Readers' Review: "A Room With a View" by E.M. Forster
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-08-25/readers-review-room-view-em-forster
Our August Readers' Review discusses this classic novel about a middle-class, 19th century British girl who vacations in Florence.
Guests
Richard Wolffe
MSNBC political analyst and author of "Renegade: The Making of a President"
Dayo Olopade
Bernard Schwartz fellow at the New America Foundation; political reporter for The Daily Beast.
Wendy Moffat
associate professor of English at Dickinson College and author of "A Great Unrecorded History: A New Life of E.M. Forster"
Comments
Please familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct and Terms of Use before posting your comments.
This is one of my favorite novels! And I adore the Merchant/Ivory film based on it... Forster is thoughtful, elegant and his work has a beauty seldom found.
This is one of my favorite novels! And I adore the Merchant/Ivory film based on it... Forster is thoughtful, elegant and his work has a beauty seldom found.
This is one of my favorite novels! And I adore the Merchant/Ivory film based on it... Forster is thoughtful, elegant and his work has a beauty seldom found.
This is one of my favorite novels! And I adore the Merchant/Ivory film based on it... Forster is thoughtful, elegant and his work has a beauty seldom found.
This is one of my favorite novels! And I adore the Merchant/Ivory film based on it... Forster is thoughtful, elegant and his work has a beauty seldom found.
Sorry for the inappropriate place and time. I was charmed by the master work production of "South Pacific" on PBS, actually the final show of the production at the Vivian Beaumont Theater. I went to the source and found a copy of James Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific". Not only was it an enjoyable read, but it holds up: it stands the test of time. I see why it won the Pulitzer in its day. Because the musical - an operetta actually, is so beautiful, it tends to obscure the great book. So I make the rather unusual request that Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific" be included among the books for discussion. I might add that some of problems encountered still exist today.
Thank you.
Clembokity
Thank you for the discussion of A Room With A View, one of my favorite books (Howard's End is another). I, too love the Merchant-Ivory film and watch it over and over. I appreciated the discussion, even though at times the commentary by your guests was a bit on the haughty side. Teachers are fighting to pique student interest all the time--we are in competition with the whiz-bang techno lives they lead--so a good film version of a literary work can get them started.
Love your show and your sensitive humanistic approach to all topics!
I fell in love with this film and then read the book and still love them both. As a 23 year old I feel like people of my generation don't think entertainment can be found in classics but this book proves them wrong! Thank you so much for leading an educated discussion about this amazing novel! (I would have phoned in but I'm chicken)
I am inspired and am now going to download the book for my kindle and read it this weekend.
I loved the movie - I would advise your panel to watch it again. I first saw it as a teenager in the theater and watch again at least once a year. It may not have caught the full flavor of the book, but it still has many layers that are worth watching. The "bathing" scene still makes me laugh out loud.
I am so sorry I could not call at 11am, Diane, as I was in a business meeting about wheat futures. My wife informed me Diane requested callers, encouraging the timid and even those who had not recently read the book or seen the Merchant/Ivory film. (I have not read the E.M. Forrester bio.)
This story was resonate with me as it parallels my unrequited love for Pia Zadora (a film colleague) as a young man. I understand Forrester's parallel to gay love because I am a sufferer of dwarfism by medical accident and would have made a visibly unsuitable partner for Pia. One can inversely seem destined to be married to a heterosexual partner as sexually unattractive as one of the same sex. Daniel Day Lewis portrays this to perfection in the film.
The story (1908) is written in the disembodied third person (mostly) but is not awkward or structurally gratuitous. I compare the narrator to the angels in Wem Wenders films (ex: Wings of Desire). It is almost as if Forrester (the angel) is himself in love with George Emerson, right along with Lucy Honeychurch. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that pensione.
The scarcity of callers puzzles me because drshow routinely draws about 5 million listeners. It is a puzzle that within such a multitude there would not be many who enjoy Forrester and/or Merchant-Ivory. Maybe homophobia played a part, and maybe the cultural hunger of our populace is being displaced by more mundane concerns.
Had I gotten in the on air mix I would have emphasized the resurgence of classism by wealth and income in our own society. There are the rich who routinely visit Italy and miss everything but the parties, and there are those of us who sacrificed and skipped meals out, only to go once and who ran our bodies ragged to absorb the material culture and ambiance. I was one of the later in the 1980s, and I know that returning with some money the experience would never be as sweet again. I still hope to go back with my half-Italian wife Gladdie, someday.
I am a fan of Richard Wolfe; however, I respectfully disagree with him in regards to the Merchant/Ivory film version of the novel. I agree with Maryland Art Teacher, as often movies serve as 'hooks' to entice individuals to read a novel who may not otherwise do so. I love E. M. Forster's work and this novel is a favorite. I have always thought of Mr. Emerson as a hero--he loves his son, he speaks the truth--and forces Lucy to admit how she really feels in the end. Niceties and societal expectations can often ring so false! I loved the program but longed to hear what others thought of Mr. Emerson. I felt the spirit of him in Forster's piece 'What I Believe' from Two Cheers for Democracy. I did try to call, but alas, I was commuting to work and could not pull over--my students in my Childrens' Literature course would frown on my being tardy.
Much like other posters, this is one of my favorites--both book and movie. (I did try to call but got a busy signal!!) When I was young, I loved Lucy and how she discovered and followed her passion instead of propriety. I remember resenting Charlotte so much and finding Cecil rigid and horrible.
Flash forward 20 years. I'm a single woman who just turned 40. And now when I cry at the end of the book & movie, I cry for happiness for Lucy and George. And I cry for Cecil and Charlotte. Both are victims of societal norms and lost opportunities. Charlotte, a spinster who, will in all likelihood, remain one forever, breaks protocol and helps unite Lucy and George. While we will never know if Charlotte had a similar opportunity and didn't leap at it, it's through her that she allows Lucy to find happiness.
It's a beauty novel. And one I will always cherish.
測試 张少锋
Central Plains King living in Ruzhou city, one day afternoon,he come tosuppermarket,there have a ring pay for 8023263 Euro,That's very expensive,than general diamond ring expensiver, in the city of Ruzhou , Not many people not pay for ring of 8023263 Euro.It's very much! 张少锋 Test