Rating: 
Summary: Philosophical novel that appeals mainly to women
Review: Howards End is a literary masterpiece of the "chick-book" genre. The plot moves very slowly, especially in the first half, and is largely subservient to the subtle shifts in relationships between the characters, whose thoughts and feelings are often examined in depth. Without spoiling any surprises, Margaret and Helen Schlegel are two independent young women in pre-war Britain whose lives are thrown into turmoil by a series of seemingly random interactions with the very wealthy and very conservative Wilcox family. After a very brief tryst with one of the Wilcox brothers (during which Mrs. Munt provides some welcome comic relief) the sisters are stunned to find the Wilcoxes moving into their neighborhood. A friendship develops between Margaret and Mrs. Wilcox, which though short, has long-lasting consequences. In the second half of the book, Margaret is faced with the task of reconciling her flighty liberal-minded sister Helen with the very practical down-to-earth conservatism of Henry Wilcox.It's only fair to point out that many men will find this novel melancholy and occasionally downright insipid. The relationship between Margaret and her prospective husband is utterly lacking in warmth or even in humanity, and his decision about the disposition of the house around the middle of the book is so contemptible that one just wants him to go away. Indeed none of the male characters are the least bit admirable, and only the hapless Leonard Bast is even sympathetic. The obsession with a sense of place that is at this novel's core is neither sufficiently enchanting nor adequately believable. And the final resolution has been roundly criticized by feminists who see the once-proud sisters settling into exactly the sort of lives that they hadn't wanted for themselves. It's true that Margaret is able to convince her husband of the importance of the "inner life", but only at the price of his virtual destruction, leaving her, like Helen, caring for a helpless infant. As to Forster's famous aphorism "only connect", the only characters who really unite on a spiritual level are Margaret and a woman who dies fairly early on in the story. But for most women, this is one of the finest books in the literary canon. Forster's language is superb, and his insight into the female mind is impressive, but what really sets this novel apart is its excursions into the philosophical concerns of modern society. What responsibilities do the rich have to the poor, and how should these responsibilities best be discharged? How do personal relationships fit into the context of a social order that needs leaders, builders, and entrepreneurs? Is the unexamined life really not worth living, or does self-analysis too often result in dilettantism and paralysis? Forster not only raises these questions, but debates them at some length, making this book a perfect choice for an English class or a book discussion group. Guys, feel free to skip this one, although you can always give it to your mother. She'll love it.
Rating:
Summary: A Question of Class
Review: Howards End is a realistic picture of Edwardian England, blemishes and all. Forster successfully depicted the environment of his society few authors could. Forster raises moral questions about what the upper class' social and economic responsibilities are to the lower classes. The method of showing opposing viewpoints (help the less fortunate vs. leave them be) between the Schlegel and the Wilcox families works well. He also questions the double standard at that time in England for infidelity. The upper class males were faultless in affairs, while the lower class females were scarred negatively for life. For the males, the affair was the satisfaction of desires and meant parting of some money. For females, the affairs were a way of life, nothing more, and they couldn't even improve their station in society. They were marked as prostitutes, while Mr. Wilcox actually suffered no real personal damage, other than a deservedly begrudging wife for the short term. I can't help but ask how much has society really changed? The book is still relevant today, not only that, it's a good read. The dialogue is even realistic and touching. Forster's prose flows smoothly, and the reader immediately starts to appreciate it after a few pages. Human nature, snobbery, the struggle of the classes, and family affairs really haven't changed that much since 1910. Forster clearly didn't know what to do about these problems anymore than we do today. Asking his country to face their problems, rather than ignore them, which was what was being done, was a start.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Book
Review: Howards End is a wonderfully written book. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It is a very compelling novel that deals with the conflicts between the wealthy upper class and the less affluent working class of England. The novel is set in the close of the Edwardian Era of England, a time in which these conflicts were flourishing. The Schlegel sisters represent the cultured and sophisticated side of the upper class of England, while the Wilcox family represents the more materialistic and stuffy side of England's upper class. The conflict between these families, which governs most of the book, arises from the dilemma of which family will obtain ownership of Howards End, the estate, after Mrs. Wilcox passes away. The two families are joined by the marriage of Margaret Schlegel and Henry Wilcox. The ownership of Howards End is awarded to the same person for whom it was destined in the beginning of the novel. E.M. Forster crafted a masterpiece in Howards End, and it is a classic that will last throughout time.
