Where Angels fear
to Tread.
This book, Forster’s first published novel, rather
surprised the Group.
It concerned an Edwardian middleclass English family
who had been reluctant to accept their
son’s choice of bride on the grounds of her lower class status and lack of
accomplishments. When, after fathering a daughter, he unexpectedly died, they
became concerned at the looming prospect of her choosing a dentist as a second
husband.
To avoid this seemingly catastrophic event she was
persuaded to make a visit to Italy. Shock! Horror! She there met and married an
extremely minor Italian aristocrat, bore him a son and died.
These facts being generally known back in Britain, the
family began to fear that they would be perceived as not doing their moral duty
by the boy, as they were already doing by his half-sister, if they did not take
an interest in him. Accordingly the son, his sister and the mother’s companion
set out to rescue him from the fate of being brought up by an Italian father.
Various events led to a melodramatic kidnap of the
child who was then unfortunately thrown out of the vehicle in which they were
fleeing with him and killed.
There was general agreement in the Group that the plot
was ludicrous in the extreme, but that there were occasional glimpses of the
writer to come.
The presentation of the various social settings was
often wryly funny, the importance to the characters of conscience,
responsibility and respectability was well presented, and the descriptive
passages vivid.
Marks 1 5 6 4 5 6 3 Average 4
++++++++++++++++++++
Unaccustomed Earth
The Group had already read “The Namesake” by the same
author, and these short stories echoed its themes of alienation and
integration. 5 short stories were followed by 3 linked ones. Most of the Group
had read them one after the other and felt that the impact of any individual
one had been diminished by their repetitive nature. Any one of them read singly
would, however, be appreciated as a vivid portrayal of a particular and
distinctive example of the common problem.
The culture and generational clashes varied from story
to story and affected a range of characters which the group felt were
brilliantly evoked in a few sentences. Cultural expectations might lead to
marital difficulties; old traditions to
surprising developments; education to separation; maladjustment to alcoholism;
ignorance to misunderstanding; parental ambition to student rebellion. Although
happy occasions were described from time to time, every story contained sadness, loss or betrayal, which “pulled at
the heart” because its description was beautifully written.
Marks. 8 8 9 8 7 8 4 Average 7.5 (OL)
