A Christmas Carol | Charles Dickens

I was feeling a little down in the dumps about the state of the world the other day, after going to see an amazing talk by Dr. David Suzuki in Toronto. Since I had already finished my bookclub novel for November, I was free to choose something that I hoped would raise my spirits. Christmas is on its way, so I decided that something festive would brighten my mood. I must admit there aren’t a lot of Christmas books on my shelf, but there was one that I have been dying to read for a while now: “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. The other added benefit from this, is that I have yet to read any Dickens and I have felt entirely guilty for not doing so. How can someone who runs a book club for over two years and is a lover of literature not read any Dickens?

HISTORY

So, let’s start by talking briefly on the background of the novel and what was happening in the world at the time. “In May 1843, Dickens planned to publish an inexpensive political pamphlet tentatively titled, "An Appeal to the People of England, on behalf of the Poor Man's Child" [Wikipedia] which was intended to report the effect of the Industrial Revolution on the children of England. This pamphlet eventually became “A Christmas Carol” and was originally published on December 19th, 1843 as “A Christmas Carol in Prose, (Being a Ghost Story of Christmas)”. The book was written and published in six weeks.

Dickens was well known as being an advocate for the poor, which was largely based on his upbringing. In 1924, his father John was arrested for financial (debt) problems and at twelve years old, Charles was forced into working in a shoe polish factory where I would assume he worked in sub-par conditions. Dickens most well known work, “Oliver Twist”, was about a boy that escaped a workhouse and met a bunch of pickpockets in London.

MOVIES

I’m just going to start by saying that the book’s general plot lines follow what you have seen in most of the movies. The best “A Christmas Carol” is the 1951 black and white film Alastair Sim. Of course, for me, one cannot forget to mention my favourite as a child... “Mickey’s Christmas Carol.” Another, immensely popular version [and my girlfriend’s favourite] is “A Muppet Christmas Carol.” This year, another version of the film will come out in an animated version with Jim Carrey playing the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge, which so far has received mixed reviews.

DIFFERENCES FROM THE MOVIES

In a couple of days I’m going to post some of the differences between the movie plots [as I remember them] and the original work of Dickens.

Ernest Hemingway | The Sun Also Rises

Before I start my review I thought I’d take a journey back to see what other Hemingway works I have read:

A Farewell to Arms (1929)

To Have and Have Not (1937)

The Complete Short Stories (The First Forty-Nine: 1938)

For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940)

The Old Man and the Sea (1952)

True at First Light [posthumously 1999]

This list seems like a pretty good one, but it’s very evident that I missed the start of it all with “The Sun Also Rises”, which was written in 1926.

The meat of the novel was written utilizing one of Hemingway’s favourite backdrops, the bull fighting in Pamplona, Spain (Note: The first half of the novel is set in Paris, a common haven for writers at the time). In particular, this novel is set during a week-long fiesta some time after World War I ends. The book is narrated by Jake Barnes, a war veteran and writer who copes with life, like a majority of Hemingway characters, through excessive partying and alcohol.

The object of his fancy is a woman named Brett Ashley, but war wounds have left Jake sexually incapacitated, making him unable to physically be with her. Brett is engaged to Mike Campbell but is being pursued by uninteresting Jewish boxer Robert Cohn, who was involved with Brett for a weekend during her engagement. When Brett runs off with a young, Spanish bull fighter named Pedro Romero, Cohn shows his jealousy which takes us to the climax of the novel. Brett seduces every man to fall in love with her, and is somehow a tragic character despite being dislikeable and having the incapacity of staying faithful to anyone.

“The Sun Also Rises” is a portrayal of a beautiful woman’s effect on men and friendships and is my least favourite Hemingway work thus far. While the author does an amazing job of painting the landscape and shows us subtlety’s that only the vision of Hemingway could portray, the lack of sympathy and compassion he gives us for his Jake is uncharacteristic of his other protagonists. While his love and kinship with nature is expressed, the emotions of the main character are only briefly touched on, as are the deeper emotions of his other characters.

