Rating: 
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read; extraordinary
Review: A friend recommended that I read Howard's End and A Room With a View. I have yet to read the latter, but Howard's End was incredible. E.M. Forster has a true talent for characterization. He gives an in-depth portrait of Henry Wilcox, one not to be compared with any other I have ever read. Forster also has an eye for detail. He seems to know that people get too caught up in the plot of a story, and they forget to appreciate the little things. He never fails to mention how beautiful England looks in the spring, or the pleasant state of the weather, etc. Perhaps it does take a while for the plot to develop, but I found that to be most appropriate. I had expected to find a novel similar in nature to that of Jane Austen's classic works (which I adore), but instead I found something richer and more scandalous. Any fan of great English literature should add Howard's End to his collection. I look forward to A Room With a View.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best English Modernism Has to Offer
Review: A surprisingly entertaining book. It is simply and elegantly written, and easy to understand and appreciate. There are also more issues than I can begin to discuss simmering beneath the surface. However, one way to read it is a chronicle of the changing culture of England in the early 20th century. It's much more interesting than you heard. I generally don't like recommending books to everyone, but if you are considering this book of your own free will (I assume so since you are reading this review), you will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: Emma Thompson does it again.
Review: After about five minutes, you will forget that the only voice you are hearing is Emma. The characters comes alive as the story begins. You can feel the tension as the aunt argues with Margaret. And the relief when Margaret decides to stay home with her sick brother. The Brits know how to do this stuff.
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Summary: Clash of the classes in Merry Old England
Review: After having read Ford Mmaddox Ford, Virginia Woolf, and DH Lawrence - Forster contemporaries - I was shocked that I thoroughly enjoyed Howard's End. I found those other writers to be wordy and dull, but what could you expect from a bloody colonial. The story involves the effects that three famillies have on each other - The Schlegel's inherited wealth whose purpose in life is to enjoy the finest music,literature and art; the newly rich Wilcox', arrogant and self important; and Leonard Bast and his trashy wife. Bast longs for the same kind of life that the Schlegel's enjoy, knowing full well that he will never better his class in life. The Sclegel sisters befriend the Wilcox's on a trip to Europe. After an ill fated romance ends betwen Helen, the youngest Schlegel sister and the youngest Wilcox son, Margarett Schlegel intensifies her friendship with Mrs. Schlegel who is somehow more compassionate than her husband and children. After Mrs. Wilcox death, Margarett and Henry Wilcox, the patriarch, become friends, get engaged and marry.The Schlegel's misguided attempt to assist Leonard Bast in bettering his life results is humiliation to everyone involved and eventually ends in tragedy. The heroine is Margarett Schlegel whose strength pulls everyone together at the end.
Rating:
Summary: An exquisite book.
Review: An exquisite book. Forster combines a fast, lyrical read with the intensity of a murder mystery. In tight, consistent prose Forster's restraint delivers a scathing commentary on Edwardian England which retains all of its considerable power for contemporary life. The only real question is which to do first, read the book or watch the movie. The rich dialogue of Howard's End, lends it well to movie adaptation and the 1991 James Ivory production is excellent. The casting is so strong that it suffers only from the series of later films in which these actors are juxtaposed to reproduce their magic. I was fortunate to have an eight year lapse after the film so the twists of plot struck with new glee and I could modify, if not supplant, the faces from the film. I can only recommend that both book and movie are both outstandng and neither should be missed.
Rating:
Summary: A true look at the spirit of human nature...
Review: As a high school student reading this book iIdid not expect to find a novel I would enjoy...but I was wrong. I am farely well versed in literature and Howards end is among the best novels i have ever read. After reading this i went and purchased "A Room With a View" and "Passage to India", both i hope will live up to the standard created by Howards End.
Rating: 
Summary: A 4-star book but a 2-star paperback edition
Review: As fond as I am of this novel I cannot recommend this particular paperback Vintage edition. In a work so meticulous and richly crafted as _Howards End_, it's more than a little jarring to stumble across typos and spelling errors in the text. A handsome and attractive volume, such as we've all come to expect from Vintage, but those typos are really unforgivable. By all means read the book, but opt for a different edition.
Rating:
Summary: A 4-star book but a 2-star paperback edition
Review: As fond as I am of this novel I cannot recommend this particular paperback Vintage edition. In a work so meticulous and richly crafted as _Howards End_, it's more than a little jarring to stumble across typos and spelling errors in the text. A handsome and attractive volume, such as we've all come to expect from Vintage, but those typos are really unforgivable. By all means read the book, but opt for a different edition.
