E. M. Forster: An Enabling Modesty

On the first day of 1959 E. M. Forster celebrated his eightieth birthday. Among events held to mark the occasion was an hour-long BBC television programme, the gist of which was printed in the following week’s Listener, and articles of a more or less adulatory nature appeared in most of the quality weeklies and periodicals. There was also an interview in the Observer conducted by its chief book reviewer, Philip Toynbee. This is of interest, if only because it shows that Forster was keeping up...