Howard's end

[Braceface]

Anyone watching?

Ironing Race was a huge part of A Passage to India so it’s not relevant at all to this discussion about a very different book

It is when posters are making such a big deal out of the race of two minor characters in it.

when televising books they also have a duty to be accurate to the book

But they rarely are, and I TV are usually worse. If you expect accuracy, you will have a long wait.

Ironing read the whole thread. We’re not just talking about two minor characters.

I watched it last night and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. Why was the younger sister so fascinated with the Wilcox family? They seemed quite dull to me. The engagement was over almost before it began. Why did Mrs. Wilcox invite the older sister to Howards End and then cancel when Mr. Wilcox turned up? Who is this Bast character? He's obviously going to feature again in the series.

The story is new to me so I'll tune in again next week to see if my questions are answered. But the first episode seemed a little disjointed. Maybe the events take place at a more leisurely pace in the book.

One thing that interested me was the importance of letter writing (for the writer and the recipient). The younger sister was only at Howards End for a week but she wrote several letters to her sister. These days it would be a selfie on Facebook in front of the building . But of course, there were no electronic distractions like TV and radio and the internet. And if you were wealthy, you had servants to do all the housework.

It''s not just the race of two characters; it's all the other things too. Forster wrote a book which was very much about the painstaking observation of how people looked, behaved, interacted socially in a very specific setting at a very specific time. It's how he worked, it's his great strength as a novelist. Apart from Passage to India and (arguably) Maurice, none of his books have enough to stand up on their own if you take that away.

It's not like Shakespeare who works on all sorts of different levels. Forster is a far more limited author.

The younger sister interest in the family, is because it is the first time her views have been challenged. The set she moved in, before meeting the Wilcox family, shared her opinions and reinforced her self belief.
Although she is fascinated by the Wilcox family, I think her main aim is to show them how wrong they are about everything.
It Comes across as disjointed because they are cramming in to 4 episodes.

As to why the train journey was cancelled. Mrs Wilcox wanted a day alone with her new friend. The appearance of the family prevented that. She new that she would need to give all of her attention to her grumpy husband.

I hope people stick with it and the BBC do it justice. There are quite a few surprises in store for those who have not read the book.

She knew, oops.

I haven't read the book, but will persist with this, I think.

Although I don't think I'll ever be able to tell the sisters apart.....

I managed 12 minutes, I love a period drama but this is utter bilge. Tracy Ullman has such a fake ‘posh’ accent. Awful, come on BBC do better!!

I really enjoyed it in the end. Thanks to you lot, I now understand what's going on..

I don't get the hatred of Tracy Ullman either.

.

I wonder if the BBC offered Tracey Ullman this role just so she’d agree to go more comedy shows with them.

I really didn't like any of the characters. I'll probably slum it next Sunday and watch I'm a Celebrity instead.

Maurice is one of my top five films of all time. It's so bloody romantic and sexy I love all his work.

Hoping this will be the first of a resurge I'd love to see a room with a view redone again too.

It was redone about ten years ago:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Room_with_a_View_(2007_film)

I liked it. Will be good to see how they handle the rest of the story.

They re-did Room With A View on tv about five years ago, Rafe Spall was in it. They ruined the ending by changing it completely! I hated it.

Wow, was it ten years!

Really. Can't believe I missed that. Sounds like it's not worth a watch tho.
Will wait for the Beeb.

I quite enjoyed it.

Did I hear Hayley Attwood say "Haydelberg" though for Heidelberg?

I've never even heard of the remake of RWAV and having just looked up the change to the ending I'm glad! What a load of rubbish!

diddl Yes, I thought the pronunciation v odd. She's half German & I can't imagine the pronunciation would have been any different in those days. Unless she changes it for the benefit of non-German speakers?

Took a few seconds to realise she said "Speyer" where they went to the cathedral, but tbh only cos I live in that part of the world.

I did enjoy it, everyone is so frightfully earnest

"Unless she changes it for the benefit of non-German speakers?"

Maybe-although I thought that it was only ever pronounced one way!

And as you say she's half German & living in England-where I thought that the pronounciation was with the "High" sound iyswim.

But apart from that...

How old are they all all supposed to be?

Margaret is 29, Helen 21 & Tibby 16 at the beginning.(according to SparkNotes!)

But the Wilcoxes?

If Paul is similar to Helen & Evie younger, is Charles similar/younger than Margaret?

Is Mrs Wilcox supposed to be a bit older than Henry & he married young, or is MM just too young (early 40s)?

Just realised that I put Hayley Attwood earlier & it's Atwell

diddl I've just checked in the novel.

Mr. Wilcox is fifty when his wife dies, and they have been married for thirty years. MM is too young, IMHO, especially next to Julia Ormond who at fifty-two is the right age (and a brilliant bit of casting).

Anthony Hopkins and Vanessa Redgrave were both fifty-three in the Merchant Ivory version.

I guess MM makes the romance with Helen aspect a bit more believable. Not saying it's right but that might've been the casting director's train of thought.