text: This is by far my favorite novel by Forster, and many rereadings have made it one of my favorite novels, period. In his first book, Forster shows a subtlety and lightness of touch which I, at least, feel that he lost as he  got more self-consciously "philosophical" in later books like  Howard's End and A Passage to India. He makes wonderful use of the Italian  settings and of Italian art, bringing them to vivid life, undermining  tourist cliches, and weaving them gracefully into his main themes.  No  other book I know balances romanticism and irony so perfectly
  