Product Description
It is very difficult for a writer of my generation, if he is honest,to pretend indifference to the work of Somerset Maugham," wrote GoreVidal. "He was always so entirelythere."
        Originallypublished in 1915, Of Human Bondage is a potent expression of thepower of sexual obsession and of modern man's yearning forfreedom. This classic bildungsroman tells the story of Philip Carey, asensitive boy born with a clubfoot who is orphaned and raised by areligious aunt and uncle. Philip yearns for adventure, and at eighteenleaves home, eventually pursuing a career as an artist in Paris. Whenhe returns to London to study medicine, he meets the androgynous butalluring Mildred and begins a doomed love affair that will change thecourse of his life. There is no more powerful story of sexualinfatuation, of human longing for connection andfreedom.
        "Here is anovel of the utmost importance," wrote Theodore Dreiser onpublication. "It is a beacon of light by which the wanderer may beguided. . . . One feels as though one were sitting before a splendidShiraz of priceless texture and intricate weave, admiring, feeling,responding sensually to its colors and tones."

With an Introductionby Gore Vidal

Commentary by Theodore Dreiser and Graham Greene ... Read more

Customer Reviews (137)

Tremendous Scope
A story of Great scope, with a tremendous cavalcade of characters. Who can ever forget the settings with Hayward in Germany and London, Miss Wilkinson in Blackstable, Weeks in Heidelberg, Norah in London and the scenes in Paris? Maugham paints these characters and settings exquisitely.

There is a great deal of emotion and warmth in the writing - there is `feeling' throughout. For example Philip's love for his adopted mother - the wife of the vicar of Blackstable.

Maugham is often criticized as being a detached writer, but there is no evidence of this aloofness in this long story. There is also humour, albeit at times dry. The characters are complex and manifold.

The tribulations, pains and failures of growing up and evolving from the age of 10 to 30 have never been as compellingly told as they have been in this story. The sufferings of adolescence and post-adolescence have a vividness that is still valid today. Remember that `Of Human Bondage' was written in 1915.

Perhaps only the relationship with Mildred becomes tedious and overly drawn out. Due to this it becomes somewhat un-real. But again think of the infatuations of adolescent love.

There are tragic characters in this story that are brought to life like Miss Price; the forsaken art student in Paris.

In defence of Mildred

Many reviews of this excellent book give Mildred, the first woman Carey falls in love with, a very hard time.Yes, she is a thoughtless, self-centred person who is quite unkind to him, but she is honest, brutally so.That is more than can be said for Carey himself when he had his first affair with Miss Wilkinson earlier in the novel.In that relationship, he conducted himself shamefully.He blatantly lied to her, telling her that he was madly in love with her when he wasn't at all; he was in love with the idea of being in love.This exploration of new emotions is one of the themes of the novel but those readers who are unsparing in their criticism of Mildred seem to have forgotten his treatment of Miss Wilkinson.When the short-lived affair was over, Phillip stopped communicating with her, finding her continued attentions embarrassing and unwanted.This was a cowardly and selfish way to treat a person whom he used to experience his first passion.He actually acknowledges this when he is on the receiving end of Mildred's indifference, saying that he wondered if Miss Wilkinson suffered the same torment as he now did, and admitting to a pang of remorse.This is how we learn to become considerate of other people and to see Mildred as a complete villain and Phillip as her victim is to miss, I think, a very important part of Phillip's development.

Maugham is a superb writer.His description, for example, of his thoughts and feelings as he conducted his first affair with the said Miss Wilkinson, is brilliant. Likewise with his experience of boarding school life and the profound effect it has on him. He is, however, dry and dispassionate, but he does describe emotions very well within that style.His gently cynical observations of his characters' behaviour are quite funny.Overall, he keeps you interested and you look forward to getting back to those characters' stories as you progress through the novel.
Author of Aztec Dawn: A tale of sacrifical murder, from Manhattan to Mexico
Afinidad: A novel of a serial killer

Emotional Masterwork
Of Human Bondage is W. Somerset Maugham's most famous work and generally considered his masterpiece. It is also probably the greatest bildungsroman ever written and one of the twentieth century's chief novels for its manifold excellences:characterization, style, depth, range, and more. There is hardly a fine literary quality lacking, and they coalesce to form a powerful, moving, and unforgettable masterwork.

