i evidently read this book years ago but had no memory of it so i picked it up again after a quick stop in italy earlier last year. (i then put it down for several months..)
upon reflection, it's a book of dichotomies, appropriately told in two parts - italy and england, passion and reason (embodied in the contrast between michelangelo and leonardo), embracing new ideas and being stuck in an arbitrary past. i do wish lucy had been slightly more developed as a character and that the initial connection between her and george had been a little more substantive. but i guess with forster's work there are often small gestures or events that stand in for larger ideas. if i could i'd give it an extra 0.5, if only for some lovely lines describing the english and italian countryside.
[also, if you haven't watched the merchant ivory film version it's a very faithful adaptation with a phenomenal cast.]