Literary The MobileRead Literary Book Club August 2011 Discussion: A Passage To India

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by beppe

Forster leaves sensuality alone. To each his own. Love for him is voluptuous, and that's it. Just one word and it is up to the reader to fill that single word with meanings and images.

The last sentence of your post resonated with me, beppe. When I read this book, one of the things at the back of mind was the complaint during selection that the characters were not well-developed. Well, my conclusion is that I didn't feel that way. I thought that the majority of the characters could be compared / contrasted against a particular stereotype. And, in that sense, you could fill in the gaps in character by the stereotype without more needing to be said.

Originally Posted by beppe

Forster has 4.5 characters well developed in the book. Mrs Moore, Adela, Aziz and Fielding. The half one is the Hindu singer, professor and chief mystic Prof Godbole, that merits a space by himself and on whom I'll return.So let's forget him for the moment and think of 4 well developed character.

The 4 characters have an intense spiritual life, at difference from the others, that are heavy with "business", like Rodney.

I liked your description of Professor Godbole has a 0.5 character. Literally, he was only present for about half the book. He disappears after the event at cave and is not present for the trial. He then reappears for the conclusion. Also, in comparison to the other characters representing a particular stereotype, Prof Godbole represented more of the universal kindness and love that Forster presented is necessary to bring the Indians and English together.