The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories

Review of just the title story:

The allegory here is in the beat-'em-over-the-head-with-it school, but I still really enjoyed this tale of a small boy who discovers a carriage that conveys him to the Heaven that all true lovers of literature can find (the return ticket is free). Yes, the story is 100% about the wonders of reading and scathing about both those who disrespect the sense of wonder, and those who treat literature as a didactic tool to be put on a pedestal - and that's just wonderful. Very clever.

I came to this collection after reading two stories online and finding them charming. After a closer reading of all six stories, their charm is undeniable but Forster offers much more than pleasant diversion.

Forster's achievement is two-fold: on one hand, the peculiar truth treated by all six stories, triangulated upon rather than addressed squarely; and on the other hand, a distinctive tone used to impressive effect.

The tone first, as it is somewhat tricky. The collection overall is droll and wistful, individual stories playing variations on that theme. The overarching effect is of distance, as though observing events and finding some lesson in them beyond the specific plot. Set against that contemplative mood, however, is each story's show more narrative voice, which in many cases is pompous and disagreeable. (Only one story uses a sympathetic narrator.)

This tension is apparent in each story, a wistful tone (of story) offset by a pompous and domineering voice (of character). It's remarkable that Forster sustains that lighthearted feel --a large factor in the charm so apparent on first reading-- when it's clear through all six stories that certain characters border on repugnant. Forster plainly sets up these irritating characters to point the reader elsewhere. They have strong opinions, they display a reasonable and modern outlook, and they clearly and confidently articulate how life is best lived. It's just as clear that for Forster, these characters are also completely wrong.

And that's the tricky bit: that tone so inviting, gently shepherding the reader along, even as that pompous voice clangs and alarums, warning the reader away from certain ideas.

Which leads to the second achievement, the implicit instruction in these Weird tales. In responding to that tone, considering what might be meant by steering us away from a genteel, sensible, modern life, readers do not find a clear answer. Forster provides very strong hints (the counter-example of an odious character is just one technique, he also employs recurring imagery and Classical allusion), but nowhere does he state it explicitly. Rather, both within a story and through reflection upon all of them, Forster seems to be gently nudging us toward something, rather than frightening or amusing with his little fantasies.

Forster's truth in these stories is delicate and frankly obtuse to anyone pursuing a typically modern and rational life, and Forster chooses to convey his point primarily through careful and particular representations of what it is not. He leaves the rest unsaid, trusting readers to work it out -- or not.

Poking around online convinces me that many readers find a rational and, yes, charming answer to the question of what Forster is getting on about, an answer suitable for fans of Peter Pan and Mary Poppins. I don't share that view. I believe Forster's truth is weightier than that, and also more specific, and altogether less rational. One's view comes down to whether Forster's appeal to Pan is symbolic or allegoric, or something more. For my part, I think something more. But I concede that Forster's stories support either interpretation equally well.

"The Story of a Panic" 1P
"For I saw nothing and heard nothing and felt nothing, since all the channels of sense and reason were blocked." (11)

"The Other Side of the Hedge" 1P
"In normal conditions everything works. Science and the spirit of emulation -- those are the forces that have made us what we are." (47-48)

"The Celestial Omnibus" 3P
"Truth in the depth, truth on the height." (69)

"Other Kingdom" 1P
"The bridge is built, the fence finished, and Other Kingdom lies tethered by a ribbon of asphalt to our front door." (119)

"The Curate's Friend" 1P
"How I came to see him is a more difficult question. For to see him there is required a certain quality, for which truthfulness is too cold a name and animal spirits too coarse a one, and he alone knows how this quality came to be in me." (129-130)

"The Road from Colonus" 3P
"It was his last hope of contradicting that logic of experience, and it was failing." (146)

