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A Passage to India

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A Passage to India

By: E. M. Forster
Narrated by: Sam Dastor
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About this listen

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.
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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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Good story and performance, let down by some fuzzy recording quality here and there. Very noticeable through headphones. If you're listening on speakers it's less noticeable.

Good story, some poor quality recording

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While the story is isn't page turning or something that kept me up in the small hours, the whole book feels beautifully observed. The detail is exquisite. I feel that I have been in India and felt a little how different a culture it is to the English culture and can see how easily misunderstandings arise when two cultures clash, no matter how honest the protagonists are.

Beautifully observed

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Beautifully read. There is little to the story but the characters and the history make it worth the effort.

A painting rather than a book.

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This is such an accomplished reading of an astonishing book.
I read this book 40 years ago and had forgotten how wonderful it is. So delighted to have revisited it through Audible.

Breathtakingly accomplished reading .

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This really is a classic. It was my first time “reading” it and I’m so glad I did. Forster is superb at conveying nuance and the deep seated prejudices, pettiness and insecurities of people. His light touch skill as a writer is superb. The characters can be odious but still completely intriguing and compelling. He evokes the feeling of India and of the twilight of the Raj vividly. I thought the narration was in most ways excellent and I was caught up in the reading. I have a bit of an issue with women’s voices being made to be so shrill and caricatured. It is a bit grating. However, it didn’t undermine the overall pleasure of hearing the book, given the position of the women in particular and the somewhat dodgy portrayal of them which is of its time. That’s just one criticism of an otherwise superb rendition.

Wonderfully evocative

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