Present Out Of Books The Life to Come and Other Stories
| Title | : | The Life to Come and Other Stories |
| Author | : | E.M. Forster |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 264 pages |
| Published | : | August 17th 1987 by W. W. Norton Company (first published 1972) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Short Stories. LGBT. Classics. Gay. Literature. 20th Century |
E.M. Forster
Paperback | Pages: 264 pages Rating: 3.92 | 633 Users | 58 Reviews
Commentary Supposing Books The Life to Come and Other Stories
The fourteen stories in this book span six decades—from 1903 to 1957 or even later—and represent every phase of Forster's career as a writer. Only two have ever been published, and those only in magazines to which few people have easy access.Two very different reasons caused the other twelve to remain unpublished in Forster's lifetime. One was his diffidence, which in his earlier years led him to belittle work that had failed to find immediate acceptance. There are four such stories in this volume, and it is hard, today, to understand why they were rejected by the same editors who were publishing his other early work.
The remaining stories were disbarred from publication by their overtly homosexual themes; instead they were shown to an appreciative circle of friends and fellow writers, including Christopher Isherwood, Siegfried Sassoon, Lytton Strachey, and T. E. Lawrence, who considered one story "the most powerful thing I have ever read." The stories differ widely. One is a cheerful political satire; another has, most unusually for Forster, a historical setting; a third is the fictional equivalent of one of those comic picture-postcards that so delighted George Orwell. Others give serious and powerful expression to some of Forster's profoundest concerns.
The significance of these stories in relation to Forster's famous abandonment of the novel is discussed by Oliver Stallybrass in his introduction.
"[These stories] are often brilliant, aware both of the strictly contemporary...the contrast between Greek and Christian; between 'Goth' and Christian; between spontaneity and duty in matters sensual and instinctive. In short, they bring up all Forster's usual preoccupations and at the same time orchestrate the new song and play it loud and clear." —World
—From the dust jacket flap
Specify Books As The Life to Come and Other Stories
| Original Title: | The Life to Come and Other Stories |
| ISBN: | 0393304426 (ISBN13: 9780393304428) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Out Of Books The Life to Come and Other Stories
Ratings: 3.92 From 633 Users | 58 ReviewsCommentary Out Of Books The Life to Come and Other Stories
This collection, complete with introduction, made me realise something I hadn't quite realised in so many words before:Literary criticism of E.M. Forster is so full of snobby bullshit.The intro here basically reflects what I've heard and read before - "Maurice" isn't as critically acclaimed or technically accomplished as his other novels; most of these stories weren't meant for publication because they were too crude and unpolished (read: too gay); he was at his best when he was subtle; whenever5 stars for Arthur Snatchfold.
When English novelist E. M. Forster died in 1970 at the age of 91 he left behind a large amount of unpublished materials. The reasons for this are simple: either they were not deemed of sufficient quality or they contained sexual content that he felt could not be published during his lifetime. The most important of these works was his fully completed novel Maurice, which many, myself included, believe is his best novelit's his most honest, least contrived, not as overwritten.Shortly after
Love had been born somewhere in the forest, of what quality only the future could decide. Trivial or immortal, it had been born to two human bodies as a midnight cry. Impossible to tell whence the cry had come, so dark was the forest. Or into what worlds it would echo, so vast was the forest. Love had been born for good or evil, for a long life or a short.
There were some stories I loved and some I wasnt too crazy about, so I took the average and got 4 stars (in my personal opinion) for this collection. I enjoyed the humor and irony in many of the stories, as well as the interesting characters.
(Warning: this book seems to have evoked my inner analytical writing nerd. Sorry.) Forster's subtle social commentaries tend to blow right over my head, and since subtle social commentary is basically the point of his writing, I tend to have a mixed relationship with it. This is a weirdly compelling collection of mostly-formerly-unpublished stories, though, in large part because it's such an incredibly mixed bag. The first section is made up of very early works, which consistently fall somewhere
A few of the stories in this book are staggeringly beautiful; several are merely interesting. I'll be remembering the emotional richness and grace of the good ones, like Albergo Empedocle, for the rest of my life.
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