Books: Forster and the Human Fact

E. M. FORSTER—Lionel Trilling—New Directions ($1.50).

Some 30 years ago young Novelist E. M. Forster sat with his friend, Philosopher Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, in the palace of the Maharaja of Chhatarpur and heard the nabob cry: "Tell me, Mr. Dickinson, where is God? Can Herbert Spencer lead me to him, or should I prefer George Henry Lewes? Oh when will Krishna come and be my friend? Oh Mr. Dickinson!"

Twelve years later, Author Forster caught and fixed the echo of this cry, so absurd in its phrasing, so desperate in its need, in A...