Rating:
Summary: A Classic Book
Review: Howards End is a wonderfully written book. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It is a very compelling novel that deals with the conflicts between the wealthy upper class and the less affluent working class of England. The novel is set in the close of the Edwardian Era of England, a time in which these conflicts were flourishing. The Schlegel sisters represent the cultured and sophisticated side of the upper class of England, while the Wilcox family represents the more materialistic and stuffy side of England's upper class. The conflict between these families, which governs most of the book, arises from the dilemma of which family will obtain ownership of Howards End, the estate, after Mrs. Wilcox passes away. The two families are joined by the marriage of Margaret Schlegel and Henry Wilcox. The ownership of Howards End is awarded to the same person for whom it was destined in the beginning of the novel. E.M. Forster crafted a masterpiece in Howards End, and it is a classic that will last throughout time.
Rating:
Summary: Emma Thompson Brings the book to Life
Review: Howards End is one of my favourite novels. I find myself applying it's quiet little lessons to my life rather often and have gotten to know it's wonderfully winding structure of a story quite intimately. What amazes me is that I am even more fond of the novel since having heard it read by Emma Thompson on a rather long road trip. There were several others sharing a car, some of whom freely admit that they might never have picked up the book or seen the film had it not been for the book-to-tape adaption of this novel. We actually listened to it twice and all agreed the the wonderful story was made even more wonderful and lively by Emma Thompson's wonderful way of reading and her witty of portrayal each character. If you've grown tired of this story, Forster or literature in general, I highly recommend a road trip with these tapes!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Howards End is simply one of the most beautiful and complete novels I've ever read. I love the clarity of Forster's prose in all of his novels. The themes and ideas are wonderfully layered - the depth is such that I've read it at least four times of my own volition and (cliche, I know) found some new facet to appreciate each time.
Rating:
Summary: Well Written
Review: I chose this book because it was on the Best 100 Books List, and it was very enjoyable. Forster's characters are so interesting and alive. They are the kind of people I would love to meet in real life, but unfortunately are too rare. Forster has a beautiful writing style, and I love the way he writes about the fine arts.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly good, uniquely wise
Review: I expected Jane Austen and got a very pleasant surprise. Forster uses his characters and their relationships and a launching pad for more philosophical and sociological ruminations. And not in a contrived way, but in the almost intuitive way our own interactions with the people we meet stimulate us, provoke us, and stretch us.
And as far as I know, this book is one of a kind in that it treats people with no imagination with dignity and respect. Most of us are aware there is some kind of division in the world between artists and businessmen, and the division has shown up often enough in literature sure enough. But as all producers of fiction are by necessity on the artist side of the division, businessmen are usually the villains, evil at worst and stupid at best, and artists, are, quite naturally, the heroes. Forster is uniquely wise enough to peer into the enemy camp and see beauty and value.
My feel is that Forster's characterization at times surpasses his writing ability. This is more praise than criticism; his vivid imagination is able to conjure and follow characters that his pen finds difficult to put on the page. They move and live and act in ways he is unable to fully explain or account for. And when was the last time you were able to truly capture all the complexities, intricacies and contradictions of a real person with the rudimentary elements of pen paper and alphabet? That Forster's characters defy characterization may be a contradiction, but in my book it is high praise.
