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  • A Passage to India

  • By: E. M. Forster
  • Narrated by: Sam Dastor
  • Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (1,101 ratings)

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A Passage to India  By  cover art

A Passage to India

By: E. M. Forster
Narrated by: Sam Dastor
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Publisher's summary

Exclusively from Audible

Dr. Aziz is a young Muslim physician in the British Indian town of Chandrapore. One evening he comes across an English woman, Mrs. Moore, in the courtyard of a local mosque; she and her younger travelling companion Adela are disappointed by claustrophobic British colonial culture and wish to see something of the 'real' India. But when Aziz kindly offers to take them on a tour of the Marabar caves with his close friend Cyril Fielding, the trip results in a shocking accusation that throws Chandrapore into a fever of racial tension.

Set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s it deals with the common racial tensions and prejudices between Indians and the British who ruled India.

Many of Forster's novels observed class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society including A Passage to India, the novel which brought him his greatest success. A secular humanist, Forster showed concern for social, political, and spiritual divisions in the world.

Time magazine included A Passage to India in its All-Time 100 Novels list and it was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English literature by the Modern Library.

Directed by David Lean, a film adaptation was released in 1984 that won numerous awards including two Oscars.

Narrator Biography

A Cambridge graduate who trained at RADA under the direction of Sir Laurence Olivier, Sam Dastor has long featured on screen and stage. He is best known for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) and for twice portraying Gandhi in both Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy (1986), and Jinnah (1998).

Sam Dastor has starred in many West End productions with roles such as Ariel in The Tempest, and Orlando in As You Like It. His most recent work has included starring on stage at the Wolsey Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2016). He has narrated a large catalogue of audiobooks including V.S. Naipaul’s A House for Mr Biswas.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Narrator Sam] Dastor's performance is outstanding. A huge cast of characters of all classes and nationalities comes vibrantly alive as he takes the voice of each.... His eloquent reading transforms into powerful performance literature." ( AudioFile)

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What listeners say about A Passage to India

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Compelling Story and Reading

What made the experience of listening to A Passage to India the most enjoyable?

Quintessential modernist text--Forester deals artfully with British colonialism in India, managing to paint both the Indians and the English sympathetically. Most of the characters are full and dynamic. Anchoring the story in the friendship of Mrs. Moore (an elderly woman) and Dr. Aziz (a widower) begins the story's exploration of the power of relationships and the difficulty of forming and sustaining "intimate" relationships. A Passage to India is a moving story the lure of power and about the difficulty of knowing another.

What other book might you compare A Passage to India to and why?

Howard's End--just another excellent Forster text, dealing with some of the same issues of disconnectedness.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Aziz first met Mrs. Moore.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A quest for identity set in the heat and beauty of India...

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Great story! Great narration!

I love E.M. Forster's writing style--clear, distinct, and powerful. He has an amazing way of writing about an extremely complex situation in an understandable way.

I found the narrator's character voices to be clear and easy to understand. This is a good recording.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An all time classic

I've returned to this book many times over the years, but to listen to Adam Dastor reading it has added another dimension of pleasure.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful story of India

Enjoyed this book immensely! We listened to it together as a family as part of our son's Classical Conversations Challenge 2 curriculum...

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Semi-Jarring

I understand that the book has certain words and that certain characters are Indian, but hearing an obviously white voice actor saying the n-word in an Indian accent lessened my enjoyment of the book significantly.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Passage to India

I recommend this production.

Story: This is a classic so I will not comment on style. I enjoyed this slice of history, Anglo-India prior to WWII. Although the actual story was merely a short period overall, it was an intersection drama; the intersection of peoples' life in time. For this two items, I enjoyed the story.

Production: The reader was excellent. I found his females and non-English males very convincing.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

The Horror of It All

I had finished reading Caste by Isabel Wilkerson and was determined to read a novel where the tragedy being told was centered on a caste system. I could not have chosen a better continuation of the study of the castes than A Passage to India, by E. M. Forster, (with a magnificent narration by Sam Dastor). The storyline, I must confess, was a bore, much because its characters were without redeeming natures, and the plot’s pace was dauntingly slow. Yet, a more probing tale of what was wrong with the British Raj would be unfindable.

To appreciate the book's teaching, one must also accept the human tragedy that is part of the storyline. It is discomfort and will haunt you. Abandonment in a cave, situated by cultural inhibitions and distorted perspectives. A misunderstanding of civilizations and disrespect for the other’s way of life all build up to develop into harm upon humankind by humankind. The value of the book, if one chooses to call it so, is harm upon the innocent and disrespect other humanitarian causes loss to both the upper and lower caste realms. Love thy neighbor even if she/he is unlike you. Stop denigrating.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Slow, but full of nuance

Although this book is considered a classic, I find there are too many characters and details, and it is drawn out longer than necessary. The story was not as engaging as I had hoped. Those who appreciate slow and nuanced character development may appreciate it more than I did.

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A peek into complex human emotions..

. .during complex socio-political times of British India. This book blew my mind with its deep insight into the human mind. Narration was top notch and contributed significantly to the great impact this book created.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Was Great now Good

This was a fine novel and had some interesting characterization and prose (particularly later in the novel). Yet it was pretty slow and dated. It examines British imperialism, racism, and sexism in 1920's India and, written in 1924, it was timely and important (perhaps shocking) at that time. For me it has aged into a good novel, not a great novel. Although the novel examines imperialism, racism and sexism, there is very little expressed emotionality. Brits are often subtle when it comes to emotionality, but other Brit novels maintain the staid exterior while expressing the hidden power of the emotions. I did not really find that here.

The narration was mostly clear and when speaking as the narrator it was very nice, but some of the female characterization were exaggerated near to being annoying.

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