There’s just one more thing I wanted to document: the utilization of a beautiful metaphor. Robert Cohn was emotionally isolated from group of friends [Mike, Bill, Jake & Brett] and was being heavily ridiculed and chastised by Mike Campbell - he swooped in to deliver some painful blows. After the brutalization occurred, the group went to witness a bull fight where all the bulls isolated a particular steer while one bull went in for the kill and gorged the poor animal. Both events were painful to witness, and showed a piece of just how disgusting humanity can be.
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QUOTATION
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"You paid some way for everything that was any good.  I paid my way into enough things that I liked, so that I had a good time.  Either you paid by learning about them, or by experience, or by taking chances, or by money.  Enjoying living was learning to get your money's worth and knowing when you had it.  You could get your money's worth.  The world was a good place to buy in.  It seemed like a fine philosophy.  In five years, I thought, it will seem just as silly as all the other fine philosophies I've had.

Perhaps that wasn't true, though.  Perhaps as you went along you did learn something.  I did not care what it was all about.  All I wanted to know was how to live in it.  Maybe if you found out how to live in it you learned from that what it was all about." 153

Point Counter Point | Aldous Huxley

Reading Aldous Huxley’s “Point Counter Point” was like walking 5km through three foot snow drifts. The process is a complete struggle, you sweat, you curse and both your mind and body are exhausted by the effort... but in the end, you look at what you struggled through and think... “I’m glad I accomplished this, but I wouldn’t do it again.”

“Point Counter Point” was about the British aristocracy and detailed some of their musings about life, society and the people and structures within it. Unfortunately, the meandering through these opinions and elitist dialogue seemed random and disjointed. Huxley took us from one set of characters to another and from one thought or topic to another, with little to link everything together. Huxley ran the gambit from musings on science, ecology, sexuality, morality, politics, art and religion.

The characters within the novel proved to be unsympathetic and non-relatable, creating the inevitable slog through difficult terrain. That said, the point of the novel was to compare all these people to Mark and Mary Rampion, the implied protagonist couple. Not only was this one of the only couples not experiencing infidelity, but their outlook on life was a beacon for embracing one’s humanity.

Huxley’s message is to live life based on what comes naturally to you. Do not be concerned with trying to be too moral, because humanity in itself is not completely moral. Having material wealth and aspiring for financial gain is an artificial construct created by society and entirely irrelevant to life. Being human has more to do with emotions and physical needs – something that man has tried to stymie over the years because we feel it’s detestable. Huxley challenges that while some sexual acts are perverted, ones completed in the pure act of love are not.

In the end, the message is to live life like a man on a tight rope. Despite this being one of the most difficult challenges of life, it’s the balance that is most critical to being the best human you can be. The key is balancing yourself is being completely honest about your humanity in an effort to get back to the things that make us humans in the first place.

English landscapes and nature in general were not detailed throughout the novel, nor were many character descriptions presented. This novel was all about the thoughts and actions of the characters in an effort to show the reader how much we’ve neglected our own humanity by pursuing a life without a focus on balance.

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QUOTATIONS
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"Most habitual debauchees are debauchees not because they enjoy debauchery, but because they are uncomfortable when deprived of it.  Habit converts luxurious enjoyments into dull and daily necessities.  The man who has formed a habit of women or gin, of opium-smoking or glagellation, finds it as difficult to live without his vice as to live without bread and water, even though the actual practice of the vice may have become in itself as unexciting as eating a crust or drinking a glass from the kitchen tap." 221

"Everything's incredible, if you can skin off the crust of obviousness our habits put on it.  Every object and event contains within itself an infinity of depths within depths." 297

...
" 'When humanity's destroyed, obviously there'll be no more problem.  But it seems a poor sort of solution.  I believe there may be another, even within the framework of the present system.  A temporary one while the system's being modified in the direction of a permanent solution.  The root of the evil's in the individual psychology; so it's there, in the individual psychology, that you'd have to begin.  The first step would be to make people live dualistically, in two compartments.  In come compartment as industrialized workers, in the other as human beings.  As idiots and machines for eight hours out of every twenty-four and real human beings for the rest.'