Essentially a fictional biography, the novel is the story of Philip Carey from shortly after birth until about middle age. Unlike many bildungsromans, it is told in third-person, but the focus rarely leaves Philip. Like most people, his life has many ups and downs, and they are portrayed so believably and sympathetically that we feel his alternating hope and despair along with him. He experiences nearly every human emotion throughout the book, and they are dramatized with such verisimilitude that we feel they are ours. And indeed they are; Maugham makes sure to include enough atypical events to make the book interesting, but the core of Philip's experience is central to the human condition. The novel is to a large degree based on Maugham's own life, which is important for those interested in his biography, but critics have unfortunately stressed this so much that it overshadows far more important universal elements. As growing up is much the same everywhere, nearly everyone can relate in some way and many quite closely. Maugham depicts emotional profundity and immediacy more strongly and viscerally than perhaps any writer, and we are able to relive much of our lives through Philip. We feel his childhood joys and pained confusion, his adolescent struggles and doubts, his young adult exuberance and uncertainty, and his older ambiguity. There is much pathos but also elation and triumph - indeed pretty much everything but comedy. Much of the power comes from the reality that, again like nearly everyone, Philip is far from perfect; intelligent, sensitive, and ambitious but sometimes vain and selfish, he has many conventionally good and admirable qualities but also clear faults. This makes him far easier to identify with than some lofty hero. Simply put, the novel truly gets to the heart of what it means to be human, portraying it more vividly and realistically than nearly any work, and it hardly seems possible to be human and not be moved by it.

The excellent characterization also goes beyond Philip. All the characters are realistically drawn, and many seem so alive that they practically jump off the page. It would be hard to forget Philip's tender mother, his stern and lifeless uncle, his aloof but well-meaning aunt, and many other characters. The main one after Philip is Mildred, his unwanted obsession. She is one of the least likable characters in all literature but nonetheless in many ways fascinating. It is a testament to Maugham's art that he draws characters so well and precisely that we react just as he wants. When we realize the novel was published in 1915, it is also easy to see that he was truly pushing the proverbial envelope content-wise in regard to sexual and other matters - an important fact for which he rarely gets credit.

The novel is also of great historical value for its detailed and ever-fascinating glimpse into late nineteenth-century European life. We learn much about rural England, childhood education, London, Paris and especially its art schools, the medical and ecclesiastical professions, Germany and language schools, and far more. Much of it is interesting to sociologists and others of their ilk as well as historians, particularly the bleak depictions of poverty and labor. The novel is a wake-up call of sorts to those who exalt one era over others, as it clearly shows that all have pros and cons. Some champion the late Victorian era as an artistic high point, and we indeed get a glimpse of a cultural height far exceeding ours. However, there was also a very substantial dark side, and it is impossible to read this without a sense of just how much the developed world has improved in some ways. Of Human Bondage can thus also be seen as a historical novel in the best sense.

However, the greatest asset for many will be the dramatization of various weighty themes and ideas. Simply showing a fairly representative human life believably and movingly is enough art for most, but some high examples - e.g., David Copperfield - leave a vocal minority cold by not tackling the philosophical, theological, and other heavy issues that have been literature's, and especially long novels', top concerns for over a century. Of Human Bondage does this as much as possible in a novel of its kind - and indeed more than many claiming to do little else. Recurring difficulties cause Philip to question many assumptions, namely religion, and struggle to find meaning. This eventually leads him to abandon religion, a gradual and often painful process that the novel details in a very lifelike, meaningfully moving, and thought-provoking way. Its consequences are similarly shown, and religion opponents will find much to like, as the book advances many of their ends without the heavy-handedness that turns off so many. Palatability comes mainly from being dramatized through a believable and sympathetic character who starts out religious. We see how and why he loses faith rather than just being told, and the descriptions, along with consequent arguments, are very convincing. Much the same can be said of Philip's love and desire struggles; the Mildred case may be somewhat extreme, but almost anyone can identify - and sympathize - with love's ups and downs as he feels them.

