As a historical drama and character study Maurice does very well. The prose is clear and well done overall, and Forster specifically notes that he wrote Maurice to give his gay main character a happy ending. As a love story, though, it's profoundly lacking. I don't know if it's because I didn't really buy the dissolution of Maurice's first relationship (which, though flawed, was still charming), but his second is less than compelling due to a severe lack of things in common and the awful way the two lovers treat each other.
Maurice is kind of a dick in general, though his sexuality adds a layer of interest and pathos not usually prevalent in the standard English asshole. His slow mind isn't the problem: in fact, it appears almost virtuous when contrasted with Claude's over-intellectual pompousness. The problem is his self-importance, snobbery and general dickery, which are not as interesting of character flaws as E. M. Forster seems to think.
My fundamental annoyance with Maurice is that his flaws preclude attempts at being better than he is: Maurice is incredibly self-absorbed, and though his book is interesting for the examination of pre-World War One homosexuality (and fuck knows I'm glad to see the gay guy get a happy ending for once), he is not.
Rating: Three out of five. Good at what it does, and what it does isn't very nice.
Turd rating: Four out of five. Maurice, Claude and Alec make up a turd trifecta.
Maurice is kind of a dick in general, though his sexuality adds a layer of interest and pathos not usually prevalent in the standard English asshole. His slow mind isn't the problem: in fact, it appears almost virtuous when contrasted with Claude's over-intellectual pompousness. The problem is his self-importance, snobbery and general dickery, which are not as interesting of character flaws as E. M. Forster seems to think.
My fundamental annoyance with Maurice is that his flaws preclude attempts at being better than he is: Maurice is incredibly self-absorbed, and though his book is interesting for the examination of pre-World War One homosexuality (and fuck knows I'm glad to see the gay guy get a happy ending for once), he is not.
Rating: Three out of five. Good at what it does, and what it does isn't very nice.
Turd rating: Four out of five. Maurice, Claude and Alec make up a turd trifecta.