I finished my first book of the year, begun late in 2024 in a desperate attempt to complete my bingo card. I picked A Passage to India by E. M. Forster from Project Gutenberg because it had just the title and author on the cover. That is more unusual than you would think as even the simplest cover has some embellishment, the logo of the publishing house or a decorative square around the title.

The book was fascinating and a great read to start the year. Forster uses India as a setting and a character with rich descriptions of both physical and metaphorical landscapes. At one point, the main character, a Muslim doctor, comments to himself that is finally a complete Indian, one that loves his country and sees the British for the invaders that they are. The themes of class, gender and oppression form a foundation for the novel from its opening pages.

I was confused now and then by references to British and Indian items and customs that may have been familiar to Forster's audience but I could get by on the context mostly.

The book was published in 1924, and it took 23 more years for India to achieve independence. ( )

The Passage to India transported me to India as I read. It is a collision of cultures and a clash of religions. The author paints a picture of colonial India and the behavior of the British, which is fascinating. I felt despair on behalf of the main character and intense frustration and dislike of the ruling British. Failure to understand the Indian way of life was the key to hostility between the ruling and the ruled. ( )

This was okay. I thought I would like it more. ( )

I wasn't sure what rating I was going to give this book until the very final chapter. Honestly, I wasn't sure that I really liked the book until the final two chapters. This was a good story, well-written, wonderful characterizations and a slow, slow burn for me. The friendship between Dr. Aziz and Mr. Fielding was perfection with the competing cultures mingling in each of them and representing the conflict of British rule in India. Mrs. Moore was a tremendous character in that she was a spiritual being who understood and embodied both sides of the equation. The fact that this book was written in 1924 and isn't racist is somewhat astounding. I'm glad that I read it. ( )

I wanted to get into this book, I really did. It is well written, but stylistically it's just not my cuppa tea. Perhaps if I were British I would understand more of the subtleties of class displayed, but frankly the continual conversational iron fist of racism in a velvet glove that was British colonialism just got overwhelming. I made it better than halfway, perhaps I'll try to catch the movie to make some sense of it. ( )

This 100-year-old classic still has a timely feel with its exploration of issues of class and race. The novel seems to have been a harbinger of the end of the British Raj. It makes a political statement without compromising the elements of plot and character that can seem contrived in works by less talented authors. ( )

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I started off rather liking the book, which clearly critiques the British presence in India and sees its imminent end, twenty-five years before it actually happened. The portrayal of the snobbish and racist Anglo-Indian community is clearly based on close observation. But the more he got into writing about Indians, the more the book slipped into Orientalism, and the final section, set around a festival in an Indian-ruled state, seemed to me much less humane than the earlier part of the book. Also, of course, I am spoiled by decades of reading Indian (and Pakistani and Bangladeshi) writers about India (and Pakistan and Bangladesh), rather than white people’s commentary.

This also poisons the portrayal of the relationship between the English and Indian male protagonists, which again is based on Forster’s personal experience, of deep friendship with Syed Ross Masood, but ends up not very satisfactory to either the fictional characters or the reader. ( )

Book 151
A Passage to India.
E M Forster.
Nick Wannan
A Passage to India (1924) is set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English literature by the Modern Library and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Time magazine included the novel in its "All Time 100 Novels" list. The novel is based on Forster's experiences in India, deriving the title from Walt Whitman's 1870 poem "Passage to India" in Leaves of Grass.
We have since watched the film a few times.
8/10 ( )

So, this white lady goes into a cave with this Indian guy and comes out accusing him of something that she's not sure really happened. And thusly we explore the crazy political and social dynamics between colony and colonizer. Many say this is Forster's best work, but I get so peeved at the white lady for not knowing what really happened in the cave that I have to take away stars. ( )

Definitely a book written in a different era, an era where people read slowly and focussed on nuance. I understand why the other Forster book I read, A Room with a View, did not go well on audio. There are leaps between paragraphs that do not convey themselves well orally the way they can be detected visually on the page.

Somehow I'd gotten the impression that A Passage to India was a departure from Forster's earlier novels. In subject matter, sure, but in all else this is a very Forsterian novel: sharply observed social commentary, lyrical prose, meditations on the human condition, and an almost mythic quality that is nevertheless grounded in the banal. Forster's novels are romantic, but they don't romanticize.

I'm glad I found myself reading this book in 2020. It's fundamentally a novel about nationalism, a topic I have formed Strong Opinions about. Actually maybe just one opinion, which Forster evidently shares. Please imagine, in place of this book, a tract titled "NATIONALISM" in 72-pt font, followed by one sentence: "FUCK THAT SHIT." (Forster phrases it more delicately.)

