A Passage to India is considered E. M. Forster’s greatest success. It features prominently among the greatest novels of the twentieth century and is the basis for director David Lean’s Academy Award-winning film of the same name. Published in 1924, it is set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s and tells of the clash of cultures in British India after the turn of the century. In exquisite prose, Forster reveals the menace that lurks just beneath the surface of ordinary life, as a common misunderstanding erupts into a devastating affair.
A Passage to India was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English literature by the Modern Library and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Time magazine included the novel in its "All Time 100 Novels" list. The novel is based on Forster's experiences in India, deriving the title from Walt Whitman's 1870 poem "Passage to India" in Leaves of Grass.
Reflow text when sidebars are open.
