A Passage to India

By E. M. Forster

Britain’s three-hundred-year relationship with the Indian subcontinent produced much fiction of interest but only one indisputable masterpiece: E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India, published in 1924, at the height of the Indian independence movement. Centering on an ambiguous incident between a young Englishwoman of uncertain stability and an Indian doctor eager to know his conquerors better, Forster’s book explores, with unexampled profundity, both the historical chasm between races and the eternal one between individuals struggling to ease their isolation and make sense of their humanity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781984899477

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 A Passage to India

[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.

[japaul22 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

After loving A Room With a View, I was eager to give Forster another try. Unfortunately, I really didn't like A Passage to India. I found the characters flat and more like caricatures than real people and their relationships with each other even more implausible. Then there was the plot, which seemed to revolve around an inane, imagined incident in a cave between an Englishwoman and her Indian host.I suppose that when this was written in the 1920s, it was an important and possibly revolutionary look at British/Indian relations, but I found it rather boring. It will not stop me from reading more Forster, though. Maybe this one just wasn't for me.

[linepainter-843540 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I loved Forster so much in high school that it is disappointing to return to find him so smug and sour.

[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.

[profh-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Of English novels about India, maybe this one has more to say than the others. It is fairly complex in it's treatment of the concept of India--a place that is beyond any simple categorization or definition despite the colonial effort to order and control it. The typical trappings of this type of British literature are there: the characters are representatives of viewpoints and political/cultural/class identities more than they are realistic people. While this is an annoying characteristic of much literature of the period, it is a little less so in this novel. Perhaps it is because the setup is so well structured that we forgive the view of the moving parts in this machine (if that makes any sense). There's more goodwill to trying to understand India and trying to provide a more complex view of the colonial situation and that's what makes this novel endure beyond the basic plot device.

[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.

[nm3spring083c3mcbrid · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Unfortunately, I only got to read about thirty pages of this book, yet I could already tell that if I ever got into it, it would be hard to get out of til the end. I started reading it, looked at the original copyright date: 1924, and was thinking, maybe, just maybe, this would be the first "classic" that I ever finished by myself (Classic by my father's definition, means more than 50 years old. This book definitely qualifies.). Sadly, I still am yet to finish it, I had to turn it back in to the library. I will read it though! You read it too. See if it's good. Maybe get back to me on it.

[carmenere_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Comments: Very interesting novel in which east meets west (albeit not very successfully) in British India at the turn of the century. Cultures, religions and personalities clash, characters, such as, Dr. Aziz, Cyril Fielding and Adela try to be people they are not and the reader anticipates what will happen to them after a fateful excursion to Marabar Caves. I usually check out a location I'm reading about on Google Earth and was a bit surprised to find that Forster's Maramar Caves are actually the Barabar Caves and I am puzzled as to why he changed the name. If anyone knows why.........Why I read it now: E. M. Forster is the LT author of the month and I just happened to have this one languishing on my book shelf.Recommended: highly, for readers who enjoy historical novels, cultural diversity and humanitarian issues.

[gbill_7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Why I would say "read it": The book's descriptions of the difficulties that arise out of "cultures colliding" because of Imperialism (and to some extent within India itself), as well as the descriptions of British racism, which comes out subtly at times and quite overtly at others. Written in 1924, the book is ahead of its time and foreshadows the events that took place in 1947. Why I didn't like it as much as others: the story was not all that interesting to me, and I thought the book could have been pared down. I also don't think the book is particularly well-written; among other things the descriptions of India's religious ceremonies were muddled and confusing.Favorite quotes:Persian grave inscription: "Alas, without me for thousands of yearsThe Rose will blossom and the Spring will bloom,But those who have secretly understood my heart -They will approach and visit the grave where I lie.""Trying to recover his temper, he said, 'India likes gods.''And Englishmen like posing as gods.'""....a poem should touch the hearer with a sense of his own weakness, and should institute some comparison between mankind and flowers.""The train in its descent through the Vindyas had described a semicircle round Asirgarh. What could she connect it with except its own name? Nothing; she knew no one who lived there. But it had looked at her twice and seemed to say: 'I do not vanish.'"

[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!

[jvioland_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A disturbing novel that challenges prejudices you may not realize that you possess. A crime is committed - that is for sure - but what crime? A fraud perpetrated upon an innocent man or an attempted rape? You never read which was committed but reach your own conclusion. An engaging novel, well written - India becomes a character in the book and Imperial Britain the antagonist.

[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.

[sluce_6 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Selection for Anthenaeum course. Love the way Forster uses the English language.

[hazelk_9 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When I read this in my early 20s I couldn't wait to get to the chapters on the trip to the Marabar Caves and read the preceding chapters too quickly. Now, in maturer years, I can really appreciate this novel. There is much subtlety in the writing and characterisation. He neither over-romanticises India and the Indians and, though some of the British working in the colonial service are wincingly distasteful, there are balances here as well and not just with the characterisation of Fielding. Nothing is clear cut. A certain mysteriousness overlays the whole novel.