The novel also examines fate's existence or non-existence in various ways. Philip seems to vacillate slightly but clearly ends up believing in free will. However, the book itself arguably gives the overall impression of predestination as illustrated in its enduring chessboard metaphor. Less universally, but importantly for a work of art, the book also examines art and artists' social role. This is notable and interesting because the book is set in the late 1800s, the Aesthetic movement's height and the era when the question was most debated in modern times. A lover of reading and would-be painter, Philip begins adulthood with a very aesthetic view, but failures lead him to change. He ends up adopting a very traditional stance while keeping his love for art, and the narrative voice makes a strong case for such practicality as the only way to true happiness. This might seem surprising from an artist like Maugham, and elements such as the ambiguous depiction of the poet Cronshaw suggest that Maugham and the novel, if not Philip, think there is much to be said for the other side. Other Maugham books indeed come to near-opposite conclusions, but this is his most full-fledged and arguably most convincing presentation.

Most fundamental are Philip's varying encounters with humanity's best and worst sides. The novel unflinchingly depicts many things that add grist to misanthropy's mill:seemingly preternaturally cruel children, hypocritical preachers, unrewarded genius, classism, apathy toward supposed loved ones as well as poverty and other sufferings, the lower classes' wretched lives, prostitution's horrors, and more. Maugham is certainly unafraid to show society's dark underbelly, and though depression is not his goal, he portrays this dark side more precisely - and thus appallingly - than many writers who make exposing it their only goal. However, he also shows the opposite side, and Philip's pained search for meaning - with all its doubts, failures, second guesses, sudden shattered hopes, and all the rest of it - ends in what Maugham calls a "surrender to happiness." Philip knows there is no god or traditional meaning and can torture himself forever with philosophical hair-splitting, but hard experience has taught him that happiness is extremely rare and that one must seize it for proverbial dear life if a chance is ever mercifully given. This may be caving to convention in many ways but is the only way to even temporarily secure happiness in an existential world; as the novel memorably concludes, it is "a defeat better than many victories" if indeed a defeat. Like many secular people, he finds solace finally in love's redemptive power, and it is very hard for even the most cynical to begrudge his happiness. Philip is in a large sense a mirror for our lives, and most can only hope that they will some day see such a contented reflection, however hard won.

Finally, it is worth noting that much of the book's power comes from precisely sculpted prose. Maugham is well-known as one of the twentieth century's best and most influential stylists, and this is the apex of his economical prose. Those who want flashy, trope-laden writing may think him plain, and he is certainly unornamented, but he is one of the few writers who truly understands and adheres to Jonathan Swift's famous definition of good style:"proper words in proper places." It sounds absurdly simple, but anyone who has read widely knows how very rarely it is followed. Maugham knows exactly what words are needed to convey what he wants and does not need to use more. This novel is a testament to how much depth and emotion one can get across in a properly done simple style.

All told, the novel is essential for anyone who likes nineteenth- or twentieth-century fiction, bildungsromans, or historical novels as well as those interested in the era and those who are simply receptive to great art. Of Human Bondage reaches the sublime heights of the nineteenth century's best novels, and very few later books can even rival it; we may never see another novel like it - much less as good as it -, making it all the more essential.

As for this edition, it has Maugham's Preface; an introduction with significant background on Maugham, the novel, and the historical context; and further reading suggestions. There is also a short set of notes, though they are unfortunately not keyed to the text, making them virtually useless. Some may wish for more supplemental material, but this will suffice for most.

A Novel About Co-Dependence: Emotional Neediness Brilliantly Written and Unmatched Since
This is a novel about codependence.It is a novel about a man who grew up struggling for self-esteem, and, upon maturity, had not achieved the level of self-esteem commensurate to a healthy romantic, intimate relationship.It details his struggles with finding a mate, and how he ends up sacrificing his own self-worth for an unstable, highly emotionally abusive and extremely unhappy Mildred Pierce.

But I hope I don't make it sound too depressing.Maughnam is writing here for people who constantly seek approval in others.The entire book stands as a beautiful, not-so-subtle warning: focus on yourself and on your own work and contribution.Do not allow others to, and do not, control others.Good advice, no?