'Don't they do that already?'

'Of course they don't.  They live as idiots and machines all the time, at work and in their leisure.  Like idiots and machines, but imagining they're living like civilized humans, even like gods.  The first thing to do is to make them admit that they are idiots and machines during working hours.  'Our civilization being what it si,' this is what you'll have to say to them, 'you've got to spend eight hours out of every twenty-four as a mixture between an imbecile and a sweing machine.  It's very disagreeable, I know.  It's humiliating and disgusting.  but there you are.  You've got to do it; otherwise the whole fabric of our world will fall to bits and we'll all starve.  Do the job, then, idiotically and mechanically; and spend your leisure hours in being a real complete man or woman, as the case may be.  Don't mix the two lives together; keep the bulkheads watertight between them.  The genuine human life in your lesirue hours in the real thing.  The other's just a dirty job that's got to be done.  And never forget that it is dirty and, except in so far as it keeps you fed and society intact, utterly unimportant, utterly irrelevant to the real human life.  Don't be deceived by the canting rogues who talk of the sanctity of labour and the Christian Service that business men do their fellows.  It's all lies.  You work's just a nasty, dirty job, made unfortunately necessary by the folly of your ancestors.  They piled up a mountain of garbage and you've got to go on digging it away, for fear it might stink you to death, dig for dear life, while cursing the memory of the maniacs who made all the dirty work for you to do.  but don't try to cheer yourself up by pretending the nasty mechanical job is a noble one.  It isn't; and the only result of saying and believing that it is, will be to lower your humanity to the level of the dirty work.  If you believe in business as Service and the sanctity of labour, you'll merely turn yourself into a mechanical idiot for twent-four hours out of the twent-four.  Admit it's dirty, hold your nose and do it for eight hours and then concentrate on being a real human being in your leisure.  A real complete human being .  Not a nespaper reader, not a jazzer, not a radio fan.  The industrialists who purvey standardized ready-made amusements to the masses are doing their best to make you as much of a mechanical imbecile in your leisure as in your hours of work.  But don't let them.  Make the effort of being human.' That's what you've got to say to people; that's the lesson you've got to teach the young.  You've got to persuade everybody that all this grand industrial civilization is just a bad smell and that the real, significant life can only be lived apart from it.  It'll be a very long time before decent living and industrialized smell can be reconciled.  Perhaps, indeed, they're irreoncilable.  It remains to be seen.  In the meantime, at any rate, we must shovel the garbage and bear the smell stoically, and in the intervals try to lead the real human life.' " 304-306
...
[MORE TO COME]

Fahrenheit 451 | Ray Bradbury

"Fahrenheit 451" was one of those sci-fi, distopian fiction novels that I was ashamed not to have read.  I finally got around to doing so, and all I can say is "Wow!"  This novel completely blew me away; I wasn't expecting it to be so good.

The story is about Guy Montag, a fireman, who lives in a futuristic society where firemen do not put out fires... they create them.  The goal of a fireman is to destroy records, particularly books.  The concept of the novel is summed up rather nicely in this line by Fire Captain Beatty: ""Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs.... Don't give them slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy."

The premise is to turn people into happy idiots by taking away books and introducing television.  People's "families" are really their television characters that talk to them and they spend all day looking at televisions that take up entire walls of rooms.  Montag is continually pressured by his wife to earn more money to buy a fourth wall - so she can be encapsulated completely in her television universe.  What's really interesting is that this novel was written in 1951, way before the concept of reality television was put into practice.  This book paints an eerie picture of what can happen when this type of programming gets out of hand.

