“Life,” wrote a friend of mine, “is a public performance on the violin, in which you must learn the instrument as you go along.”

I absolutely love this analogy; mostly because it is so true!

When I first started reading E. M. Forster’s A Room with a View I wasn’t that impressed. I found the opening chapters slow-going and, to be honest, slightly dull; however, now that I have finished reading the novel in its entirety, I can appreciate that part one serves an important purpose: with it Forster lays the foundations of a simple but compelling love story.

FYI: The novel is divided into two parts: the first – and shorter of the two – is set in Florence, at a boarding house occupied mostly by middle-class English tourists, whilst the second part takes place in Surrey, in a sleepy village called Summer Street.

Like Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, A Room with a View is quite short – just over 200 pages – and takes no time at all to read. I actually ended up really enjoying the second part of the novel, especially the dialogue and Forster’s depiction of Edwardian Middle England.

A quick Google search has revealed that the novel was adapted for the big screen in 1985, starring Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Daniel Day-Lewis and Judi Dench – some of my favourite actresses. I don’t normally like watching adaptations of books I’ve enjoyed reading; however, I’m keen to see this one. With such a stellar cast it’s surely got to be worth a squiz?

On that I’ll leave you with another quotation from the novel!

“…but if we act the truth, the people who really love us are sure to come back to us in the long run.”

UPDATE ON MY NOVEL: I finally finished the first draft and posted it off to be edited on Wednesday. Should have the report back by November, ready to start my second draft!