Classic Coming of Age Tale
Of Human Bondage is a classic coming of age story.In this novel, Maugham tells the story of Philip Carey.As a young boy he is orphaned and sent to be raised by his aunt and uncle in Blackstable.His uncle is the local vicar and all of Philip's education is geared towards him eventually entering the Church as well.He rebels against this notion and convinces his uncle to let him go to Germany for a year.Following that year in Germany he returns to London to start his life, but he finds it tedious and eventually gives up accounting to pursue art in Paris.This too he gives up, determining that he doesn't want to just be mediocre, and returns to London, this time to undertake medical training like his father.It is here, that he meets Mildred, and his obssesive love for her takes control of his every thought.In Mildred's hands is the ability to give him life or destory it as he tries to discover himself.

I thought this novel was extroidinarily well written.Maugham definitely had quite a way with words and the story, of the ties that bind us, that control us, is an important one.That said, I really didn't care for Philip or any of the other characters.I didn't exactly dislike them either, they just didn't mean anything to me.I didn't really care what happened to Philip, and the female characters all felt more like archetypes and not at all real.I'm glad I read the novel because the story itself gave me much to think on regarding my own choices in life, but it definitely won't be making it on to my list of favorit novels and I'm not going to be rushing out to read any of the authors other novels any time soon. ... Read more

Product Description
"Hamlyn's Purlieu, a palatial estate, had belonged to the Allertons for 300 years. And with each generation the Allertons grew prouder. But at length Purlieu came into the hands of Fred Allerton: and the gods, blind for so long to the prosperity of this house, determined now, it seemed, to wreak their malice."

THE EXPLORER is the story of the Allertons, Fred and his children, as they deal with the loss of their birthright. Fred squanders the family fortune and dishonors the family name. His children, Lucy and George, try to pick up the pieces when what they assume is theirs is taken from them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Maugham Learning his Trade
Just finished this book today.Like the previous reviewer I`m a big fan of Maugham, but didn't know what to make this melodrama at first.Unlike her, I don't quiver with fear, outrage and self-righteousness when contemplating the views of others unfortunate enough not to have been born in my time and place.

It was apparently written before 1900 but not published until 1907, so a young Willie at work here.Reads curiously like a playscript in many parts - characters will sometimes in their thoughts describe and set up a scene before the action starts, for example.A LOT of conversation here, too.

Anyway, give this to a modern high school class and you`ll lose your teacher's permit yesterday due to the eponymous hero`s views - based on 15 years experience - on the general sincerity of native Africans when dealing with white men.This shocker takes place about page one and is where the aforementioned reviewer no doubt jumped up on a chair holding her skirts and screaming.

The heroine of this tale is impossibly noble and strong, but yearns for the even more impossibly noble and strong hero to relieve her of the burden.They are both willing to sacrifice years of comfort and health and happiness for a noble end.On his part he risks life itself: Try to imagine hacking your way through malarial jungles, warring on Arab slavers, and fighting off wild beasts in the days before anti-biotics, for example.

He is an Imperialist and a Tory.So is everyone else in the book.Horrors!It`s the 1890`s.Haven`t they heard of Obama?!?He - as our aforementioned friend tells us - is a racist.And since he`s a racist, he wipes out slavery in an area of thousands of square miles and sends several hundred Arab slavers to an unscheduled appointment with Shaitan while he`s about it.Terrible man.

His worst sin, perhaps, is that stiff upper lip.Can't he show his emotions like the brave honest creatures who grace our wonderful world today?Can't he weep on cue for the TV cameras when a bunny wabbit gets hurt?

Alas, no.Things were different once, sad as that may be.

What else?In what seems almost like another book, there is a clever and entertaining couple who might remind you of "Nick and Nora Charles" of Hollywood fame.They even seem to be taking over the story towards the end.A very uneven job Maugham made here.

Anyway, after the original surprise (the earliest Maugham I've read) I continued with pleasure and interest.I say again I think it must have been originally written as a play because no one could talk and act the way hero and heroine do in an otherwise naturalistic novel, but no doubt often did on the London stage in the 1890's.

