Passage To India

Written by E. M. Forster

Narrated by Geoffrey Giuliano and The Raj

"A Passage to India" is a novel written by E.M. Forster and published in 1924. It explores the complexities of human relationships and the clash of cultures during the British Raj in India. The novel revolves around the experiences of various characters, both British and Indian, in the fictional city of Chandrapore. The main plot follows Dr. Aziz, a young Indian Muslim physician, and his interactions with a British schoolteacher named Adela Quested.

One of the most significant events in the book is the alleged assault of Adela in the Marabar Caves during a trip with Aziz. This incident sparks controversy and leads to a highly publicized trial, which highlights the tensions and prejudices between the British colonizers and the Indian population.

Throughout the novel, Forster delves into themes such as racism, cultural misunderstandings, imperialism, and the struggle for personal and cultural identity. He explores the power dynamics between the British and Indians, examining the impact of colonization on both the colonizers and the colonized.

"A Passage to India" is known for its nuanced portrayal of characters and its exploration of human connection and empathy complexities. Forster raises questions about the limitations of understanding different cultures and the difficulty of bridging the gap between them.

The novel ends on a note of ambiguity, emphasizing the challenges of genuine communication and the lasting effects of colonization. It remains a significant work of literature that continues to be studied and analyzed for its social and political commentary.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Icon Audio Arts
• Release date: May 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887679945

E. M. Forster

E.M. Forster (1879-1970) was an English novelist. Born in London to an Anglo-Irish mother and a Welsh father, Forster moved with his mother to Rooks Nest, a country house in rural Hertfordshire, in 1883, following his father’s death from tuberculosis. He received a sizeable inheritance from his great-aunt, which allowed him to pursue his studies and support himself as a professional writer. Forster attended King’s College, Cambridge, from 1897 to 1901, where he met many of the people who would later make up the legendary Bloomsbury Group of such writers and intellectuals as Virginia Woolf, Lytton Strachey, and John Maynard Keynes. A gay man, Forster lived with his mother for much of his life in Weybridge, Surrey, where he wrote the novels A Room with a View, Howards End, and A Passage to India. Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature sixteen times without winning, Forster is now recognized as one of the most important writers of twentieth century English fiction, and is remembered for his unique vision of English life and powerful critique of the inequities of class.

Reviews for Passage To India

[baumgarten_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A very readable account of life in India under British rule in the early 20th century. The characters of Dr. Mohammed Aziz and Cyril Fielding are well explored, and the story is ultimately a tale of well-meaning people acting in a time of unrest while surrounded by the pressures of their native societies and the racial those societies carry. Forster deftly creates real characters who alternate between being trapped in the path their environment would choose for them and escaping it for moments of real connection.The dialog evokes the friction each person might experience while trying to relate to another; Aziz's Indian tendency to dance around a problem confounds Fielding, whose logical desire to resolve problems offends Aziz's subtlety.Forster's weakness is his betrayal of his own biases. The author paints as ideal Fielding's atheism and the need for colonial rule of India.Overall, this was a very interesting, readable, and compelling illustration of life in India near the end of the British Raj. The trial of Aziz, especially, holds the reader rapt and manages to defy expectations.

[dinadansfriend · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A first class study of Colonial India and its effect on the rulers. The Indians are well drawn, the British as well, and the complexities of the situation are wonderfully explored. I am surprized so few Library Thingers have read it!

[seriousgrace · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Much has been written about Passage to India. Hundreds of writers had offered up their opinion on the classic. I won't bore you with the plot except to say India is at odds with British rule in every sense. It clouds judgement beyond reason, as most prejudices do. Indian-born Aziz is curious about the English and offers to take two British women to see the infamous caves of Marabar. My comment is Aziz acts oddly enough for me to question what exactly did happen in those isolated and mysterious caves?...which is exactly what Mr. Forster wanted me to do. Every relationship in Passage to India suffers from the affects of rumor, doubt, ulterior motive, class, and racism. Friends become enemies and back again as stories and perceptions change and change again.

