A Room With a View [Mass Market Paperback]

E. M. Forster (Author), David Leavitt (Introduction)

Book Description

Release date: September 1, 2009

The graded readers in this series aim to provide learners of English with a pleasurable reading experience. The series, which should appeal to a wide age range, exposes students to a variety of styles and kinds of English and the books contain puzzles and exercises based on the text. The grading system is based on lexical controls, structural controls and guidelines on sentence length and complexity. Books in Level 3 have a vocabulary of 1000 words.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"She 'never exactly understood,' she would say in after years, 'How he managed to strengthen her. It was as if he had made her see the whole of everything at once.'"

--E. M. Forster

I loved it. My first intimation of the possibilities of fiction --Zadie Smith He says, and even more implies, things that no other novelist does, and we can go on reading Forster indefinitely The Times

I loved it. My first intimation of the possibilities of fiction --Zadie Smith He says, and even more implies, things that no other novelist does, and we can go on reading Forster indefinitely The Times

I loved it. My first intimation of the possibilities of fiction --Zadie Smith He says, and even more implies, things that no other novelist does, and we can go on reading Forster indefinitely The Times

I loved it. My first intimation of the possibilities of fiction --Zadie Smith He says, and even more implies, things that no other novelist does, and we can go on reading Forster indefinitely The Times

I loved it. My first intimation of the possibilities of fiction --Zadie Smith He says, and even more implies, things that no other novelist does, and we can go on reading Forster indefinitely The Times --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

6 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Signet Classics (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451531388
• ISBN-13: 978-0451531384
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.7 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (180 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #699,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 109 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars this rating is for the Kindle edition, not book itself October 28, 2010

By Winifred

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The book itself gets 5 stars from me.

This Kindle edition is atrocious - it is missing entire passages. I think it is only sections involving quotes from another work; I stopped reading because I didn't want to spoil the pleasure in re-reading this wonderful book.

Same problem with the Kindle edition of Howards' End, btw. In that case, actual narrative seemed to be missing.

92 of 96 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Book With a Heart May 15, 2000

By oh_pete VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

A ROOM WITH A VIEW depicts a young Englishwoman's adventure trying to come to grips with the conflict between her desires and society's expectations. Lucy Honeychurch is a well-bred young middle class girl on holiday in radiant Florence. She comes from a family overconcerned with respectability and is therefore overprotected by a dessicated spinster named Charlotte Bartlett. One wonders if Forster had in mind a more famous Charlotte B. when he drew Lucy's protector, a woman "much discomfited by [any] unpleasant scene[s]." Forster playfully tosses barbs at this don't-let-the-servants-hear-you world the English try to maintain on foreign soil. Less playful with sanctimonious Puritans or hypocritical clergymen, Forster lets them foil themselves.

Under no circumstances will Miss Bartlett allow Lucy to pursue (or even examine) her affection for the handsome young George Emerson--his father is far too unconventional with his modern notions about honesty and freethinking. Duty must reign . . . mustn't it? Ah, that wild transitional phase between the late-Victorians and the early-Moderns!

Forster writes gently and calmly, but with a passion for life and love welling up beneath the surface. A ROOM WITH A VIEW is a lovely book, vital with the force of a sensitive and empathetic mind. There's even more to this book than it seems--highly recommended!

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful social satire. July 13, 2000

By Leonard L. Wilson

Format:Hardcover

Concerning Lucy's passionate playing of Beethoven upon the piano, the Rev. Mr. Beebe once said, "If Miss Honeychurch ever takes to live as she plays, it will be very exciting--both for us and for her." At the time of the remark, Lucy is a very conventional young woman, with perhaps occasional rebellious thoughts. The Emersons, father and son, are somehow not quite acceptable in her social circle, and though George is so bold as to kiss her impulsively, she is determined to forget him. Instead she finally gives in to the repeated proposals of Cecil Vyse, a thoroughly fashionable young gentleman, if not very exciting. So the stage is set for this splendid satire on the English social strata of the early part of the 20th century, a time when the formal structure of the Victorian era was beginning to fray at the edges. Vyse is a delightfully drawn male chauvinist prig; nobody likes him, but everyone is willing to accept him, and Lucy convinces herself that she is in love with him. However, Vyse's own penchant for getting his way by playing rather cruel practical jokes brings the Emersons back into the picture. Confronted by the contrast between the not quite classy but intelligent, thoughtful (and bold) George Emerson and the arrogant, boorish, but elite Cecil Vyse, Lucy finally decides to live as she plays Beethoven, with exciting results. This early work of Forster's is a pure delight, with a light and well-controlled tone throughout. Although there would be a danger of stereotyping to illustrate the different social classes, Forster skillfully makes the characters well rounded and unpredictable, as in the scene when Lucy breaks her engagement to Vyse, expecting his feelings of masculine superiority to precipitate an argument, but instead being somewhat dismayed when he behaves as a perfect gentleman. Although HOWARDS END is usually rated above A ROOM WITH A VIEW, I prefer this slighter, but consummately well-done, novel.