Of course, the novel is not solely about television.  It's just a medium, to which, the people in society can seek pleasure without thinking.  The goal of the society is to produce people who are happy, and happiness is found in complete ignorance and lives solely based on leisure.  The concept is not a new one, and is often a critism of the United States.  Sports and doing everything quickly without having time for reflection (such as racing cars) are used to inhibit thinking.

The largest way of controlling society is by inhibiting information exchange, in this case, by burning books.  This is similar to the treatment of the Chinese by their communist government - everything (especially media) is regulated and watched.  Bradbury presents a very simplistic viewpoint of this, which mainly results from members of society giving up their neighbours or spouses for the possession of books.

When Montag is turned in for his collection of books, he narrowly escapes - a chace with a mechanical dog that can distinguish his scent, that is all recorded on reality television.  In the end, without giving it away, he encounters some more of his own kind who tell him the secret to keeping books alive.

This was one of the best books I have read in a long time and I encourage everyone reading this review to run out and get a copy.  Remember to store it in a well hidden place - just in case.

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QUOTATIONS
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"Do you know why books such as this are so important?  Because they have quality.  And what does the word quality mean?  To me it means texture.  This book has pores.  It has features.  This book can go under the microscope.  You'd find life under the glass, streaming past in infinite profusion.  The more pores, the more truthfully recorded details of life per square inch you can get on a sheet of paper, the more 'literary' you are.  That's my definition anyway.  Telling detail.  Fresh detail.  The good writers touch life often.  THe mediocre ones run a quick hand over her.  The bad ones raper her and leave her for the flies." 111

"The things you're looking for, Montag, are in the world but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety-nine percent of them is in a book." 114

"But remember that the Captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy to truth and freedom, the solid, unmoving cattle of the majority."  136

"The moved along the bank of the river, going south.  Montag tried to see the men's faces, the old faces he remembered from the firlight, lined and tired.  He was looking for a brightness, a reslove, a triumph over tomorrow that hardly seemed to be there.  Perhaps he had expected their faces to burn and glitter with the knowledge they cared, to glow as lanterns glow, with the light in them.  But all the light had come from the cmpfire, and these men had seemed no different than any others who had run a long race, serached a long search, seen good things destroyed, and now, very late, were gathered to wait for the end of the party and blowing out of the lamps.  The weren't at all certain that the things they carried in their heads might make every future dawn glow with a purer light, they were sure of nothing save that the books were on file behind their quiet eyes, the books were waiting, with their pages uncut, for the customers who might come by in later years, some with clean and some with dirty fingers."  180

"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my frandfather said.  A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made.  Or a garden planted.  Some thing your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there.  It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away.  The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said.  The law-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime." 182

" 'Stuff your eyes with wonder,' he said, 'live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds.  See the world.  It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.  Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal.  And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away.  To hell with that,' he said, 'shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass.' " 183

"We'll go on the river.  He looked at the old railroad tracks.  Or we'll go that way.  Or we'll walk on the highways now, and we'll have time to put things into ourselves.  And some day, after it sets in us a long time, it'll come out our hands and our mouths.  And a lot of it will be wrong, but just enough of it will be right.  We'll just start walking today and see the world and the way the world walks around and talks, the way it really looks.  I want to see everything now.  And while none of it will be me when it goes in, after awhile it'll all gather together inside and it'll be me.  Look at the world out there, my God, my God, look at it out there, outside me, out there beyond my face and the only way to really touch it is to put it where it's finally me, where it's in the blood, where it pumps around a thousand times ten thousand a day.  I'll get hold if it so it'll never run off.  I'll hold onto the world tight some day.  I've got one finger on it now; that's a beginning." 187

"There was a silly damn bird called a Phoenix back before Christ, every few hundred years he built a pyre and burned himself up.  He must have been first cousin to Man.  But every time he burnt himself up he sprang out of the ashes, he got himself born all over again.  And it looks like we're doing the same thing, over and over, but we've got one damn thing the Phoenix never had.  We know the damn silly thing we just did.  We know all the damn silly things we've done for a thousand years and as long as we know that and always have it around where we can see it, some day we'll stop making the goddam funeral pyres and jumping in the middle of them.  We pick up a few more people that remember, every generation."  189

