A Room with a View

We are reading A Room With a View for book group in February.  I think it is appropriate to be reading a "romance" in February.  I love this book.  It has all the elements of a true romance--stolen kisses, conflict in getting the the hero and heroine together, and nudity--and yet it is a more intellectual read than say a Barbara Cartland romance.  I know this because I read a number of Barbara Cartland novels when I was much younger and going through a romance stage.  

But back to Room with a View.  I love the characters in this book.  Lucy has depth without knowing it, George is perfect for her with out her knowing it, and Cecil is so decidedly unfit for marriage.  Florence is a city so full of passion and beauty you can't help but want to rush to the computer and buy a plane ticket to Italy departing immediately.  The book also contains one of the funniest scenes I've read in literature, the pond bathing scene that makes me laugh out loud every time I read it.  And I've read it several times.

The Merchant & Ivory film version of this book is also wonderful.  That same pond scene is funny.  I just checked.  The movie is rated R for that scene; full frontal male nudity.  How often do you see that?  I would say, however, to absolutely anyone, see this movie, even with the scene.  I would watch it with my mother, or my grandmother.  In fact, I think I did.