E. M. Forster (1978) (edit title/settings)

Mark K edited the description of E. M. Forster Sunday, October 17, 2010.

• P. N. Furbank has fashioned a major biography of E. M. Forster, the renowned author of A PASSAGE TO INDIA, ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL, and other notable books of this century, drawing for the first time on Forster's diaries, personal correspondence, and other sources to produce an intimate portrait of a gently imposing figure in public glare and, until now, in private shadow.

  E. M. Forster's death in 1970 signaled the undertaking of two of his final instructions: the publication of his self-suppressed, homosexual novel, MAURICE, and the release of all of his papers to P. N. Furbank for the purpose of writing a full biography without reservation or limited disclosure.

  Furbank has divided this work into two chronological sections. The first part, "The Growth of the Novelist, 1879-1914," covers the first thirty-four years of Forster's life and details his childhood surrounded by doting female relatives (his father had died); his unhappiness at public school and his pleasure at Cambridge; his travels to Italy and Greece, where his serious writing began; his early novels and the startling success of HOWARD'S END that launched him toward fame; his early awareness of his homosexuality; his writing of MAURICE, based on longing rather than reality; and, in 1914, the emerging threat of war.

  The second part, "Polycrates' Ring, 1914-1970," carries Forster from age 34 to his death at 91; takes him from Alexandria and service with the Red Cross during World War I; to his first abrupt sexual encounter and a more enduring relationship with a young Egyptian; and to his embarking on a HISTORY AND A GUIDE to Alexandria. A year or two after the war he went to India as secretary to a maharajah, and on his return completed A PASSAGE TO INDA,INDIA, begun and set aside before the war, and won great acclaim and undoubted fame.

  Forster's sexual and social "emancipation", through the help of J. R. Ackerley and other younger friends in England, followed, as did his emergence as an active public figure -- polemicist, broadcaster, and President of the National Council for Civil Liberties. In his happy old age at Cambridge, he produced three books, an opera libretto, and a remarkable short story.

  Furbank's restrained objectivity and meticulous honesty have created a world that no longer exists. Forster is at last clearly seen as a whole -- complex, understandable, yet with an aura of mystery that, despite full revelation, defies total comprehension. At the end, he was very human -- and very touching.

Mark K edited the description of E. M. Forster Sunday, October 17, 2010.

• P. N. Furbank has fashioned a major biography of E. M. Forster, the renowned author of A PASSAGE TO INDIA, ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL, and other notable books of this century, drawing for the first time on Forster's diaries, personal correspondence, and other sources to produce an intimate portrait of a gently imposing figure in public glare and, until now, in private shadow.

  E. M. Forster's death in 1970 signaled the undertaking of two of his final instructions: the publication of his self-suppressed, homosexual novel, MAURICE, and the release of all of his papers to P. N. Furbank for the purpose of writing a full biography without reservation or limited disclosure.

  Furbank has divided this work into two chronological sections. The first part, "The Growth of the Novelist, 1879-1914," covers the first thirty-four years of Forster's life and details his childhood surrounded by doting female relatives (his father had died); his unhappiness at public school and his pleasure at Cambridge; his travels to Italy and Greece, where his serious writing began; his early novels and the startling success of HOWARD'S END that launched him toward fame; his early awareness of his homosexuality; his writing of MAURICE, based on longing rather than reality; and, in 1914, the emerging threat of war.

  The second part, "Polycrates' Ring, 1914-1970," carries Forster from age 34 to his death at 91; takes him from Alexandria and service with the Red Cross during World War I; to his first abrupt sexual encounter and a more enduring relationship with a young Egyptian; and to his embarking on a HISTORY AND A GUIDE to Alexandria. A year or two after the war he went to India as secretary to a maharajah, and on his return completed A PASSAGE TO INDA, begun and set aside before the war, and won great acclaim and undoubted fame.

Mark K edited the description of E. M. Forster Sunday, October 17, 2010.

• P. N. Furbank's 1978 two-volume portrait, combined here into one edition, is generally consideredFurbank has fashioned a major biography of E. M. Forster, the renowned author of A PASSAGE TO INDIA, ASPECTS OF THE NOVEL, and other notable books of this century, drawing for the definitive biographyfirst time on Forster's diaries, personal correspondence, and other sources to produce an intimate portrait of novelista gently imposing figure in public glare and, until now, in private shadow.

  E. M. Forster. "OneForster's death in 1970 signaled the undertaking of two of his final instructions: the publication of his self-suppressed, homosexual novel, MAURICE, and the release of all of his papers to P. N. Furbank for the best biographiespurpose of writing a writer I've ever read."--Walter Clemons,full biography without reservation or limited disclosure.

  Furbank has divided this work into two chronological sections. NewsweekThe first part, "The Growth of the Novelist, 1879-1914," covers the first thirty-four years of Forster's life and details his childhood surrounded by doting female relatives (his father had died); his unhappiness at public school and his pleasure at Cambridge; his travels to Italy and Greece, where his serious writing began; his early novels and the startling success of HOWARD'S END that launched him toward fame; his early awareness of his homosexuality; his writing of MAURICE, based on longing rather than reality; and, in 1914, the emerging threat of war.

Shelfari edited the description of E. M. Forster Sunday, August 2, 2009.

• P. N. Furbank's 1978 two-volume portrait, combined here into one edition, is generally considered the definitive biography of novelist E. M. Forster. "One of the best biographies of a writer I've ever read."--Walter Clemons, Newsweek