[literati238 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have always loved this book, and I am a big Forster fan, mainly because I think he captures a sense of otherness uncommon amongst many Edwardian writers. This novel sympathetically portrays India and castigates British social constructs and sensibilities that preserved an artificial and inhuman hierarchy in the Empire.

[theageofsilt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A memorable study of cultural misunderstanding that becomes a wider contemplation of human suffering. It well deserves to be considered a classic.

[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.

[wordygirl39 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This one didn't stand out for me among Forster's work, but I read it long ago in a college survey course so I probably need to re-read it. I know it's supposed to be his best, and it probably is, but for now I'll still love Room, Howard's, and Angels best.

[meditationesmartini · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Okay, it's immaculately put together in that amazing way the early 20th-century Brits had (was there something in the water? Other than lead?) of taking inspiration from the classical unities, but departing from them - establishing a Greek stage, in Forster's case the caves, in the centre, and letting loose the thick oily rain of modernism all around it, with the "real people" characters being all cute and real and oldtimey with their "real problems" - but what am I describing here? It could be Fowles on a sleepy day, or DH Lawrence on autoplilot. No, what makes this book amazing is the insistent, constant unraveling of the structure above, of the impressions it creates, and the awesome intrusion of a mysticism that dilates the self and expands the universe in this incredible way. God, I wanna go to India and let those inexorable, incalculable, obscene landscapes work on me. And, incidentally, the horror that he manages to preserve in the Marabar Caves, without defining it and without making it scientific or supernatural - keeping it mystical, not just indeterminite and a venue of speculation but consisting in meaning because you don't know, because of all the things that crawl up your nose with it and set up shop in the dark corners - that's a pretty amazing accomplishment all on its own.

[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!

[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.

[stbalbach_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The 1920s were dominated by the younger modernists who rejected the older generation of writers Forster was born into so it's curious to see this work not only survive by thrive. His writing style is notably old-fashioned (enjoyably so) but the themes are very 20th century which gives it a certain air of authentic beauty. It is a mysterious and fractured novel in which we see the multiple contrasting faces of India: English/India, Muslims/Hindus, Brahmans/Untouchables (caste), clans, sects, men/women, princes/beggars, Northerns/Southerners - there is no single "India", it is a confusing, complex and fractured landscape. Can there be harmony, can order be imposed, can order even exist? Ultimately this is a spiritual question of the Universe in general: does life have meaning, the great question of all religions. In the end, when the boat sinks in the lake, for a brief moment, all the fractured elements come together in a sort of comic accidental soup - then separate and go their own way. Forster never answers the question, how could he, it is the greatest question ever, but he sets up the actors and creates the conditions to allow us to examine, ponder and wander, to "travel lightly."

[stouthearted_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The novel is an engrossing look into England's deteriorating hold on its colony of India. We are introduced to the Anglo-Indians, represented by characters like Heaslop and the Turtons who openly detest the Indian race, to the point of being cruel and grotesque. They need little prompting to believe an Indian is up to no good. Meanwhile, Indians are presented as a race held back by the culture clash, with strong, impulsive emotions and a lack of understanding for the English's reverence for promptness and social invitations. The whole situation sets up a powder keg that is ignited by the visit of Heaslop's mother Mrs. Moore, and Heaslop's prospective bride Miss Quested. Caught up in the fray is Dr. Aziz, a respectable widower who works under the English, but is not welcome into their social club due to being Indian. Mrs. Moore and Miss Quested's desire to "see India" ultimately backfires, as they cannot handle the culture clash. While Miss Quested convinces herself that she was raped by Dr. Aziz, who was kind enough to take the ladies on a journey to the local caves upon their request, Mrs. Moore is turned into a local goddess by the superstitious locals. The deification of Mrs. Moore is interesting, as the woman herself had no intention to publicly defend Aziz; she instead chose to flee the country. But a running theme is how the Indians choose to believe gossip over truth, (a fault even acted upon by Aziz, who convinces himself that his faithful Englishman friend abandoned him to marry Miss Quested.) The English suffer from this fault, also, as they whip themselves into a frenzy over the belief that every Indian lusts for white women, and other stereotypes. Indeed this self-absorption and inability of the cultures to blend harmoniously ultimately drives home the final scene of Fielding and Aziz's reunion. Both are disillusioned years after the trial and concede that only when the English leave India, can the races ever be friends.Miss Quested is a curious character, who while she never means to do any harm, ultimately destroys lives with her accusation of rape. It appears that she was overwhelmed by the caves, and hallucinated the terrifying event. Does she get due punishment? Although her bravery is lauded by few, first Fielding, then, years later, Aziz, it it notable that no other Anglo-Indian would have confessed to making such a mistake. The English relished the chance to punish Indians, and considered Quested a traitor for not continuing with the trial. Throughout the novel, Miss Quested tries to be sympathetic towards Indians, but she cannot escape her underlying repulsion of them. Forster seems to suggest that this is caused by the domination of her race over theirs. She is in a psychological muddle: While she recognizes that the treatment of Indians by the English is horrible, she knows that she has that feeling within herself, and confides to Aziz as much. Her biggest fault is probably being too honest, and speaking wihtout thinking, like when she innocently asks Aziz how many wives he has. The same impulse compels her to run into a cactus patch from the caves after her scare, rather than compose herself and try to summon some sense of the situation.Fielding seems to be the noblest character, sacrificing his reputation among his fellow Englishman for what he believes is right, defending Aziz. At times it seems that Aziz doesn't quite grasp the full impact of Fielding's support, such as when Aziz accuses his friend of abandonment after the arrest, when Fielding was forbidden to accompany the prisoner to the police station. Aziz routinely brings the abandonment up in times of doubt in Fielding's faithfulness. Eventually, the Indians turn against him, too. After the trial, Fielding's reluctant support of Miss Quested (who has been abandoned by her peers) is interpreted and gossiped as a love affair. This breakdown of the relationship between Fielding and Aziz further illustrates the novel's point that India and England cannot be friends while one colonizes the other.Aziz is a tragic hero, who only wants to do right by his family name and children. It is not until he is burned by his attempts at friendship with some English that be becomes bitter and identifies with the struggles of the Indian people. Before, he only associated himself with Muslims. He did not conceive of a unified India, a nation also containing Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, etc., with different views and customs. It is not until the trial in Chandapoore does having a common enemy, the English, make possible the realization that India needs to be united and independant. It is interesting that even though his friendship for Fielding fractures, his adoration of the Englishwoman Mrs. Moore remains constant. This is perhaps the hope inherrent in the novel, that true friendship is possible between the races, so long as the friends are equals, as Aziz believed how he and Mrs. Moore saw themselves.