Three stars 'cause Maugham was learning and experimenting, I guess.

Sadly not recommended
I am a fan of Maugham and I suspect this is his worst book.Written and set at the beginning of the 20th century, the explorer of the title is an anachronism, the sort of blood-and-guts 'pacifier of the natives' who invaded east Africa 20 years earlier in the 1880s.Yet he is the character we have to take seriously as the hero and the center of the heroine's life. A lot is made of the beauty of British suppression of emotion, which was practiced and glorified for many decades, thankfully no longer, and from which Maugham himself, especially given his sexual feelings for men, must have suffered a great deal.The heroine is an annoying cipher whose principle activity is clenching her teeth and not crying.Finally, there are two civilized creatures of leisure who befriend hero and heroine and presage Maugham's later witty couples, but here are only mutually insulting, not amusing.This must have been a bad time in the author's life. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1915.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
A novel about Edwardian Paris. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

darkness foiled
Maughan...
dear lovers of magic,
... is a truly great writer and while this is not accorded as one of his great books, these elves, who love books about magic, both fiction and non-fiction, loved this book as well. As noted elsewhere, the book is based on Aleister Crowley, whom Maughan met in Paris just after Crowley returned from Africa where he had shot two lions that were charging him at the same time, which according to Maughan was quite an impressive feat considering the courage it took to remain calm while being so attacked. Maughan wrote that Crowley was neither as powerful nor as evil as the villain of this book. Somewhat reminiscent of Denis Wheatley's occult novels.
Kyela,
the silver elves

Fantastic story with the real Aleister Crowley barely disguised
I loved this book and am writing here to strongly recommend that it be read along with Moonchild by Aliester Crowley.This is a terrific suspenseful adventure.If you read both books you are in for a special treat.

mysterious, interesting - but a bit too static characters
This is the story about a beautiful young girl named Margaret, her friend Susie and Arthur Burdon - Margareth's guardian and fiancée. They are in Paris, preparing the wedding of Arthur and Margaret, when they meet the strange Oliver Haddo. He is introduced to them by Dr Porhoët, a friend of Arthurs'. Haddo is an eccentric character who is deeply occupied with occult mysteries and perhaps has dark powers of his own (or is he joking?)

Arthur and Margaret take an instant dislike to Haddo, and when he and Arthur become enemies, strange things begin to happen...

Soon the sensible and rational Arthur finds himself in way over his head in mysteries, when he tries to save the woman he loves from a truly horrible fate!

The story is interesting and haunting, but the characters are a bit too rigid for my taste, and - except for Haddo - without much nuance. I'm aware that the themes they represent are the main focus of the novel, but I would have liked more "3 dimensional" characters (again except for Haddo).

The plot is well constructed and interesting, and the explorations of the dark arts and it's practises are fascinating!

I won't reveal too much of the story here, as it takes some interesting twists and turns along the way! A nice read for a rainy day, if you like suspense and mystery mixed with love and occultism!

Complex and perceptive
This novel is based on a character whom Somerset Maugham met in Paris in 1897 called Aleistair Crowley. He was a liar, a boastful man and a voluminous writer of mediocre verse. He was also dabbing in Satanism, magic and occult. He inspired Somerset Maugham and served as a model for Oliver Haddo in "The Magician".
Arthur Burdon, surgeon of St Luke's in London, has just arrived in Paris to study the methods of the French operators. But he has also come there to see Margaret Dauncy with whom he is in love. It is Dr Porhoet, a lifetime friend of Arthur's, who introduces him to Oliver Haddo. This obese, fleshy-faced man with an imposing paunch claims to be a magician. At a dinner party, the guests can hardly believe the stories told by this charlatan. They wonder whether he is an impostor or a madman and how much he really believes what he says. Does he deceive himself or is he laughing up his sleeve at the madness of those who take him seriously? To Arthur's bewilderment, as he is about to marry Margaret, she falls under the spell of Oliver Haddo and flees with him. Yet Arthur can hardly picture into what abyss of horror and evil Margaret will be driven.
A complex and perceptive novel. The theme of evil is perfectly woven into a story stunning for its action and vivid characters.
I recommend the audio version from Audible.com. Listening to Frederick Davidson reading "The Magician" is a pure delight!