[fromkin_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wonder how this book was received when published in 1924 during the stirrings of Indian independence from Great Britain. Did it accurately reflect the depicted stereotypes and prejudices of both Indians and British colonialists? Or did Forster attempt to explode those stereotypes and prejudices? I saw David Lean's 1984 film (which I, in parts, confused with "Jewel in the Crown" - understandable since both starred Peggy Ashcroft and Art Malik and both take place at the Marabar Caves), and I recall the film being a subtler portrayal of Forster's characters and events. While this is a slow, talky book, emotions, speeches, and prejudices are front and center and overly magnified. The British are cold and reserved, hotheaded when it comes to England and the sanctity of their women, superior, insecure, scornful of Muslims and Hindus alike, and wearily bearing the White Man's Burden - including the well meaning school principal who does his best to go native but remains British to the core. Indians are lazy, cunning, treacherous, noble, mean, rebellious, subservient. Muslims are poetic; Hindus are superstitious. Quite frankly, I don't know what Forster was trying to achieve, reflection of reality or explosion of stereotypes. Does the book retain whatever importance it had in 1924? I don't know, but it did not engage me fully.

[poetontheone · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

SPOILERS BELOWForster’s novel details the conflict between the colonizers and the colonized, England and India respectively, with narrow brushstrokes. We learn about how this tension infects through personal relationships between men and women, men and men, English and Indians, Muslims and Hindus. We also are made to contemplate if this conflict can be overcome even on a personal level, much less a diplomatic one. The short answer to both is a hesitant denial. The relationships in the book rest on uneven ground. The adoration and admiration between Aziz and Mrs. Moore or later Aziz and Fielding are thrown into doubt when muddled by the conflict and suspicion birthed by Aziz’s trial. The remainder of the book seeps with uneasiness and doubt regarding the validity and sincerity of Fielding and Aziz’s bond, with Aziz erroneously believing Fielding is to marry Adela. The first half of the book builds on Adela’s uncertainty in marrying Ronny, her state of mind eventually leading to Aziz’s trial when she falsely accuses him of assault.Alison Sainsbury asserts that the impossibility of of a bond between England and India hinges on the sentiment of the book’s final line: “‘they said in their hundred voices, No, not yet, and the sky said ‘not there’” (362). Sainsbury notes that Forster “illustrates how imperial rule distorts human relations”. This is evident in Aziz’s and FIelding’s last conversation where they sportingly debate about colonization, each espousing a distaste for the other’s country and its inhabitants. Fielding thinks, “Aziz was a memento, a trophy, they were proud of each other, yet they must inevitably part” (358). These two examples highlight how relations between the two countries and peoples have been constructed by imperialism, and how to divert from that specific mentality is to create a psychic disturbance whereby any bonds of friendship are inherently distorted and personal communication poisoned by historical prejudice. It is almost impossible for Aziz and Fielding to not see each other as specifically tied to the historicism of English and Indian, respectively, once other voices such as Ronny Heaslop or Hamidullah intervene and reassert the the venom of historical conflict. To say that this conflict can be overcome by individual friendships, or even that such friendships can thrive, is to assert the possibility that such venom will fade, and even though nearly a century has passed since Forster’s novel was published, tensions linger and such a reality is questionable.

[mmoj_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is not for those who want to jump in and devour a book. Mrs. Moore and Adela want to see the "real India" not just that which their government views as the most "civilised", i.e., most like British colonialism can make them. Mrs. Moore meets an Indian doctor who agrees to take Mrs. Moore and Adela to a local caves. What happens from this innocent invitation drives the story to its conclusion.

Forster's strength lies in his ability to connect us to the characters and places, perhaps he does this too well as I wanted to read idly on about those characters. Forster also does a good job of understand both the British and Indian mindsets of this time period.

