Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Penguin Classics (1992), Paperback, 336 pages
Description
Classic Literature. Fiction. Literature. Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of this spiritual odyssey involves him with some of Maugham's most brillant characters - his fiancee Isabel, whose choice between love and wealth have lifelong repercussions, and Elliot Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate American snob. The most ambitious of Maugham's novels, this is also one in which Maugham himself plays a considerable part as he wanders in and out of the story, to observe his characters struggling with their fates.
User reviews
LibraryThing member rainpebble
I have put off the writing of this for several days as I just quite do not know how to do a review on the stuff this book is made of. I love this book and I did not want it to end. I especially love the style Maugham used in the writing of it.
Immediately upon beginning the book, I was reminded of
I think most of us know the story of "The Razor's Edge" whether we have read it or not. I know I did. There are many reviews on this site that will share that information with you if you wish. I was prepared for the story. What I was not prepared for was the gamut of emotions I went through as I read this slim novel. Nor was I prepared to see the characters so fully fleshed out to the point that while I was reading the book, I actually knew these people. I was also not prepared for the brilliance of Somerset Maugham's writing. As in this quote from Larry:
"You can't imagine what a thrill it is to read the "Odyssey" in the original. It makes you feel as if you had only to get on tiptoe and stretch out your hands to touch the stars."
There is one point in the novel where the narrator, Maugham, and Larry accidentally run into each other at the theater and decide to meet for drinks afterward. They order a late night supper of eggs and bacon and talk. Maugham realizes that Larry wants to talk (usually he is quite private) and just sits back and lets him, responding when it is appropriate. He allows Larry to tell his story which runs until after breakfast the next morning and fully 41 pages of the book. At one point Larry is telling about living with a Benedictine monk and their conversations and he tells of the monk asking him: "Do you believe in God?" The narrative goes on: "Larry hesitated for a moment, and when he went on I knew he wasn't speaking to me but to the Benedictine monk. He had forgotten me. I don't know what there was in the time or the place that enabled him to speak, without my prompting, of what his natural reticence had so long concealed."
This is a beautiful story written in absolutely beautiful prose.
If you have not read it, you should. I highly recommend it.
Immediately upon beginning the book, I was reminded of
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reading "Brideshead Revisited" and how much I disliked that book mainly because I could not understand nor care about the characters nor the way they lived their lives throughout the story. In "The Razor's Edge" Larry says he just "wants to loaf." And most of the characters within the book spend their days "loafing" of a sort. They spend them lunching with friends, having drinks, living in quite the same type of manner. But in this book I understood why the people lived as they did. I cared about the characters within this novel. I cared about what they did, what they ate, what they drank, what they said, with whom they spent their time, where they went. In other words I quickly came to care about every aspect of their lives. I became so drawn into the story that I forgot about my own world the whole time during which I was reading it. I think most of us know the story of "The Razor's Edge" whether we have read it or not. I know I did. There are many reviews on this site that will share that information with you if you wish. I was prepared for the story. What I was not prepared for was the gamut of emotions I went through as I read this slim novel. Nor was I prepared to see the characters so fully fleshed out to the point that while I was reading the book, I actually knew these people. I was also not prepared for the brilliance of Somerset Maugham's writing. As in this quote from Larry:
"You can't imagine what a thrill it is to read the "Odyssey" in the original. It makes you feel as if you had only to get on tiptoe and stretch out your hands to touch the stars."
There is one point in the novel where the narrator, Maugham, and Larry accidentally run into each other at the theater and decide to meet for drinks afterward. They order a late night supper of eggs and bacon and talk. Maugham realizes that Larry wants to talk (usually he is quite private) and just sits back and lets him, responding when it is appropriate. He allows Larry to tell his story which runs until after breakfast the next morning and fully 41 pages of the book. At one point Larry is telling about living with a Benedictine monk and their conversations and he tells of the monk asking him: "Do you believe in God?" The narrative goes on: "Larry hesitated for a moment, and when he went on I knew he wasn't speaking to me but to the Benedictine monk. He had forgotten me. I don't know what there was in the time or the place that enabled him to speak, without my prompting, of what his natural reticence had so long concealed."
This is a beautiful story written in absolutely beautiful prose.
If you have not read it, you should. I highly recommend it.