A brilliant little book. show less

I have to admit that I am still getting used to Forster's style. He's not especially descriptive, which can be a good thing. I've read books that take pages upon pages to describe something as inconsequential as the front porch of a random building, down to the individual hues and intricate pattern of the wood grain. Um, no thanks. That's when I start skimming, in an attempt to keep my eyes from glazing over and drooping shut. However. Forster, in my opinion, goes too far in the opposite direction. Although I did notice it here and there in A Room With a View, it was much more obvious in this collection, probably due to the short story form. It was a bit disconcerting to begin a story and find myself plopped in mid-conversation amongst show more characters who are completely indistinguishable from one another (I am thinking specifically of Other Kingdom). Forster eventually gets around to sorting them out and the stories' backdrops and characters become clearer, but it does make for slightly uncomfortable reading in the first few pages.

I feel like the above is making it seem as if I didn't like his stories, but I did. I loved them. I loved the weaving together of Edwardian era characters and sensibilities with fantasy and fable. The Story of a Panic, The Celestial Omnibus, Other Kingdom, and The Road from Colonus were standouts, but honestly there's not a bad one in the bunch. show less

This small collection of stories is described by the author in his introduction as fantasies written before the first world war. They date to 1904-1911. Forster became famous for his later novels such as Howard's End and A Passage to India. These stories are something quite different. The first tale, "The Story of a panic," is more than a little odd and I wondered what I had gotten into. I will say that I liked these stories and fables but I did not love them as many people seem to do. There is some cuteness and cleverness in here. They rather seduce the reader in a variety of ways.

The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by E. M. Forster. The stories were written over a period of some ten years before the book’s original publication in the year 1911.

This is a collection of fantasy short stories. One may even call them modern day fables.

The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories contains six short stories: The Story of a Panic, The Other Side of the Hedge, The Celestial Omnibus, Other Kingdom, The Curate's Friend, and The Road from Colonus.

In the first story The Story of a Panic, a rather spoiled boy called Eustace goes on a trip to Italy with his aunts and there his life takes a strange turn when he encounters something unearthly in the woods. The narrator of this story is one of show more his traveling companions, a disapproving, strict (and not to mention racist) older gentleman. This pattern of letting fairly unpleasant persons narrate the stories reoccurs throughout the book.

The Other Side of the Hedge, is a highly symbolic tale about the long journey along the path of life. It asks the question, ‘Do you want to join the rat race or do you want to live the quiet life?’

In the The Celestial Omnibus a little boy, who is constantly belittled by his family and others, buys a ticket to an otherworldly omnibus that takes him ‘To Heaven’. This heaven is the world of imagination where the soul is set free.

In Other Kingdom a somewhat pompous rich man buys a plot of wooded land for his fiancée. It sets off a chain of events that leaves everyone dazed. This is another story with an unpleasant narrator.

A clergyman is befriended by a faun in The Curate's Friend.

And finally in The Road from Colonus, an elderly gentleman visits Greece and wants to stay behind in an isolated place to recapture the freedom of his youth. This story contains some very racist remarks made by some of the characters. But that is probably intentional as they are shown to be unpleasant and materialistic people.

What can I say about this book? This is a weird, astonishing assortment of stories. I don’t know how to describe these strange tales. They are all very complex, surreal and somewhat difficult to fathom.

The best story of The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories, is the eponymous The Celestial Omnibus. The heaven described in the story will seem especially wonderful to any book lover. The Story of a Panic is also good.

E. M. Forster makes liberal use of pagan mythology in this collection. His writing is as usual good but complex.

This is a strange book that is definitely hard to understand. Still there is something about these stories. I can’t quite put my finger to it but it is something beautiful.

A strange but beautiful book. Definitely a cut above the rest. show less

I first read the short story "The Celestial Omnibus" in junior high for a class assignment, and thought it was the most beautiful story at the time...it was a good feeling to read it today many years later and still find the magic that so sweetly set my imagination on fire...

In the ways I enjoyed "A Room with a View" I liked each of Forster's different kinds of stories in this collection.