[jfslone · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure if it was because this was my last novel of undergrad classes and I wasn't in the mood, but something certainly turned me off to this work of Forster's, from nearly the very beginning. It seems to be one of those books you need to be in a certain mood to enjoy, and I must have missed out on it. I love the other Forster books I've read, but I found myself skimming much of this one. I think I'll let my brain relax and maybe give this one another try in a year or so!

[arnid658978 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I found this book impossible to listen to as it so badly narrated. It seems that it is really this reading from Librivox that someone is claiming to have narrated. I don't know if that is illegal but it's definitely bad taste. https://librivox.app/book/17998

[rizeandshine · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In A Passage to India, Forster writes about ruling British colonials and their relationship with India in the early 1900s. At the heart of the story are complex issues of empire, race, religion, cultural differences, mistrust, decency, and tension between the English (Anglo-Indians), Muslims and Hindus. It raises the question of the possibility of friendship between an Englishman and an Indian in the context of British colonialism. The relationship between the British and Indian characters is quite compelling and is told from a number of different voices; characters whose emotions and feelings are based on their perceptions of each other through distorted racial prejudice.Forster uses his experiences as a foreigner abroad to paint a picture of India as striking and beautiful, a diverse "muddle" of formless countryside, unidentifiable nature and various ethnic, religious and linguistic groups, under the ordered and authoritative yet condescending rule of colonial Britain. Two women, Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested, arrive seeking the "real" India of adventure and mystery, and resolve to experience it without the prejudices exhibited by their English compatriots. They soon meet a young Muslim Indian physician, Dr. Aziz, whose relationship with his unpleasant superiors has made him scornful of the English. Aziz quickly develops a deep respect for Mrs. Moore, however, and pronounces her Oriental. Through Mrs. Moore, he also develops a tentative friendship with Cyril Fielding, an educator who is interested in discovering more about India. Aziz organizes a tour of the Marabar Caves for his new friends, and from this the central crisis arises. The crux of the story is the mystery or "muddle" of what did or did not occur at the caves and the harm the incident brings to each of the main characters and their relationships with each other. As Aziz says, until India is free from the British, an Indian and an Englishman cannot be true friends.I really enjoyed this book, especially the interactions of the characters who often misunderstand each other's words or intentions due to linguistic and cultural differences. The prose was philosophical and poetic, yet easy to read. The larger questions of racism and oppression explored in the novel continue to resonate today.

[rochellejewelshapiro · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love the fairness of the satire--how the English treat the English as well as the Hindus and how the Hindus treat the English as well as each other. Also, what an opportunity to learn new words such as purlieu, pleasaunce. Now I just have to look them up :}

[libbromus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"One touch of regret--not the canny substitute but the true regret from the heart--would have made him a different man, and the British Empire a different institution."I'm not sure quite what to think about this story. In some ways it is banal; in some ways suspenseful and interesting. It never had me by the heart or feeling excessive emotions, but the stiff upper-lip writing was still compelling. E.M. Forster took several philosophical detours throughout the book that I found the most enjoyable, if not slightly beside the story. My experience of the Indian people I know intimately mirrors Forster's in many ways and so I was credulous in his descriptions of the "native" mind, where someone else not well-acquainted with Indian people may have found the descriptions of attitudes and behaviors suspect. It seems like he might be writing to negate the old adage that "no man is an island." The saying is irrefutable and yet one can be stranded in the midst of humanity. This is a story of people making full- and half-hearted attempts to connect to other people across class, racial, and religious lines, and they ultimately fail but it's not as sad as it sounds. It's almost expected. "And he felt dubious and discontented suddenly, and wondered whether he was really and truly successful as a human being. After forty years' experience, he had learnt to manage his life and make the best of it on advanced European lines, had developed his personality, explored his limitations, controlled his passions--and had done it all without becoming either pedantic or worldly. A creditable achievement, but as the moment passed, he felt he ought to have been working at something else the whole time,--he didn't know at what, never would know, never could know, and that was why he felt sad."