A gripping horror tale from a master stroyteller
This is possibly the strangest of all Maugham novels that I've read. It starts innocently enough with the type of sophisticated turn of the century Parisian characters that populate much of his fiction. The characters are lucidly established and we are slowly drawn into their relationships and longings in typical Maugham fashion. Then we are introduced to the strange eccentric character of Oliver Haddo and with each of his subsequent appearances the theme of lurking evil is masterfully developed. The plot then takes over in a way that I felt was unique for Maugham and this novel turns into a suspenseful page turner. It is in someways reminiscent of Dracula. The climax builds relentlessly and the last half of the book is virtually impossible to put down once it's begun. Wonderfully blends a horror tale with the cultural sophistication of all Maugham's writing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Any Maugham is better than no Maugham
W. Somerset Maugham is a brilliant writer. I have read everything he's ever written. Okay, so Catalina is not a masterpiece. His worst is still ten times better than the best of any of the popular authors of today. The trash I see on the best seller list and the books I see people reading (which is rare enough to see anyone actually reading anymore) make me laugh. I would urge anyone with a thoughtful mind and an intellectual bent to read all you can of Maugham. His work never fails to make me think of in a fresh way the mysterious workings of the universe and human nature.

Full of many good things
The novel has an excellent first half, even though it seemed to take a number of pages before I could work out which century we were in.

It is possible to feel something of the fear of the Spanish Inquisition, and the horror engendered by the Bishop and former inquisitor, who was at once devout and compassionate, yet at the same time indescribably cruel. To me this is the crux of the book - how men are capable of the worst, but for what seem to be the best reasons. It plausibly portrays how no man thinks he is evil.

And it gets well into the stupidity of institutionalised religious dogma, and the lengths to which it can drive irrational behaviour. Perhaps this is even more relevant to us today than when Maugham was writing it.

As one of your reviewers has already pointed out, the final sections of the book are quite different in tone from the beginning. We are in more of a make-believe world where some of the earlier realities of life have vanished, and things become more sugar coated. Maugham is doing this to continue with some valid earlier points about what is or is not a "good" life, and so the final few pages are much better than might be anticipated as you go through the "elopement" episode, which has already been criticised by some of your earlier reviewers.

I'd suggest this book is a failed masterpiece. A younger Maugham would quite probably have made more of it. Nevertheless it's intriguing and thought provoking - well worth a read.

Like the Da Vinci code? Or not.
According to jacket flap:
During the Inquisition, a young girl is cured of lameness by a miracle, and other miracles follow. Saintliness and cynicism result. A winner by the famous author. Vintage rare hardback, 275 pp.

Review
Maugham's book really brings the characters to life in "Catalina." The story takes place during the Spanish Inquisition, and it's filled with unique plot twists.

The lack of effort put into this novel is palpable.
Please note - spoilers within.

'Catalina', published in the late 1940s, is one of Somerset Maugham's last novels. If nothing else, it offers incontrovertible proof that he was a bitchy old misanthrope who had no more business writing a 'romance' than Helen Fielding would have writing a car maintenance manual.

Writing simple characters who love and are loved seems to be beyond him. There are moments in the story where it drifts into the mythic, where a magic realism suffuses the action and it becomes almost a fairytale. At those times, one sees the potential. Unfortunately these are only glimpses, and it soon slides back into curdling misanthropy.

In Maugham's world, there are two kinds of people: those who think they are virtuous but are really dark-hearted, and those who recognise their dark-heartedness and embrace it. We're either cheerful knaves or hypocritical knaves, but never anything more than knaves. Cynicism is a virtue and piety is always false.

Beyond Maugham's hatred for all things good and holy, there's an issue, too, with the actual writing. The opening paragraph begins thusly:

"It was a great day for the city of the Castel Rodriguez. The inhabitants, wearing their best clothes, were up by dawn. On the balconies of the grim old palaces of the nobles rich draperies were spread and their banners flapped lazily on the flagpoles. It was the feast of the Assumption, August the fifteenth, and the sun beat down from an unclouded sky. There was a feeling of excitement in the air."

