The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
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(Paperback)
- Pub. Date: September 2003
- 320pp
- Sales Rank: 9,156
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: September 2003
- Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Format: Paperback, 320pp
- Sales Rank: 9,156
- 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 born in Paris in 1874. He trained as a doctor in London where he started writing his first novels. In 1926 he bought a house in Cap Ferrat, France, which was to become a meeting place for a number of writers, artists and politicians. He died in 1965.
Customer Reviews
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- Ratings: 14Reviews: 9
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An intimate read, delicate yet powerful in its message, easily bordering on inspirationalby Da_Greek
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November 10, 2009: One of the best ways I feel I can describe this book is simply that it's like a stream of truth, with a current never pulling you along, but always gentle in its form. Some novels will leave their messages and themes to be interpreted in some esoteric manner, or on the opposite of the spectrum be too obvious with their themes, but this work finds a balance. The reader will never find him or herself in a place where they have lost track of where they are, and what the book is doing, but on a philosophical level, it's level of insight is consistently top notch from opening to close. I found reading the book to be an intimate experience; the narrators world is thoroughly understood, and through the narrator all the other characters thoroughly understood as well. The entire book is driven simply by the emotional lives of the characters, varied enough so that any reader will easily find elements of his or her own life within the characters' experiences. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is looking to increase their knowledge of the modern human experience.
My favorite book of all timesby Anonymous
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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.
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