[santhony_35 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A Passage to India, written by E. M. Forster in 1924, is on many short lists of greatest novels written in the 20th century, and deservedly so. It is a period piece, set in the British Raj of the 1920s. It is rich in imagery and symbolism, focusing on bigotry, hypocrisy and mistrust among the various nationalities and religions present within the story. Idealism, naivety and human nature also play parts.At its heart, is the friendship between the Muslim Indian professional, Dr. Aziz, and the English dowager, Mrs. Moore, who has accompanied her son’s presumptive fiancée to meet him in Chandrapore. Aziz, Mrs. Moore and Mr. Fielding, a British schoolmaster, struggle to bridge the abyss existing between the British and native cultures. For their troubles, they are punished, each in distinctive ways.Having seen the movie, an excellent flick by the way, I was intimately familiar with the tale. The Victorian style of writing, however, really brought the story to life and breathed life into the characters. Some may find the writing too florid or archaic for their tastes, but I found it beneficial in setting a mood for the story.While the driving force behind the book is the social interaction (or lack of) and the cultural divide between the British administrators and what they view as their morally and intellectually inferior native Indian subjects, a subtext is the mistrust and tension existing between the Hindu and Moslem religious communities. As Aziz becomes increasingly disenchanted with his British overlords, he begins to fall in with Indian nationalists. The question of the viability of an “Indian” state, in the presence of such a politically, ethnically and religiously fragmented populace is periodically raised. Very perceptive writing, coming as it does over twenty years prior to Indian independence, civil war and ultimately partition.

[memccauley6 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I almost gave up on this one because almost nothing happens for the first 150 pages and the prose is extremely dry. The author paints a very precise portrait of racism and class-ism in British occupied India.

It is easy to see why so many people hold this book in such high regard; it was obviously groundbreaking when it was published. It will never take the place of To Kill a Mockingbird in my heart.

[sanddune_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Set in India in the years of the British Empire perhaps just before the First World War the book tells the story of Miss Quested, an Englishwoman who has travelled to Chandrapore in India to decide whether or not to marry Ronny Heaslop, the City Magistrate, whom she has known in England. Both Miss Quested and Mrs Moore, Heaslop's mother who has accompanied her on her trip, want to see something of the 'real' India. But this proves difficult as the British and Indian communities are completely separate and a 'Bridge' party put on for their benefit to bridge the gap between the two cultures proves a disaster. But through Fielding, the headmaster of the local school, they become acquainted with his friend Dr Aziz, a surgeon at the local hospital, by whom they are invited on a trip to the Marabar Caves, the only local site of interest. Fielding is already a person of suspicion in the British community for his unusually close relations with Indians and his suggestion that rather than being white, the British are really 'pinky-grey' in colour. The trip to the caves goes badly; Miss Quested returns alone accusing Dr Aziz of assault. The community becomes polarised along racial and national lines with Fielding ostracised for supporting his friend, and violence seems likely to ensue.I found this a really rewarding book, and much more than a portrait of a society that has long gone. The relations of the British to the Indian communities, both Hindu and Moslem and the relations of those communities to each other seem well drawn. The racism of the English is bound up strongly with the power politics of their presence in India - while they are happy to treat educated Indians on equal terms in England it is a very different case in India itself. Initially the book does seem to be dealing solely with the consequences of a racist society, but at the end seems rather more complex - dealing with the possibilities of friendship between the two nationalities in the political situation of British India.

[bordercollie_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This 1924 classic by a friend of Virginia Woolf gave me nightmares; Dr. Aziz (Moslem), Cecil Fielding, and Adela Quested, English visitor, meet at the Marabar Caves for misunderstanding compounded upon misunderstanding in Hindu India; well written with great characterization and understanding that India cannot be understood by westerners.

