This is my fourth of Forster’s six published novels, and this was his first published. I think I can say he is one of my favourite authors even if I do find his characters often silly and irksome, but realistically so. I think I enjoyed this book less than all the others I’ve read of his so far because it was hard to find anyone to sympathise with since everyone was typically supercilious as they often actually were in that time. Philip reminded me of a middle class Leonard Bast, but I think I warmed to him at the end. The only other character I liked  was Caroline Abbott. I liked Gino, but he was more of Forster’s archetype for a handsome lower-class Italian at times. Even if Gino was not as dimensional, Forster shows his knack for differences between people in class and nationalities. While reading, I laughed once at the silliness of these people because of the irony, and their realism. I’m more amused and irked rather than irritated by Forster characters. He’s also got a thing for melodrama at least once in the novel. The ending in this book was dramatic, but it allowed for a couple of the characters to mature and shine though. All in all, not my favourite of Forster and I can see how this was his first. I do like it simply for being written by him because he often writes what I feel about society and people sometimes. I’ll give a report of the movie when I see it as well.

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An update on the 1001 Books You Should Read Before You Die, I’ve actually read 72 books from the list (73 now that I’ve finished the above). Wow, that’s a lot of books that I missed when scrolling at top speed at midnight. I’m debating about what I should I read next since I’m not quite in the mood for Watership Down yet. I’ll just rewatch Northanger Abbey now and watch a movie afterwards.