You see? It's about as adroit as the average schoolchild's "What I Did On My Summer Holidays" essay. The metaphors are cliched, and the sentence structure is terrible - the third one especially so. Coming from the same man who composed such beautiful language as that found in 'Of Human Bondage' and 'Cakes and Ale', it's all the more of a disappointment.

It's in its last chapters that 'Catalina' gets actively unhinged, as opposed to simply misconceived. It begins as Catalina escapes with her lover from the evil machinations of the Bishop and the Prioress. They experience a series of odd miracles, which have all the grandeur of The Miracle Of The Jar of Pickles That's Hard To Open Suddenly Opening Easily, or The Miracle Of The Lost Carkeys Turning Up. All this leads them into getting married in the first little church they come across, with the Virgin Mary rematerialising, like the Fairy Godmother in a bad pantomime, to act as witness. Then they're off again, pausing briefly to consummate their marriage in the woods, before they bump into Don Quixote.

Yes, Don Quixote. Maybe Maugham had had one too many bovrils and was beginning to hallucinate. His fairly straightforward story suddenly takes on a silly, light-hearted tone. The characters start to slow down and become aimless, like musicians indulging in a jam session following a successful concert. It all falls apart and eventually limps to an unsatisfying conclusion.

If you want to read good Maugham, read `The Razor's Edge'. `Catalina' is an easy read with an often amusing little story, but almost all of the rest of Maugham's oeuvre is better. ... Read more

Product Description
Mr. Maugham recently travelled from Rangoon by river to Mandalay, on horseback through the mountains and forests of the Shan States to Bangkok and by sea to Haiphong. Result: The Gentleman in the Parlour, a desultory sketch book, very little descriptive of the conventional "sights" but occupied, to our richer delight, with personal encounters and reflections by the way. These are the things that give every journey unique value; but only the artist is sufficiently aware of that to shed the rest and keep only them'Horace Thorogood in the Evening Standard ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

IF YOU LIKE PROSE
I've read this book a number of times, and I think that as with THE BRIDE OF SAN LUIS REY and a couple of other books, it is likely to be one of those books I read yearly, perhaps, or at least regularly, from here on in.

THE GENTLEMAN is good company, and every page has something of interest on it. Yes, the Introduction is flashy, and a Master's Class in and of itself, for aspiring writers, but the entirety of the book, chapter by chapter, incident by incident, is a demonstration of what English prose can do well: it entertains as it informs.If one's taste has been corrupted by the Gee Whiz, Buzz-Word and media-clever sound bite slangadellic scribbling that passes for, well, writing nowadays, this simple book may come as a surprise and a heathy cure for bad reading habits (or addictions to trashy faddistic stuff) and may prepare the reader for a new direction in book-buying. And, rarest of all, and quiteunexpected, this oyster bears within its unassuming flesh, a pearl of superlative price.
... Read more

Product Description
Sandglass First edition w/ slipcase, laid in booklet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Talented, but flawed
This story is set at some time around the turn of the twentieth century, before World War 1.The story opens in London, England.The unnamed narrator is a young man who has just written his first successful novel.Gingerly negotiating his way around the `literati' of England he attends a party at which he meets Mrs. Strickland.She is not herself an author but has a deep interest in meeting talented people.She gives parties at her house where food and drink is laid on, and where various members of the world of the arts and literature are invited.Eventually the narrator is invited to dinner at Mrs. Strickland's, though on arriving he finds that it is not a literary function, but a small private affair.It is here that the narrator meets for the first time Mr. Charles Strickland, who's life-story this book follows.Charles Strickland strikes the narrator as "... just a good, dull, honest, plain man."It is therefore with some surprise that the narrators later hears that Mr. Strickland has suddenly abandoned his wife and gone to Paris, apparently in the company of a young woman who worked at a tea-shop in the city.The narrator feels with some excitement that he has just entered the exciting, unseemly world of his own novel.The narrator's life-path crosses several time with that of Charles Strickland.Gradually as the story progresses we come to see Strickland as a markedly talented, yet severely flawed man.

