I haven't read a book by Forster in a long time. I typically love books set in India so I was looking forward to this. But it was just "OK" for me. A story of British-India in the early 20th century. A young British woman and her potential future mother-in-law come to visit the prospective husband - a dullard with the British government who has fallen into the prejudicial ways of most officials in their feelings toward the "native," the Indian people over which they rule. Miss Quested and Mrs. Moore however yearn to see the real India and meet Indians and are soon on an adventure to sightsee to some caves with the overeager local physician, Dr. Aziz and a free-spirited English teacher, Mr. Fielding. The result is a disaster and leads to life-changing events for all involved.

I found this novel painfully slow-moving at its start. The whole first section entitled 'Mosque' was a bit of a slog for me. None of the characters, with the exception of Dr. Aziz, really came alive for me. Finally, the story picked up some steam and dramatic tension again with the trip to the caves and its aftermath. I thought this part of the novel was quite poignant and well-written. And even when the narrative veered into the introspective or the elliptical I still was able to follow and appreciate. But the third section, "Temple'" taking place several years later was again a let down. I found all the Hindi festival stuff hard to follow and not at all what I wanted to read about, being much more curious about our protagonists.

Anyway, a decent and fairly accessible read which is an interesting contemporaneous view of British-India and the relationships therein. Some parts well done - Dr. Aziz, 'Esmiss Esmoore,' the Marabar caves. Some parts dragged and seemed besides the point. I will have to look out for the movie sometime; but I am only lukewarm about the prospect as well as about another Forster read. ( )