Rating:
Summary: A lasting tribute to Edwardian values
Review: Class consciousness, a common topic in British literature, is emphasized clearly in "Howards End," which draws the class distinctions along very bold social, economic, and political lines. Forster is frank in his observations that such a class system has made Britain the imperial force that it is, but it also paves the way for the worst sort of elitism, which inevitably leads to hypocrisy and the creation of double standards. In the novel, the upper class, the symbol of British imperialism, is represented by the Wilcox family, who own a rubber company that operates out of Nigeria; the novel's title is the name of their country manor, one of their several residences. The father, Henry, is a trickle-down theorist who believes the great disparity of wealth between the upper and lower classes is necessary to maintain the strong economy, a sentiment that is echoed by his callous older son Charles. The Wilcoxes have befriended two sisters, Margaret and Helen Schlegel, who, living modestly off their father's inheritance and not having to work, may be considered middle class. They both are highly educated and idealistic with regard to social reform and equalizing the classes; Margaret the older and more serious, Helen the more frivolous. A conflict arises when Ruth Wilcox, Henry's wife, having spent some pleasant hours and developed a special friendship with Margaret in London, informally bequeaths to her Howards End, which results in a subtle moral paradox: This wish is not legally binding, but isn't Henry dishonoring his wife's memory by dismissing it? The point becomes moot when Henry and Margaret, overcoming their differences of opinion, genuinely fall in love with each other and marry. The lower class is represented by a young office clerk named Leonard Bast who attempts to transcend his social status by earnestly reading Ruskin and attending cultural events -- his fateful first encounter with the Schlegel sisters is at a Beethoven concert. Although his intellectual posturing falls flat with the Schegels, they see him as a model of social change and make him their pet project. However, it is his slatternly wife Jacky who establishes the real significance of his presence in the novel, which is to expose a blatant double standard of which Henry Wilcox freely avails himself. Forster is an excellent empathic writer, able to convey with unusual sensitivity his characters' thoughts, feelings, and motives, rivaling Edith Wharton in this skill. He demonstrated this attribute to great effect in "A Room with a View," but I feel "Howards End" is a triumphant improvement over its predecessor. By using the social aspects of "A Room with a View" but eliminating the levity and the feeble attempts at comedy, he managed to construct what very well may be considered the definitive Edwardian novel.
Rating:
Summary: A lasting tribute to Edwardian values
Review: Class consciousness, a common topic in British literature, is emphasized clearly in "Howards End," which draws the class distinctions along very bold social, economic, and political lines. Forster is frank in his observations that such a class system has made Britain the imperial force that it is, but it also paves the way for the worst sort of elitism, which inevitably leads to hypocrisy and the creation of double standards. In the novel, the upper class, the symbol of British imperialism, is represented by the Wilcox family, who own a rubber company that operates out of Nigeria; the novel's title is the name of their country manor, one of their several residences. The father, Henry, is a trickle-down theorist who believes the great disparity of wealth between the upper and lower classes is necessary to maintain the strong economy, a sentiment that is echoed by his callous older son Charles. The Wilcoxes have befriended two sisters, Margaret and Helen Schlegel, who, living modestly off their father's inheritance and not having to work, may be considered middle class. They both are highly educated and idealistic with regard to social reform and equalizing the classes; Margaret the older and more serious, Helen the more frivolous. A conflict arises when Ruth Wilcox, Henry's wife, having spent some pleasant hours and developed a special friendship with Margaret in London, informally bequeaths to her Howards End, which results in a subtle moral paradox: This wish is not legally binding, but isn't Henry dishonoring his wife's memory by dismissing it? The point becomes moot when Henry and Margaret, overcoming their differences of opinion, genuinely fall in love with each other and marry. The lower class is represented by a young office clerk named Leonard Bast who attempts to transcend his social status by earnestly reading Ruskin and attending cultural events -- his fateful first encounter with the Schlegel sisters is at a Beethoven concert. Although his intellectual posturing falls flat with the Schegels, they see him as a model of social change and make him their pet project. However, it is his slatternly wife Jacky who establishes the real significance of his presence in the novel, which is to expose a blatant double standard of which Henry Wilcox freely avails himself. Forster is an excellent empathic writer, able to convey with unusual sensitivity his characters' thoughts, feelings, and motives, rivaling Edith Wharton in this skill. He demonstrated this attribute to great effect in "A Room with a View," but I feel "Howards End" is a triumphant improvement over its predecessor. By using the social aspects of "A Room with a View" but eliminating the levity and the feeble attempts at comedy, he managed to construct what very well may be considered the definitive Edwardian novel.
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