"To everything there is a season.  Yes.  A time to break down, and a time to build up. Yes.  A time to keep silence and a time to speak.  Yes, all that." 190

I, Robot | Isaac Asimov

There is no doubt that Isaac Asimov was one of the best and most innovative Science Fiction writers of all-time.  My passion for his "Foundation" series cannot be equalled for anything else in the genre.  However, "I, Robot" fell a little short based on prior Asimov expectations.

Know first that the book is a collection of short stories written in different periods and tied together through discussions between "robo-psychologist" Susan Calvin, and a reporter.  The connection between the stories makes logical sense, but doesn't flow like a REAL novel would.  While the Asimov skill for storytelling doesn't really come through in these works, his knowledge and innovation on robotics theory does.

These stories, written in 1950, begin with Asimov's three laws of robotics:

1) A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.


2) A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
 
The stories go on to show some of the problems that arise out of robot interpretation of these laws.  The typical plot structure is as follows:
 
A) A more advanced type of robot is created
B) A human order is given to said robot
C) Robot interprets order in a different way than the human order was intended
D) This creates some sort of problem for humanity
E) Humans try to figure out what's wrong by means of trial and error mixed with ingenuity
 
While this becomes somewhat formulaic in most stories, others are more enlightening.
 
"Robbie" is a tale of robot emotions, and the power of love - especially of children.
"Reason" shows us that creating something "more intelligent" then ourselves could lead to disastrous results.  In addition, there is a great theme explored on the power of blind faith - hinted to be religion (God = "Master)
"Evidence" tells the story of a political figure that may or may not be a robot and asks "Who cares?  As long as they do a good job!"
"The Evitable Conflict" flashes forward to a time where we are run by "machines."  There is a great point on whether human thinking becomes obsolete or if machines make human thought even more valued. 
 
All the tales in general touch on the inefficiency of humans, but yet point out how much strength and versatility we have in our minds (if not our bodies).
 
The one thing that I found excruciatingly, was the use of bad futuristic slang such as "we've been stuck with pretty lousy jobs in our time, but this takes the iridium asteroid" 69, or "holy howling Jupiter" 74, "Jumping Space!" 82, "Jumping Jupiter!" 88, "Great Galaxy" 156.  I found this in bad taste, but maybe it's indicative around the humour of the time or maybe I just need to lighten up - as bad slang is present in all recent human history.
 
On the whole, while the book lacked a cohesive story, it did provide some enlightenment on the human condition and presented a believable history of robots.  Each story provided an additional step of the evolution but really lacked man's reaction [other than specialists] to the times.  In addition, the novel assumed that each time humans were able to correct the situation.  Over the course of history, it's been shown that some of the things man does to nature cannot be corrected by man at all - look at the poisonous cane frog that was introduced in Austrailia to kill aphids (or some other creature) who were destroying the crops.  Now the cane frogs are taking over.  I would assume that it's more likely that the robots take over and control humans and we get the same dilema as in "Frankeinstein."  Is the monster the product or the creator?
 
QUOTATION:
"Our entire technical civilization has created more unhappiness and misery than it has removed.  Perhaps an agrarian or pastoral civilization, with less culture and less people would be better.  If so, the Machines must move in that direction, preferably without telling us, since in our ignorant prejudices we only know that what we are used to, is good - and we would then fight change.  Or perhaps a complete urbanization, or a complete caste-ridden society, or complete anarchy, is the answer.  We don't know.  Only the Machines know, and they are going there and taking us with them.
 
'But you are telling me, Susan, that the 'Society for Humanity' is right; and that Mankind has lost its own say in its future.'
 