And the way Forster often philosophizes might annoy others, but I do enjoy it. There is a passage early in the book about Beethoven's Fifth Symphony that is thinly costumed to make it fit within the frames of the book, I love it for what it is -- a brilliant exposition on a distinct piece of music. --... Some quotes I enjoyed: "It is the vice of a vulgar mind to be thrilled by bigness, to think that a thousand square miles are a thousand times more wonderful than one square mile, and that a million square miles are almost the same as heaven. That is not imagination. No, it kills it." (23) "What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?...Haven't we all to struggle against life's daily greyness, against pettiness, against mechanical cheerfulness, against suspicion? I struggle by remembering my friends; others I have known by remembering some place--some beloved place or tree--we thought you were one of these." (112) "England was alive, throbbing through all her estuaries, crying for joy through the mouths of all her gulls, and the north wind, with contrary motion, blew stronger against her rising seas. What did it mean? For what end are her fair complexities, her changes of soil, her sinuous coast? Does she belong to those who have molded her and made her feared by other lands, or to those who added nothing to her power, but have somehow seen her, seen the whole island at once, lying as a jewel in a silver sea, sailing as a ship of souls, with all the brave world's fleet accompanying her towards eternity?" (138) "The business man who assumes that this life is everything, and the mystic who asserts that it is nothing, fail, on this side and on that, to hit the truth. "Yes, I see, dear; it's about halfway between," Aunt Juley hazarded in earlier years. No; truth, being alive, was not halfway between anything. It was only to be found by continuous excursion into either realm, and though proportion is the final secret, to espouse it at the outset is to insure sterility." (153) "Love and Truth-- their warfare seems eternal. Perhaps the whole visible world rests on it, and if they were one, life itself, like the spirits when Prospero was reconciled to his brother, might vanish into air, into thin air." (181) "But man is an odd, sad creature as yet, intent on pilfering the earth, and heedless of the growths within himself. He cannot be bored about psychology. He leaves it to the specialist, which is as if he should leave his dinner to be eaten by a steam-engine. He cannot be bothered to digest his own soul." (219) "She could not assess her trespass by any moral code; it was everything or nothing. Morality can tell us that murder is worse than stealing, and group most sins in an order all must approve, but it cannot group Helen. The surer its pronouncements on this point, the surer may we be that morality is not speaking. Christ was evasive when they questioned Him. It is those that cannot connect who hasten to cast the first stone." (246)
Rating: 
Summary: My opinion:
Review: I got this book out of the library when "A Room With a View" was not to be found, and I thought it was fine. Interesting, although the story didn't really start until it was practicall over. I mean to say, it takes forever to get going. Then I read "A Room With a View," and I have to say that comparing the two books makes "Howards End" seem dull and cold and drawn out and the characters unlikeable and irritating. If you want to read a great E.M. Forster book, Read "A Room With a View," which is truly a beautiful novel.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best!
Review: I have read Howard's End two or three times and listened to it once on tape and it remains one of my favorite novels. Many people were introduced to it by the film, which, good though it was, does not begin to capture the subtle wisdom Forster put into this book. Howard's End can be seen as a quaint period piece about British culture in the early Twentieth Century. On another level, however, it's a brilliant exploration of the human soul. In the Schlegels and the Wilcoxes, Forster has created the perfect embodiment of the eternal conflict between reason and passion. These two families, destined to be united by the marriage of Margaret Schlegel to Henry Wilcox, represent two seemingly irreconcilable aspects of humanity. The Schlegels are artistic, intellectual and impractical; the Wilcoxes materialistic and unapologetically bourgeois. Margaret and Henry have their differences, but it is their relatives who display the more extreme family traits. Margaret's sister Helen is a classic bohemian; Henry's son Charles is a humorless and intolerant banker. As the novel unfolds, the two families are forced to confront each other and decide whether to ultimately part company or compromise. What is most impressive to me about the novel is the naturalness and grace with which the story unfolds. When an author uses characters to embody universal qualities, it is quite a challenge to make the people and story real and not merely symbols. Howard's End succeeds brilliantly as both a thoroughly engaging novel and a rather profound metaphysical inquiry.
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