This novel, first published in 1919, "... confirmed Maugham's reputation as a novelist and is probably his best-known book."This being said it should be noted that the book has moments of greatness, but is also partly flawed.

The plot is based on the life of the `post-impressionist' painter Paul Gauguin.It is, however, primarily a fiction and varies from that artist's real biography.Gauguin was for example French, not English.The points of similarity include:

An uneventful first half of life, with a career as a stockbroker,
A sudden break with his family,
Lack of recognition from the contemporary critics and general public,
Recognition of talent from some fellow painters,
Living in poverty,
A biting, sardonic personality,
Leaving Europe to live `close to nature' in Tahiti,
A non-representational art style in which, for example, color represented the emotions.

Rather interestingly Strickland physically resembles Vincent van Gogh, with his red hair and beard.Van Gogh was rather a different man to Strickland, though he too painted non-representationally, using color to express emotion.Strickland, like van Gogh spent a short time at an art academy where his efforts were viewed quite askance.Also like van Gogh, Strickland had an unseemly affair that resulted in the painting of a famous reclining nude.

The book is roughly divided into three even sections.The first section covers Strickland's unexpected departure to Paris.Here Maugham quite competently sets the scene, introducing us to Strickland's personality.The second section covers life in Paris, concentrating on the relationship with the Strove family.This part of the story is the most conventional segment and is rather uninteresting, at least plot wise.I was reminded of Emily Bronte's and her sister Charlotte Bronte's , though those books are much more successful than Maugham's.The third section revolves around the trip to Tahiti and it is here that the book truly shines.There seems to be something about the idea of `getting back to nature' that appeals to the psyche of modern man.

It should be noted that Maugham's narrator freely admits his own lack of knowledge of human nature and the motivations of the people he meets.The all-knowing narrator, so standard in many books, is gone, and instead we have am essentially modern device.The reader himself must decide what he believes about particular people.How much, we ask, can we know anyone other than ourselves?

Of course the novel has the theme of the genius.We are shows how unconscious forces drive such people, and how all else falls to the wayside on the road to the chosen goal.The novel also explores the theme of the artificiality of `civilized' society, and the retreat to a more `real' nature.This idea goes back at least as far as the Eighteenth Century Romantics, though it should be noted that Maugham has his own spin on the topic.Nature, for example, is not always the `pleasant mother' of the Romantics.

Strickland is adequately drawn as a terse, abrasive man with a monomania for his art.His name suggests the `strict land' he has chosen to dwell in, where everything is rejected except his calling. His name also perhaps suggests "strychnine' as he is poison to just about all who he meets.After his initial `conversion' to the path of art Strickland there is at first some humor arising from his candor about his rejection of social norms.Soon, however, a monomaniac becomes predictably dull, and Maugham has achieved the unusual task of writing about a central character by highlighting the people around him.The second section accents the Stroves, particularly Dirk, a good-natured man with perhaps more heart than sense.Interestingly Dirk may be Maugham's comment on the Romantics.The third section reveals to us a whole procession of characters, many of them eccentric, who encountered Strickland in various situations.These portraits greatly enhance the novel.

All in all this is certainly not a bad book, but not a great one either.The second section, as I have noted, mars the book to some degree.Maugham made a fact-finding trip to Tahiti and the details and highlights this journey seems to have given him greatly enriched that part of the book.
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Customer Reviews (2)

Obscure story about obscure times
I was expecting a classical (=dull) spy story, with high-tensed action and plot twists, but ended up with a collection of short stories, placed mostly in central europe during WWI. How can it be, that seemingly unrelated stories can be summed up to make a book like this? How little are the hints that something out-of-ordinary is going on? When will the 'action scene' take place?

The book can be read as a collection of short stories, just change the main characters name in a story, but as such it is still not a very easy read. One to add to a collection:'This may or may not have been a true story'.

Scrambled eggs and British agents
Look, I love Maugham's writing style and I enjoy historical novels.This one was a no-brainer for me.

Just read it.It's worth it for the brilliant description of his failed affair with the Russian.Who would have thought scrambled eggs could be such a political statement? ... Read more