A Passage to India by E.M. Foster [Book Review]
A classic historical book rich with Anglo British and Indian tension, a story of unlikely relationships and historical challenges.
Summary
“Among the greatest novels of the twentieth century, E. M. Forster’s sweeping tale of prejudice and racial tension is set in colonial India at the turn of the century. As the Indian independence movement is gaining momentum but while the country is still under the rule of the British Raj, Dr. Aziz, a young Indian Muslim physician, befriends several English tourists in spite of expressions of caution from his Indian friends. What begins as an unexceptional but well-meaning sightseeing outing to a famous cave erupts into a misunderstanding with devastating consequences.”
-From Amazon.com
Review
To say this book was a wild ride of emotions was an understatement. I was constantly confused how I should be feeling with everything happening both within the context of the story and in the context of history. It was just…a lot.
A historical look at British and Indian tension with all the racial issues.
While reading this book, it is important to remember that it is set in the 1920’s. Some reviews available on sites out there are negative towards the book, commenting negatively against the British and some of the racism going on treatment of the Indians. Through a modern lens and with a more progressive mentality, that is accurate absolutely! However, I would say that if you read this book with that view you may not enjoy it as much. With some of the themes, it will make you uncomfortable and that is okay. But while reading I recommend trying to put yourself in the shoes of someone reading it when it was published. It is not easy to do at all, but it helps to provide an understanding and context of the story and what exactly is going on
That being said, looking at this book from a modern perspective with what we know now is really interesting and enlightening. To see the British savior complex and perceived supremacy, the massive disparities between income and what may be rich in one country and rich in another, and the clear divide between the races in such a stark presentation is very interesting.
Racial tensions, gender tension and lies all around!
A Passage to India has a lot going on. You have the theme of racial tensions between the Indians and British, the tension between men and women in respective cultures and the tension between opposite genders in both cultures. Tension all around! It’s quite painful to read from both a modern perspective, as well as that as what I would classify as a good human to see the treatment of other humans as lesser and unequal.
Even within the Indian culture when this book was set (I am by no means an expert on India, their culture and their history!) it was fascinating to see the general divide between individuals from regions and societal classes. The fact that the main Indian character, Dr. Aziz, who was by no means wealthy, had servants working for him was shocking and eye opening. To think that someone that “poor” had someone even poorer working for them just continued to fascinate me from a historical and cultural perspective. The whole local the book was set, the disparities between classes and income, and then between both cultures and money was something to behold and wrap your head around.
And then you have the main female British character, Ms. Quested, and her false accusations which was a whole other wrinkle! I won’t get too far into it to avoid spoilers, but boy did it make my blood boil. Then seeing how Mr. Fielding (another of the British main characters) became integral for Ms. Quested and Dr. Aziz and bridging the gap in a slight way certainly had my feelings confused.
A book with so much beauty and so much pain – the story having you dance on the edge of what to feel.
I have always had a draw to India in books and movies in all of it’s forms. A Passage to India, while it did bring up some of the beauty of the country, the people and India in general, there was the constant underlying tension and relationship with the British. However, it was a wonderful read. I learnt so much, was able to really feel for so many of the characters on all sides, and got an insight into more localized life for Indians under the British rule.
Sometimes in movies and history it can be glamorized when looked through certain lenses. However, if you know anything of history, you know that is not the case. The book managed to get at some of the darker areas without it being too dark of a story overall.
It is a book that will take me time to fully digest and I will have to read it again in a few years. I would say that this is a book for slightly older readers, not only because of the writing style, but because the story just has so much going on that a younger reader may not understand without the guidance of those older.
HOWEVER, with book banning going on and the censoring of books due to ‘uncomfortable’ issues, I think this is a great book to be read to get an understanding of some of the ‘ugliness’ in history without the book being too extreme in nature. I certainly highly recommend this classic and it’s one I am glad to have read. There’s a reason it’s won so many awards.
Have you read A Passage to India? What did you think?
Happy Reading!