'It never had any, really.  It was always at the mercy of economic and sociological forces it did not understand - at the whims of climate, and the foturnes of war.  Now the Machines understand them; and no one can stop them, since the Machines will deal with them as they are dealing with the Society, - having, as they do, the greatest of weapons at their disposal, the absolute control of our economy.'
 
'How horrible!'
 
'Perhaps how wonderful!  Think, that for all time, all conflicts are finally evitable.  Only the Machines, from now on, are inevitable!' " 223-224

Outliers | Malcolm Gladwell

"Outliers: The Story of Success" is the third book published by Malcolm Gladwell, a British born Canadian journalist that writes for The New Yorker. His first two books were "The Tipping Point" and "Blink"; "Outliers" follows a similar framework. A hypothesis is made and then backed up by statistics and a few examples.

Gladwell's hypothesis states that he believes that people in society are successful for a number of key factors:

1. Intelligence (you need to be smart, but not necessarily a genius)

2. Dedication to your practice (over 10,000 hours in your field)

3. Cultural upbringings (where you come from historically - both geographically and by caste)

4. Time of birth (to take advantage of emerging trends)

5. Luck (key breaks)

The bread and butter comes from Gladwell's examples. It's important to read these examples with a grain of salt, because a lot of the 'one of' examples have holes in them - and not just based on the limited sample size. However, there are a few examples with lots of research to back them up, and they are very interesting to read.

I won't go into detail here, but some of the topics include:

A) Why successful hockey players are most likely to be born between January and March [statistically backed up]

B) Bill Gates & The Beatles [examples of the 10,000 hour rule]

C) The intelligence threshold [proof that you need to be smart, but not a genius]

D) Cultural upbringing and timing [the rise of the poor Italian immigrant lawyers in NY]

E) Why plane crashes happen [influenced by culture]

F) Why Asians are good at math [this was quite interesting]

G) Why people from good homes do better academically [he 'proves' that this doesn't occur in school, but during the summer]

This is the book in a nutshell, and while some of the points are loosely thrown together [stories about Bill Gates & The Beatles], others have a substantial amount of research behind them and are very interesting in themselves. Learning about random things like how to tend rice paddies were enthralling and will forever be implanted in my mind. As with Gladwell's other books, I caution to look at what he says with a critical eye. The questions you ask as you read along are important. The book is meant for the reader to think, not to blindly accept. Keeping this in mind, "Outliers" was a very enjoyable and informative read.

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QUOTATIONS:
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"Those three things - autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward - are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying." 149

"Hard work is a prison sentence only if it does not have meaning. Once it does, it becomes the kind of thing that makes you grab your wife around the waist and dance a jig." 150

Angels & Demons | Dan Brown

This is going to be a quick review, because this is a book that just “is what it is.” “Angels & Demons” is a thriller about Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist who happens to be able to cheat death on numerous occasions due to his knowledge of history and religious symbols.

Langdon is flown into CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, to investigate a death of a scientist, claimed to be killed by the Illuminati (a satanic cult). The killer has stolen “antimatter”, which when not stabilized, can cause more damage than a nuclear bomb. The “antimatter” is placed somewhere in the Vatican and is scheduled to react with matter (blow-up) in 24 hours. The plot of the story details the quest to find the killer and save the Vatican while restoring order to the institute of religion.

This book is a page turner, but the characters (especially Langdon) are formulaic. The ‘love story’ is cliche and the plot was similar to “The DaVinci Code”, Dan Brown’s most famous work. “Angels & Demons” was a story based on a bunch of conspiracy theories which happened to teach us a little bit about Rome and the Vatican. The problem with these types of books, is that you are never certain which pieces are fictional and which are non-fictional unless you do additional research.

The enjoyment I got from the book was from revisiting places that I had seen in Rome, coupled with things that I had missed (ie: The Pantheon was closed when I was there). The illustrated edition helped with this aspect of the book greatly; the pictures, on the whole, were well done.