As a portrait of India and Indian people goes, I am not equipped to judge this novel. I think I can say it is a humane and openhearted effort. Certainly Forster's disdain for British culture does not lead him into the trap I expected, that of romanticizing the East. Instead, he attempts to be both empathetic and objective.

As far as objectivity goes, well. The text is littered with generalizations about Indians; some of these are the narrative's attempts at pointing out cultural differences, while others rise from the collective point-of-view of the colonizers. All that said, I expected this to be a novel written for the white gaze, and it's not quite that. Forster seems to be reaching toward an inclusive audience, whether or not he ever quite gets there.

I won't give away the plot, but I will say that this novel is set in British India at the turn of the 20th century and shows a British elite closing ranks in response to their tribal identity being threatened. The threat isn't some vast cultural divide between British and Indian people—the mutiny of 1857 is passing out of memory; the Indian elite is increasingly Westernized. To borrow an observation from Hannah Arendt, it's not necessarily difference that triggers xenophobia, but assimilation and the threat of social categories dissolving.

Meanwhile we have Dr. Aziz and his circle, acculturated Muslim Indians who are trying to invent a tribe of their own. Their definition of India keeps widening—Muslim identity becomes Indian pan-nationalism, which almost widens to human solidarity—but they, and we, can't quite reach across the gap.

And here's where this book gets really interesting, using the vocabulary of religion to imagine the (im)possibilities of a truly universal love. You could, in fact, write a very trite five-paragraph essay about how the second half of this book follows the structure of the Nativity story. I have no idea if Forster had this in mind; certainly he's not crass enough to explicitly compare the experiences Adele and Mrs. Morse have in the caves to an Annunciation. Nevertheless, this scene does take on a numinous quality. Encountering divinity is not a comfortable experience, threatening our belief that we are separate individuals in a structured universe. When the gods try to seize us, we flail.

This book won't enchant you with its memorable character studies or gripping plot, but something about the shape of Forster's novels is really compelling to me. I'm glad I read this one.

3.5/5 My feelings about this book were all over the place. Forster's writing is gorgeous as usual, but I had a difficult time caring about any of these characters, British or Indian. The motives behind the characters' actions were vague and noncommittal. The so-called exotic atmosphere was tainted--similar in a way to Joyce's “Araby“. I walked away unenlightened and depressed. ( )

Profoundly dissatisfying, as it was intended. ( )

The book gives an excellent impression of life in India during British colonial occupation.
It gives a vivid picture of the people, the mixture of races, especially the English versus the local natives. Real character studies come alive as their thoughts are expressed.
You feel you are there in the oppressive heat, meeting the players, hearing their conversations, feeling their concerns, observing the pettiness, pompousness, contrasted with the genuineness of a few of them.

Colonial India captured in a backwater town with a small but vivid collection of characters. Slow going
overall. This worked well as a read just before bed as it generally put me to sleep. ( )

A complex book, one where I suspected there was more to it than I realized. But for plot and character it was good. ( )

My least favorite Forster book. Read it because it was the subject of a podcast I enjoy, but I had a hard time following the narrative, especially towards the end. ( )

Maybe my third read of this novel. It is difficult to say it is evocative, when I have never been there, but it is how I imagine it, of its time.

The story pivots on a series of misunderstandings between the characters of different cultures, and within cultures . The characters are mostly three dimensional, except when they are meant not to be. I'm not sure one warms totally to any of them, but almost all at different times held my sympathies.

Not my favourite of Forster's novels, and probably the last time I will read it. ( )

If a book makes this list, this list, and this list as one of the best novels of the 20th century, I guess my expectations are high. A Passage to India by E.M. Forsterreally didn't come close to meeting them.

However, if you have insomnia, I highly recommend this book as pre-bedtime reading. I fell asleep after just a few pages every single night. Hence why it took me so long to finish. But, K. Jones. of Wilkeworld shamed me into getting the job done by reading it in just a few days.

Granted, this book was published in 1924 so perhaps I need to give it some latitude. It focuses on the relationship between the British and the Indians during the British occupation of India. I'm sure at the time it was perceived to be a very insightful political statement.

But Forster does a lot of things that would never pass muster in publishing today:

1. He does a terrible job indicating who is speaking so that at least half the time you are reading the book you are trying to decipher which character is talking.

2. He has long paragraphs of extremely dull description that slow the teensy bit of action that there is to a grinding halt.

3. The characters, with the exception of perhaps two, are thinly drawn - - their motivations as clear as mud. You never feel the depth of the relationships that are supposedly there.

4. The characters are by and large unlikeable with maybe one exception. Not all characters need to be likeable in a good piece of literature, but at least you need to feel some sympathy for them. Frankly, I really didn't care what happened to these characters. The only character I had the least bit of interest or admiration for was Mr. Fielding.