[bayardus-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

On the positive side, E.M. Forster's A Passage to India is populated by many complex and realistic characters. Not just main characters like Fielding, Mrs Moore, Miss Quested, and Dr. Aziz, but even rather minor characters like Godbole are fleshed out and given depth. Dr. Aziz especially is made into a fully realized character by Forster, as he not only has his virtues and vices, but numerous misfortunes and failings spring from them both so that he makes an interesting focal point for the narrative. The second half of the book would have been rendered both less entertaining and less effective if Dr. Aziz was a purely virtuous character, but fortunately for readers the narrative doesn't make Aziz anything close to an angel. It does succeed in making him feel like a real person. This realistic feel is also one of A Passage to India's main strengths. While the events that occur at around the halfway point of the book relies on an improbable series of events and coincidences, Forster still manages to write it in a way that doesn't feel artificial. Writing obviously manufactured situations that don't feel artificial is an impressive accomplishment.

On the negative side, Forster's writing is frequently boring. Even when he's writing about exciting events like a car crash or a parade or a riot he somehow manages to create a passage that is utterly without energy or tension. This is a short book, but the writing did so little to engage me that it felt like a substantial tome. Another negative is that, while I complimented the book's cast of multidimensional characters, that multidimensionalness doesn't extend to many of the British occupiers of India. Most of them are just racist buffoons, even the marginally less shallow Mr. Turton has his perspective and the reasoning behind it explained in a single sentence. Ronny is the pro-occupation character given the most development, and even he feels like a half-baked sketch. He delivers weak arguments and oscillated between "bland" and "jerk" as the story required.

On the stranger side, two things: the first is that I found it to be a strange choice for Forster to include as a plot point caves that seemingly mess with British people's brains. One cave basically turns someone into a nihilist within ten minutes when previously they seemed pretty well adjusted, another cave causes an echo to plague someone's mind for months. Strange stuff. Another thing on the stranger side to note is that while Forster was obviously trying to promote tolerance and denounce the British occupation of India with this book, it's not clear how similar he thinks European and Indian people are: Forster identifies "suspicion" as some sort of inborn quality for "orientals" and it isn't clear if he thinks that there can be true understanding between people from such different cultures.

While A Passage to India draws into question whether understanding across different cultures is possible without putting forth an answer, Forster ends the book with a clear statement that friendship between people of different cultures is possible (although such friendship may be plagued with misunderstandings). To reach true friendship, though, the occupier-occupied relationship would have to end. A good message, though I could have done without Forster spelling it out for me so bluntly. For a book that also explores understanding of different cultures but which is far more engaging I recommend The Other City by Michal Ajvaz. A Passage to India is a bit dull in comparison, though not a bad book by any means- you just have to be able to deal with the bog of Forster's prose.

[megantron-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you're white and you dislike this book, I immediately will disregard your opinion.

[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.

[bookwormpeg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

India at the peak of British colonial era, complete with racial tension. British visitors to Chandrapore are escorted to Marabar caves, where events transpire that split the community--British and Indian alike. Cultures collide and lives are inexorably altered.

[irishwasherwoman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a great book club read. It flows well, yet has a nice layer of complication to it. I both read it and listened to it. Forster is an able storyteller who conveys a wonderful sense of character and place in his novels.

[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.