Maurice in Queereaders

Jun 01, 2022 Andy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, lgbtq

I was inspired to bump this up my reading queue, where it had languished for half a decade, after devouring Sarah Winman’s gorgeous “Still Life” earlier in the year. In that historical fiction novel, she introduces E.M. Forster as a minor character that crosses paths with Evelyn Skinner at an English estate at the tail end of the Victorian Era.

Winman gave a wink and nod to “Maurice,” and even hinted that Evelyn and her Sapphic romance with a house maid was the inspiration for Forster’s love aff I was inspired to bump this up my reading queue, where it had languished for half a decade, after devouring Sarah Winman’s gorgeous “Still Life” earlier in the year. In that historical fiction novel, she introduces E.M. Forster as a minor character that crosses paths with Evelyn Skinner at an English estate at the tail end of the Victorian Era.

Winman gave a wink and nod to “Maurice,” and even hinted that Evelyn and her Sapphic romance with a house maid was the inspiration for Forster’s love affair between Maurice and Alec.

Forster and Winman are similar writers, both able to mix gorgeous prose with raw emotion in a way that doesn’t feel manipulating, so Winman’s literary Easter Egg feels like a homage from an out British writer of today to a closeted one of the past.

Told in four parts, each captures a different moment in Maurice’s understanding and acceptance of himself. We first meet him as a prep school student learning about sex with women but recognizing it doesn’t sound particularly interesting.

Then in Cambridge he meets Clive, a fellow student and kindred spirit in more ways than one. Together they debate religion – both ultimately shunning it – and exploring Greek views of same sex relations. This first love doesn’t end well and leads to suicidal thoughts and visits to a hypnotist to help “cure” his homosexuality.

These broad strokes of the plot give you an idea of what to expect, but it’s not all doom and gloom. The story ends on a happy, if incomplete, note that probably wouldn’t have been the case had it been written by a straight author.

My chief complaints are the random POV shifts and general over-writing that was a hallmark of the era. These elements made it difficult to keep track of what was important to the story at the beginning, but the second half is tighter, tenser and fully engaging.

The audiobook, narrated by Peter Firth, was uneven. His narration of Maurice and the hypnotist, Mr. Lasker Jones, were phenomenal, but the portrayal of women was comically bad and overexaggerated. The audiobook also ends abruptly, leading me to believe part of the story was cut-off when it wasn’t. A very strange production quirk. ...more

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Jun 20, 2011 Lord Beardsley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read2011

I sort of think this book should be required reading for everyone. I mean, I could potentially turn evangelical about how great I think this book is. It's gorgeously written, inspiring, passionate, multi-layered, and deals with classism as well as homophobia...oh and it was written in 1914. It had me at the dedication which is "Dedicated to a Happier Year", and after I read the final page I was so full of joy that I immediately turned on "Dancing on the Dark" by Bruce Springsteen and yes, I did ...more

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Aug 14, 2011 Michelle rated it it was amazing

Written in 1913-14 but published posthumously in 1971, because it did the unthinkable: wrote about homosexual men and gave them a happy ending. Maurice, the protagonist, starts out as a quintessentially normal member of British upper-crust society. At Cambridge, though, he meets Clive and begins a passionate (though Platonic) affair that lasts three years, until Clive decides to pursue heterosexual respectability. Maurice is left alone with his realization that he is irrevocably queer.

An imperfe ...more

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Dec 03, 2010 Zweegas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-classics-in-12-months

I enjoyed this book, but can not give it 5 stars for the same reason why young Maurice is angry at his teacher after he explains sex.

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Sep 24, 2008 Christine rated it liked it

Shelves: novels

Edwardian and dreary. Except for the fact that it has a happy ending, I consider this a companion to The Well of Loneliness. How horrible to have been gay before 1969! I've never read anything by Forster before, and I think his writing is lovely. He reminds me something of George Orwell: he has a knack for pulling the pieces of a complicated situation apart and giving an apt summary. ...more

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