[vesnaslav · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A significant novel of this century. Well-crafted, gripping story. One of the rare cases, however, when the film is more enjoyable and poignant than the book.

[steadfastreader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is slow. Lots of description very little action. There is a deeper social commentary or race and religion. I listened to it on audio... I'm not sure I would have made it through just reading it.

[soylentgreen23 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A brilliant novel that stands well the test of time. And so perfectly descriptive I wish that I could actually visit the places that Forster creates in his imagination.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Audiobook narrated by Sam Dastor.3.5*** In 1920s northern India an older British matron, Mrs Moore, arrives to visit her son, Ronny Heaslop, who is the British city magistrate of Chandrapore. She is accompanied by Miss Adela Quested, a young, naïve, somewhat repressed school teacher, who is to be engaged to Mrs Moore’s son. When Mrs Moore visits a local mosque she encounters Dr Aziz, a local Muslim doctor, and they become friendly. After a second meeting, he offers to take Mrs Moore, Miss Quested and a group of friends on a day trip to visit the famous Marabar Caves. At the caves something happens to frighten Miss Quested, with the result that Aziz is accused of a scandalous crime. This classic explores class differences and the clash of cultures. Every character seems to have a preconceived notion of how “the others” should behave (or have always acted), and each reacts based on these preconceived notions. Their strongly held opinions on how “every Indian” or “all Hindus” or “those British” behave, think, and feel color all their interactions, with the result that no one sees clearly what is really happening. Even the “good” characters fall victim to their own prejudices, frequently without realizing it. Friendships are broken, and even when a character realizes his/her mistake there seems no way to undo the damage. I have never visited India, but the novel gives me a sense of what it might have been like during the era of British Raj. Tensions are high with Indians chaffing under British rule. And yet there is a certain “romance” about the adventure of visiting this very foreign place. Sam Dastor is merely adequate voicing the audio book. The voices he uses for the women are high pitched to the point of screeching. And several of the Indians don’t sound much better. I suppose he was trying to help differentiate the characters in those long back-and-forth conversations, but it just irritated me. 2** for his narration.

[widsith_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

‘The past! the infinite greatness of the past!’ thrilled Walt Whitman in ‘A Passage to India’. A quarter of a century later, Forster borrowed Whitman's title, but with a very different mood in mind. In place of the American's wild-eyed certainties, Forster gives us echoes and confusion; instead of epic quests of the soul, there is only an eternal impasse of personal and cultural misunderstanding.Animals and birds are half-seen, unidentified; the landscape is a featureless blur; motives are illogical and rest on miscommunication. All human language, in the final analysis, amounts to nothing more than the dull ou-boum thrown back from the Malabar caves during the fateful expedition at the heart of the novel. ‘If one had spoken vileness in that place, or quoted lofty poetry, the comment would have been the same – “ou-boum”.’Will Self once recommend as an exercise reducing a novel to a single word (he suggested in the case of The Naked Lunch, for instance, that it would be ‘insect’). For A Passage to India, that keyword would be ‘muddle’ – a term that recurs, gradually shedding its cosiness and accreting a sense of existential indistinctness, a kind of cosmic flou that renders good intentions, indeed all human endeavour, futile. ‘I like mysteries,’ says Mrs Moore, the novel's moral core, ‘but I rather dislike muddles.’ Elsewhere, Forster talks with something like dread of a ‘spiritual muddledom’ for which ‘no high-sounding words can be found’.The plot of this book is, at times, heart-poundingly dramatic, but Forster is careful to make sure that even this is founded on doubt and indecision. In fact, what one thinks of as ‘the plot’ of A Passage to India is a storyline that arises, reaches its climax, and is resolved entirely within the second of the book's three acts. What then, you might ask, is the point of parts one and three? Well, among other things they prevent the plot from seeming too tidy – there is always something before the beginning, something after the end, to frustrate neat conclusions. ‘Adventures do occur,’ he says, ‘but not punctually.’ Life isn't tidy – it's a muddle.British India is a perfect setting for this kind of exploration: not only does it play host to numerous individual confusions, it is itself, as it were, the political embodiment of such a confusion. One of the wonderful things about this book is that the obvious hypocrisy and conflict between the English and the Indians is not left to stand alone, as a heavy-handed message, but is echoed by similar divisions between Muslim and Hindu, man and woman, young and old, devotee and atheist. Still, it is the gulf of understanding between the British rulers and their Indian subjects that provides the most interesting material for Forster's bitter social comedy. Most of the Brits are deliciously dislikable, couching their racism in patriotic slogans, droning through the national anthem every evening at the Club, and – like one of the wives – learning only enough of the language to speak to the servants (‘so she knew none of the politer forms, and of the verbs only the imperative mood’).The heroes of this book are those that try to reach across this divide, or to challenge the assumptions of their own side.‘Your sentiments are those of a god,’ she said quietly, but it was his manner rather than his sentiments that annoyed her.Trying to recover his temper, he said, ‘India likes gods.’‘And Englishmen like posing as gods.’These attempts don't work, and the reason they don't work is that cultural or racial divides are – the book suggests – only a special case of that ‘spiritual muddledom’ that is a universal constant. Still, the worldview isn't as bleak as it might seem. That famous ‘not yet’ in the book's closing lines is a lot more hopeful than a ‘no’, and if we're prevented from coming together by our tangled and violent past, that also raises the possibility that a better future can be laid down by the present we choose to enact now, every day, with each other. ‘For what is the present, after all,’ as Walt Whitman asked, ‘but a growth out of the past?’

