Where to begin! A Passage to India is a novel forced upon me by my literature class and I have to admit I was rather skeptical upon my first reading. A direct relationship with To Kill A Mockingbird caused doubts upon the greatness of the book and frankly, I went into it thinking I would be bored and came out of it thinking I was bored. The truth was, I just hadn't read it properly. That's because I'm an ignorant teen who was reading it because she had to, and would've much rather been on the beach soaking up the sand, sun and sea.

However, the three beautiful components of this novel still resonate with me now as I recognize Forster's true genius. If you read the book carefully, you can see his connections everywhere: everything links in with something else and the narrative flows exquisitely. E.M. Forster was a semi-raging homosexual and the 'male camaraderie' is definitely explicit between the emotional Aziz and the liberal Fielding. Kept apart by their nationalities, and the East vs West gap omnipresent in colonial society, Forster's tracking of their relationship exemplifies his social comment. His scathing satire and the extreme caricature of the English characters is enlightening, however, and often humorous.

It was the course of the Indian spirit that intrigued me the most as the 'echo' of the Marabar caves, the spirit of India, continues to haunt the characters. Both Mrs. Moore and Adela's spiritual revelations are fascinating, and the consistent quest for spirituality throughout the novel culminates in the final section as the Hindu Brahman sums it up: to be one with the universe.

I have to say, re-reading this novel was a delight. I relished in every sentence, every clever remark of Forster. One may say he was a clever cookie, or perhaps a clever queer, but definitely an amazing book. If you do not appreciate it the first time, try and try again. It is all about perspective, and the satire is easily missed if skimming for necessity but blatant when looked for.

November 2008