Eric Crozier on the libretto of Benjamin Britten's opera Billy Budd.
Film versions
James Ivory directed successful film versions of Forster's A Room with a View (1986), Maurice (1987) and Howards End (1992).
What to say
Both comic and profound, Forster is the novelist who analyses the feelings of middle class Edwardians and shows how they can overcome their prejudices and succeed in connecting to their real emotions.
Don't say
I prefer the film to the book.
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