The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
BUY IT NEW
- $15.00 List price$12.00 Online price$10.80 Member price(Save 27%)Limited Time Offer! Everyone receives the Member Price on books.
See Details
Reserve it at BN.com & pick it up in 60 minutes at your local store.
Enter a zip code
(Paperback)
- Pub. Date: September 2003
- 320pp
- Sales Rank: 9,531
| More Formats | |
|---|---|
| Audio - Unabridged, 8 cassettes, 11 hrs. | $28.45 |
Buy it Used: 23 copies from $4.98 See All Available
Customers who bought this also bought
Product Details
- Pub. Date: September 2003
- Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Format: Paperback, 320pp
- Sales Rank: 9,531
- Series: Vintage International Series
- ISBN-13: 9781400034208
- ISBN: 1400034205
Synopsis
Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of his spiritual odyssey involves him with some of Maugham's most brilliant characters - his fiancée Isabel whose choice between love and wealth have lifelong repercussions, and Elliott Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate American snob. Maugham himself wanders in and out of the story, to observe his characters struggling with their fates.
More Reviews and RecommendationsBiography
W. Somerset Maugham was one the twentieth century’s most popular novelists as well as a celebrated playwright, critic, and short story writer. He was born in Paris but grew up in England and served as a secret agent for the British during World War I. He wrote many novels, including the classics Of Human Bondage, Cakes and Ale, Christmas Holiday, The Moon and Sixpence, Theatre, and Up at the Villa.
Customer Reviews
- Reader Rating:
- Ratings: 13Reviews: 8
- See All Reviews
My favorite book of all timesby Anonymous
Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings
April 01, 2008: For years, this has been the book that I buy every time I find it so I can put it on my shelf in preparation to share it with friends looking for a good book to read. This story centers around four main characters (two men and two women) coming of age during and immediately following WWI. All four live a comfortable lifestyle until the two men experience the unthinkable as they work as field medics, ambulance drivers. My favorite character, Larry Darryl, returns from his ambulance-driving experience uncomfortable with the luxuries to which he was previously accustomed. Soon after his return, he decides to 'loaf' despite his female admirer's chagrin. Larry takes the road less traveled by exploring the world with little to no regard to the lifestyle Americans find so enchanting prior to the Great Depression...and without judging the people who come in and out of his life sometimes at their very lowest points. His former love marries the other man in hopes of achieving the social stature she craves. I won't give any more of the story away. The reason why I love it so much is that Larry could have lived the comfortable life, but he chose to do something uncomfortable so he could really experience life and people as they are. When I feel stuck in my comfortable American notions of the way life is supposed to be, I read this book and think about the difficult path that Larry took. Unpopular, imperfect, real.
A Life Changing Bookby Anonymous
Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings
January 03, 2008: W. Somserset Maugham's magnificent prose and ability to condense such an important theme into so short a story simply justifies his eminence as one of the greatest writers of all time.
Loading...