In addition, Dan Brown included some good points on the religion versus science debate and the nature of our society (in two speeches in particular), but overall this novel’s true character came out: it was a smutty attempt at literature in an effort to make one man and his publisher rich.

A Passage to India | E.M. Forster

“A Passage to India” by E.M. Forster chronicles the English occupation of India in the mid-1800’s. The book shows the racism and hatred amongst parties, and details the friendship of a Muslim Indian (Dr. Aziz) with an Englishman, Cyril Fielding, in the city of Chandrapore.

Dr. Aziz immediately takes to Fielding upon meeting him, and eventually demonstrates the importance of their friendship by showing him a picture of his deceased wife, taboo in Muslim tradition. Their relationship has its ebbs and flows over time due to trust issues stemming from poor treatment of Dr. Aziz by other English men and women after ‘the incident’.

In an attempt to make friends with some English ladies, Dr. Aziz takes them on a trip to the Marabar Caves. When Adela Quested is assaulted in a cave, she blames Dr. Aziz; No other people are present save a guide, and she assumes that Aziz is directly responsible. When Dr. Aziz returns to Chandrapore, he is arrested.

Fielding, implicitly trusting Dr. Aziz’, states that he is innocent and is immediately ostracized himself by the English in Chandrapore. When the trial begins, Adela breaks down and proclaims that Dr. Aziz is indeed, innocent – she had somehow mixed things up. Despite the trial’s resolution, the country continues to be divided amongst racial lines.

Dr. Aziz eventually forgives Adela, and proves it by waiving the charge of damages resulting from the trial. When Fielding decides to go back to England for a time, Dr. Aziz assumes it is to marry Adela. This breaks their friendship, as Aziz takes the act as an indirect theft of his waived damages. Their relationship is eventually saved by the spirit of Mrs. Moore (an English woman), whom Dr. Aziz loved in a purely platonic way.

That’s about it, in a nutshell. This book is praised in most circles and is known as one of the Modern Library’s 100 Greatest Books of All-Time. Somehow, I had a problem connecting both with the story and with the characters.

The consensus on the Forster’s prose seemed to be one of fluidity and skill, but I never got that impression. The language was fairly lost on me, and I didn’t find many transcendent quotes which had me running for a pen.

In addition, the event at the caves occurred about halfway through the novel, and ended with approx 80 pages remaining. In my mind, those eighty pages had little substance in them, despite the friendship renewal with Fielding and the plight of Mrs. Moore.

The character descriptions were loose, and amongst some of the fringe characters, you never really had a sense of who they were or what their purpose was. Despite the subject, this novel never captivated me, though it had the potential.

Forster did a decent job of portraying India through the eyes of the English, which was paralleled by his brief painting of the landscape and lifestyle of the people. To me, this is the greatest thing that can be taken from the novel, whether this was intended by the author or not. The novel is a discreet commentary on just how little the English learned about India. The rest of the novel fell short of drama, passion and ingenuity, and seemed to just float along with the reader. I was surprised by the praise of this work, and disappointed with the effort as a whole.

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QUOTATIONS
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"One can tip too much as well as too little; indeed the coin that buys the exact truth has not yet been minted." 10

"He had discovered that it is possible to keep in with Indians and Englishmen, but that he who would also keep in with Englishwomen must drop the Indians.  The two wouldn't combine.  Useless to blame either party, useless to blame them for blaming one another.  It just was so, and one had to choose."  52

"...he had dulled his craving for verbal truth and cared chiefly for truth of mood."  60-61

"Aziz overrated hospitality, mistaking it for intimacy, and not seeing that it is tainted with the sense of possession." 127

"The triumphant machine of civilization may suddenly hitch and be immobilized into a car of stone, and at such moments the destiny of the English seems to resemble their predecessors', who also entered the country with intent to refashion it, but were in the end worked into its pattern and covered with its dust."  190

"...we all build upon sand; and the more modern the country gets, the worse'll be the crash." 250