The Novels of E.M. Forster (Hardbound - 2020)

The Novels of E.M. Forster discusses the works of E.M. Forster in the context of ethical and aesthetic patterns particularly focusing on the fusion of these patterns. The object of this book is to present an angle of vision from which Forster’s world can be observed with some steadiness and clarity, an aid toward what Forster has called the sense of cooperation with a creator, which is the supremely important step in our pilgrimage through the fine arts. The book discusses Forster’s views on art, religion, culture, and politics, his life, his concern for the individual and the holiness of the life.

The book is primarily based on the author’s doctoral dissertation, Ethics and Aesthetics in the Novels of E.M. Forster. According to the author, the categories in which Forster ranges people are primarily ethical; the pattern he imposes on experience is the pattern of his ethical vision. This vision is fresh and independent affair, its tone is inquiring, not dogmatic. The book analyses that the aesthetic pleasure that Forster’s novels communicate depends mainly on his gifts of characterization, his mastery of dialogue, his delicately poised irony, his flexible prose, and his ingenuity in unfolding themes so that each novel has a meaning that transcends the sum of its parts.

The book enables us to understand E.M. Forster by placing him in relation to the thoughts of some of the leading thinkers of 20th century and the socio-political milieu—its daring adventures, its narrow prejudices, and its peculiar social norms which determined the scope of his work.

Avtar Singh, M.A., Ph.D., Reader in English in the Department of English, Punjabi University, Patiala, has been teaching English for over two decades. He completed his doctoral dissertation on E.M. Forster in 1983. Since then he has made a significant contribution to Forster scholarship. He has published papers on Forster, Conrad, and Saul Bellow. His other publications include studies on The Winter’s Tale, Hamlet, Everyman in His Humour, Absalom and Achitophel, The Scarlet Letter, and Archatypal Criticism.