[thornton37814 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An excellent book that shows the culture clash between the British colonists and the native Hindus and Muslims of India. The first section of the book is largely prefatory and introduces us to the cast of characters. The second portion of the book is the central section of the book, dealing with Miss Quested's experiences in the Malabar caves. The third section, which is the briefest portion of the book, is somewhat like an extended afterward. I enjoyed reading about the cultural differences, and the tension that was created because of the British view of themselves as being superior to the Indian natives. We also get to see the Indian system of government and justice at work in the novel. I loved this novel for the sense of place it created, but I can certainly understand why the British found it offensive at the time of publication. It reminds one of some of the other literary works that served to expose needed reforms.

[rajivc_18 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When I read the book years ago, I was filled with self-righteous indignation. How could the British behave in the way that they did? This was my reaction then. I picked this book up again, after reading E.M. Forster's "Aspects of the Novel", and I realized that he took us back in time to the days when writing was elegant. The main incident revolves around a picnic at the Marabar Caves and a false allegation of molestation.While relating the incidents up to the fateful picnic, subsequent events, and the courtroom drama (which, is the climax), there is an extended epilogue. This is a tale of the British Raj - about the hypocrisy of the British in India, as well as the hypocritical and self-serving behavior of Indians as well. It's also a tale of loss - of the loss of connections, and the superficial view that people take of them. It's brilliant, a masterpiece.

[lamotamant · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can't say I'm a Forster fanatic after reading A Passage to India but I did enjoy the writing and the questions the content brought up. Not just in a racism context but, in all honesty, a general-human context even more so. From race to religion, we're so quick to classify ourselves and others. Then to set ourselves apart from various classifications as if that somehow gives us worthiness. My main view of this book is that it's excellent in it's ability to show all the idiocy for what it is, misunderstandings and the mayhem that results.

[foof2you · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A clash of cultures between the English rulers of India and those Indians who live under English rule, before the war for independence. The clash of culture, religions Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh also play a large part of this book.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I also finished the classic, A Passage to India, by E.M. Forster. I enjoyed 2 of his other books - A Room with a View and Howard's End. Both of those other books seem to poke fun at English Edwardian society in a light and humorous way. This book had a much more serious tone. It takes place in India where an young Indian man, Dr. Aziz, is accused of molesting a young English woman. Forster's criticism of British colonialism is much harsher than the other novels. Excellent story! It was interesting to listen and compare this book with The Help - two different time periods and places with the same underlying issue of racism. This book is narrated by Frederick Davidson, who for some reason I dislike. He is definitely talented at accents and voices, but I find his normal voice to be very 'British' and stuffy. But, for this book, where many of the characters were British and stuffy, it ended up being a good match. Definitely a classic worth listening to!

