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Penguin Classics Passage to India
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Penguin Classics Passage to India Paperback - 2005

by E. M. Forster; Foreword by Pankaj Mishra; Oliver Stallybrass (Editor)

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About this book

A Passage to India by E.M. Forster is considered a monumental work of English Literature. The book tells the story of race and empire in India during the British Raj. A false accusation of sexual assault based on racist English assumptions forms the basis of the story. Dr. Aziz, a Muslim physician, is accused of assaulting a young woman during an expedition to Marabar Caves. The trial and ultimate consequences of the accusation expose the deep problems with British governance in India during this period, and the depth of feeling opposed to British rule among the Indian people. The book has received several awards, including the James Talt Black Memorial Prize in 1924, and is present on several lists of the best books of the twentieth century. 

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From the publisher

'His great book ... masterly in its prescience and its lucidity' ANITA DESAI

A compelling portrait of a society in the grip of imperialism, A Passage to India depicts the fate of individuals caught in the great political and cultural conflicts of their age. It begins when Adela and her elderly companion Mrs Moore arrive in the Indian town of Chandrapore, and feel trapped by its insular and prejudiced British community. Determined to explore the 'real India', they seek the guidance of the charming and mercurial Dr Aziz. But a mysterious incident occurs while they are exploring the Marabar caves, and the well-respected doctor soon finds himself at the centre of a scandal.

Edited by OLIVER STALLYBRASS with an Introduction by PANKAJ MISHRA

First line

HASH(0x10abaf20)

First edition identification

The novel was first published by Edward Arnold, in London in 1924. The trade edition was comprised of 5,000 copies in a red cloth binding and a plain printed wrapper. A limited edition of 200 copies was issued as well in brown cloth, each numbered and signed by Forster. 

Signed copies of the red cloth edition in fine or near fine condition can range in value up to $4,000 or $5,000, with the limited edition in brown cloth demanding $5,000 and higher. First American editions are generally priced up to $2,000.   

Details

  • Title Penguin Classics Passage to India
  • Author E. M. Forster; Foreword by Pankaj Mishra; Oliver Stallybrass (Editor)
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition International Ed
  • Pages 416
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Group, London
  • Publication date July 28, 2005
  • ISBN 9780141441160 / 014144116X
  • Weight 0.68 lbs (0.31 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.8 x 5 x 1 in (19.81 x 12.70 x 2.54 cm)
  • Category Literature - Classics / Criticism
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

About the author

Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970) wrote six novels - Where Angels Fear to Tread (1905), The Longest Journey (1907), A Room with a View (1908), Howards End (1910), A Passage to India (1924). Maurice, written in 1914, was published posthumously in 1971. He also published two volumes of short stories; two collections of essays; a critical work (Aspects of the Novel); The Hill of Devi; two biographies; two books about Alexandria; and the libretto for Britten's opera Billy Budd. Pankaj Mishra was born in North India in 1969 and is the author of The Romantics: A Novel and An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World.

Pankaj Mishra is the author of From the Ruins of Empire and several other books. He is a columnist at Bloomberg View and the New York Times Book Review, and writes regularly for The Guardian, the London Review of Books, and the New Yorker. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he lives in London.

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