A Passage to India

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
Harcourt, Inc, 1952
Originally Published 1924
362 pages
Classic; FITG
3.5/5

Source: Bought and read for class

Summary: Adela Quested and Mrs. Moore are British citizens, excited to journey to India and see the scenery.  A new friend of Mrs. Moore's, Dr. Aziz invites them to see the Marabar Caves where a most unfortunate incident occurs leading to a court case and aggravating relations between the British colonizers and the colonized Indians.

I was really excited about this but I was left unsatisfied.  I was expecting a tale of the clash of cultures as Anglo/Indian relations were explored and gender roles were examined.  And to a degree, I got that.  But the prose was not to my liking at all.  Forster's descriptions of the scenery were so boring (almost Tolkien-esque-the only way I got through LOTR was by skimming the endless scenery descriptions and focusing on the actual plot) and it was very slow-moving.  The incident described on the book-flap is Aziz being falsely accused of sexually molesting Adela; do you know when that happens? Nearly halfway through the book! Before that, there is plenty of description and a lot of set-up to establish the personalities of the characters and the relationship between the British and the Indians.

I didn't particularly like any of the characters either.  The four main characters are Brits Adela, Mrs. Moore, and college principal Fielding in addition to Indian doctor Aziz.  My inability to feel completely connected to any of them soured my opinion of this book.  I'm not sure if that was part of Forster's intention.  However this is an useful book for study of the time period.  Rising nationalism makes an appearance and is a topic I find fascinating.

Overall: I was really disappointed; have I missed something huge with regards to Forster? I'd love to give him another try-any recommendations?

Read for personal FITG challenge.

The Ramayana

The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan
Penguin, 1972
157 pages
Epic; Mythic
5/5 stars

Source: Bought and read for school

Summary: The epic of Rama, the god Vishnu in human form, and his quest to rid the world of Ravana.

I loved this book.  I thought that I was vaguely familiar with the story as I read it and I think I may have seen parts of a filmed adaptation at some point.  This is a shortened prose version so it has lost some of its embellishments; I imagine that this would be a very fun story to hear as the storyteller would add little bits of color and points of interest, tailored to fit the audience.  However as a book, I think it works in the shortened version.

It moves along fairly quickly but with side stories and diversions as might be expected in an epic.  Rama's eventual quest to destroy Ravana comes about because his beloved wife Sita is kidnapped by Ravana.  However before he can finish the task, he meets many other creatures and has many other adventures that burnish his reputation.

Overall: A fantastic story that I highly recommend for Westerners as we're probably not familiar with the story.

Cover: Rama is apparently always represented as blue although I'm not entirely sure why.

Inside the Third Reich

Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer
The MacMillan Company, 1970
Translated by Richard and Clara Winston
526 pages
Memoirs; History
4/5 stars

Source: Library

Summary: The memoirs of Hitler's chief architect, later Reich Armaments Minister, and the last Foreign Minister of the Reich.

Thoughts: I read this for class (we actually only had about 100 pages assigned but I ended up reading the whole thing so that I could count it as read).  It moves fairly quickly and yet it does take a while to get through.

There are many interesting passages that talk about life as an important Nazi, that give insights in to Nazi decisions, that reflect Speer's shaping of history, but then there are the passages about architecture.  If you have no interest in architecture, I highly recommend skimming!

It shows some of the reasons for becoming a Nazi: Hitler's charisma especially when he gave speeches (this is baffling to me but apparently that's how it happened; I just can't imagine him as charismatic. He's short, he doesn't smile, he has that ugly mustache, and he seems very petulant) and self-interest.  Speer's career as architect really launched in his late twenties under the Nazis.  The depression did not really allow for him to do anything and anyway he would have been too young and not established; but the Nazis gave him a chance.

The most important part is probably his description of the Reich and how it was run.  First Hitler as a leader is indecisive and his refusal to listen to people who know what they're talking about in favor of those he's known longest frustrates Speer.  At some points, I empathized too much with Speer so that I was thinking "this boss sucks; if he'd only listen to Speer, he might be able to win." Then I would catch myself and remember that Hitler is the boss and if he was more effective, who knows how many more people would have died?  I'm not sure if the Nazis could have won or if the Allies definitely would have prevailed but it's not exactly something I want to contemplate.

He also places the blame on the leaders, including himself, and away from the German people; thus the atrocities of the Third Reich do not fall on the Germans but on a small section. 

That includes knowledge of the Holocaust: he claims that the Nazi leaders were so isolated in their sectors that he did not really know although he could have found out.  He closed his mind.  Of course, the knowledge of the Holocaust was definitely available to the German people: in Hamburg, shipments of Jewish property arrived consistently even throughout the war.  Where were the people going if they didn't need ANY of their possessions? [That was discussed in Frank Bajohr's Aryanization' in Hamburg]

Overall: Very illuminating for people interested in WWII history. Recommended.