[reannon_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

My book club chose this book. I was doubtful, having remembered seeing and not liking the movie many years ago, and that proved prophetic. I did not like the book, either, though there is some humor in it, and it does paint a picture of British India in the early part of the 20th century.

[sfm13 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“A Passage to India” takes place during the early years of Britain’s colonization of the government. The Indian citizens are looked on as a lesser race in their own country! Western ways are thought to be desired by the natives … the foods, dress, etc… are copied. The white man is catered to for the wealth he brings which amounts to little more than pennies for the natives. Mrs. Moore is visiting from England with Adela Quested, a young woman, who is to marry her son Ronny, a magistrate, in the town of Chandapore. The two women are anxious to see the real India. Not the recreation of English life in an Indian setting. Not the typical elephant ride, but everyday life of common Indians. In a mosque Mrs. Moore becomes acquainted with an Indian doctor, Aziz, who offers to take her and Miss Quested on a tour of the Marabar Caves.The country is beautifully described, but the meat of the story revolves around racial conflict.At the caves, a suspicious assault on Adela takes place, and in her disoriented state she falsely accuses Aziz as her “attacker.” When the case goes to trial, Ronny sends his mother home rather than let her testify, because she believes Aziz is innocent. When Adela is called to the stand she recants her earlier testimony and denies the charge against Aziz, claiming she was and is confused about the situation. After Adela changes her story, Ronny breaks the engagement. Ronny believes the stereotype that Indian men lust after white women. Mr. Felding, an Englishman, but also a friend of the Indian doctor tries to remain loyal. Even so Aziz has lost his faith in “whites” after the ordeal he went through when held suspect for the crime.The misunderstanding of intentions can’t be avoided when considering the different beliefs of these two cultures.Forster leaves us to ponder the difficulties that mixing race and cultures can bring, as well as the danger of prejudices.I recommend that this book not be overlooked. And if you think I’ve spoiled the story by revealing too much, there are many parts not mentioned that will surprise you and keep you reading until the end.

[mrslee_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Looks as if there are plenty of reviews, so I'll just note my impressions here. I really enjoyed the quiet way Forester took us into India. He gently introduced the various characters and cultures within cultures. I was not prepared for the middle of the book plot twist though. It set me right off track because suddenly he seemed to be writing about completely different people. They weren't behaving or responding at all in the way he had set them up and it jarred me. The end was typical of books of that era, leaving the reader despondent. It seems that he believes there is no way that peoples of differing cultures can ever understand each other or truly get along. Perhaps though, he was only speaking of that time and place.

[dougwood57 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Set in the fictional northern India city of Chandrapore, E.M. Forster's 'Passage to India', widely regarded as an early 20th century classic, tells the tale of the troubled interactions between British India and the country's Indian inhabitants. Forster's message seems to be that the white British and the native Indians should not have tried to interact socially outside of the accepted forms because it always ended badly for all concerned. The story meanders, to put it kindly, until Part 2 when the 'event' occurs at the also-fictional Marabar Caves and Forster breathes some life into the tale. If you have an interest in British colonialism, India, or English Literature or all three, by all means read the book. Don't expect a sparkling story to go along with the fine characterizations and be ready for a dated view.

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was particularly disappointed in this novel, primarily because the movie version is so good, and also because I loved every other Forster book I have read. But this one seemed muddy, wandering, without much point and as faintly condescending toward Indians as the British sahib characters. It also seemed several chapters too long. Like Miss Quested, I was left wishing I could have seen a bit more of the real India.