5. The book hammers you over the head with a political message which generally doesn't fly in novels of today.

6. My final critique of this book is that nothing . . .and I do mean nothing . . .actually happens until around page 175 (of 322). That is when the teensiest bit of suspense begins to occur to propel the reader forward. Unfortunately that bit of suspense peters out after 231 -- so that's 66 interesting pages or 20% of the book. That's just not enough for me.

All that being said, I also have outstanding questions about the story. I'm willing to concede that perhaps I just didn't read this book carefully enough because of the previously listed problems, but I'm ready to go out and buy some Cliff Notes just to discern what I missed.

For example, Mrs. Moore and Aziz love each other (although I don't think that means in love), but I can't fathom why. They barely interact. Where does this love and admiration come from? And more importantly, what's it's purpose? To show that an open minded British person and an open minded Indian can be fond of one another? Perhaps that was a big step in 1924. I don't know.

And Professor Godbole. What's his deal? Is he in this book for a reason? To show the Hindu perspective? He seemed quite superfluous to me.

Another question I had is why did Miss Quested accuse Aziz in the first place? Was it because she didn't want to marry Heaslop, and her accusation was a roundabout way of getting out of the marriage. I just never felt clear on what actually happened at the Caves and whether her lie was intentional, or she was indeed accosted.

I'm quite willing to admit that I may be a literary philistine who just doesn't get fine works, so please, please, if you've read this book and understand why it is great, I would love to hear your insights. Because I'm feeling a bit doltish after reading it . . .and would like to at least make the struggle worthwhile.

Tension/Engaging: 1 star
Language: 4 stars
Emotion: 1 star
Character Development: 1 star
Dialogue: 3 stars
Worth the Effort: 1 star
Social commentary/theme: 4 stars (insights on the British/Indian relationship seem to be all the book really had going for it)
Originality: 3 stars ( )

Forster's classic tale of culture clash in Colonial India focuses on both the prejudices and simple misunderstandings which exists between the people of India and their British rulers. Miss Quested begins her sojourn in India with a desire to "know" the Indian people, but her culturally ignorant insertion into the life of Dr. Aziz is destined for tragedy.

E.M. Forster is a masterful storyteller and has complete control of the "show, don't tell" aspect of writing. He immerses you in the situation; you feel the anguish of Aziz's situation and the unfair weight of the British word against the Indian word. So few of the British are portrayed as caring in any way for the welfare of the Indian people or feeling that obtaining justice for Indians within the system is important. As puzzling are the reactions of the Indian characters and the fatalistic way in which they accept injustice as part of the "deal". And then there are the sympathetic British, Mrs. Moore and Mr. Fielding, who still fail to be able to fathom the Indian mind.

I love the historical aspects of this story as well. Life in 1920s Colonial India dances off the pages. There is an exotic, and completely genuine, feeling of peeking behind the curtain and seeing the inner workings of the nation. My timing for reading this novel was perfect, since I have been enjoying Indian Summers on PBS and have a vivid impression of the period just following this one and the emergence of India from British rule.


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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. ( )

Much like Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, A Passage To India promises much but loses itself in a haze of antiquity.

Now of course Defoe and Forster are divided by a gap of at least two centuries. But the narrative vogue is still present in both-one defined by Victorian sensibilities.

Forster, with A Passage To India, imposes a long winded and rambling commentary on East vs. West and racial disparity. Cut a long story short, even Forster had more than one way to deliver his Utopian monologue sans what he serves up in India. I suppose that at the end of the day, A Passage To India retains some historic value. Any morality it could impart is nullified by its migraine inducing narrative. ( )

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Absolutely brilliant account of British colonialism in India. I read this in high school and wandered around in sepia toned, saffron scented day dreams for weeks afterwards. A must read for any serious historical reader. ( )

I enjoyed this novel. The author writes extremely well. This story is about how British settlers and Indians get along in the 1920s, when India was still a colony of Great Britain. In a nutshell: With the worst intentions, they are enemies; even with the best intentions, they can't be friends. (Okay there's also a plot progression that brings about this conclusion: Two English women newly arrived in India befriends an Indian; they visit a cave together, one of the English women had a hallucination and claimed the Indian violated her; the Indian was put on trial, with different British people taking different sides; it turns out the Indian was innocent, but through the trials and the repercussions of the trials, the Indian find he can never be friends with English people again, at least not until Indian is free. ) The author writes in detail about the different landscapes in India, and presented the religious beliefs in India (particularly Hinduism) in a mystic yet somehow convincing light. The British are portrayed as blatantly racist, but rational, calm, and law-abiding, whereas the Indians are irrational and passionate. Thus, while Anglo India does bring modernity and rationality into the governing of India, they do so through oppression. And while India yearns for self-government, their division and irrationality seems to prevent them from effectiveness. ( )