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LibraryThing member richardderus
It is pleasant to give yourself over to the care of a master, or mistress, of craft. The Razor’s Edge is masterful. It is an expression of the mastery Maugham earned through many long years of novel-writing and mostly successful critical reception of his work that this book, which came almost
A critic reviewing The Razor’s Edge today would likely fault the author for choosing to write the story from his own first-person point of view. The fashion today is for first-person narratives, it’s true, but Maugham uses a narrative device…the story told to the narrator by others…very much out of fashion in today’s world. It is accused, perhaps with justice, of taking the forward thrust out of a story. It makes the reader a follower, a passive observer of the story, instead of giving the presently fashionable sense of watching the story unfold before the reader’s eyes. In a world that craves “The Real World” and “Survivor,” the technique of the cicerone leading the reader around the story feels artificial and affected. That is too bad. The Razor’s Edge is a pleasant journey in the company of interesting people. It’s not a fast-lane zoom like Less Than Zero, in a car full of noisy meretricious mercenary monkey-boys. It is a subtler pleasure, a trip more akin to touring the blue roads of the American countryside than that superhighway journey.
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twenty years into a career of more than forty years, feels as fresh as his first book (The Moon and Sixpence). It deals, as is the case with so many writers’ oeuvres, with many of the same themes and issues as the first book and most of his subsequent work.A critic reviewing The Razor’s Edge today would likely fault the author for choosing to write the story from his own first-person point of view. The fashion today is for first-person narratives, it’s true, but Maugham uses a narrative device…the story told to the narrator by others…very much out of fashion in today’s world. It is accused, perhaps with justice, of taking the forward thrust out of a story. It makes the reader a follower, a passive observer of the story, instead of giving the presently fashionable sense of watching the story unfold before the reader’s eyes. In a world that craves “The Real World” and “Survivor,” the technique of the cicerone leading the reader around the story feels artificial and affected. That is too bad. The Razor’s Edge is a pleasant journey in the company of interesting people. It’s not a fast-lane zoom like Less Than Zero, in a car full of noisy meretricious mercenary monkey-boys. It is a subtler pleasure, a trip more akin to touring the blue roads of the American countryside than that superhighway journey.
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LibraryThing member Dorritt
Genuinely enjoyed The Razor’s Edge, though I’m having trouble articulating why. Seriously, I’m not even sure what compelled me to pick this up, as I normally avoid books about “the meaning of life” like Russian athletes avoiding a drug test. I suppose the truth is that I’d never read
Admit I’m still on the fence about Maugham’s decision to narrate the story through the eyes of an unbiased spectator – the author himself, thinly disguised as an independent “man of the world” who just happens to be acquainted with the principle parties and present at a handful of key events. The effect is to create a sort of chasm of disinterest between the characters and the readers that, for me, required an effort to breach. Yet I’m glad I stuck it out, because these characters turn out to be worth getting to know.
The plot (such as it is) revolves around a young, likable American lad, Larry Darrell, who returns from WWI a changed man. Not necessary traumatized, but definitely determined to reconsider his priorities. Toward this end, he shrugs off his Plan A – a safe, highly lucrative job at a stockbrokers office plus marriage to a charming, wealthy girl who genuinely loves him – and wanders off in search of an answer to the question “what makes life meaningful?”, a quest that whisks him from Parisian reading rooms to Welsh coal mines, from German monasteries to Indian temples, before finally landing back upon the vast, anonymous plains of America.
Meanwhile, however, he’s left in his wake a whole cast of characters who lack either the will or courage to liberate themselves from the shallow lives they have chosen for themselves. There’s Elliott Templeton, the arch-socialite, seeking fulfillment through the superficial pageantry of society and religion. Isabel Bradley, Larry’s ex-fiancé, pursuing fullfilment through a marriage that seems to guarantee social and economic security. And poor Sophie, a childhood friend, who (upon the death of her beloved husband) dedicates herself to deliberate, gleeful self-destruction.
While Larry eventually does achieve enlightenment, even becoming a saint of sorts (he gains the ability to cure people, maybe even save them), Maugham’s other characters are left to live out the rest of their flawed lives without redemption. Each is given an opportunity to repent of their shallow ways (Elliott is briefly permitted to see how little his life of toadying has actually won him in terms of regard; Isabel is afforded the opportunity to leave Gray and follow her heart instead of a checkbook; Sophie is given the chance to escape her path towards self-destruction by marrying Larry), but none of them avail themselves of the opportunities.
And so I am left, again, to wonder what it was that kept me reading on. Perhaps Maugham’s gift for creating appealingly likable characters whose flaws are as organic as their virtues? Perhaps the grace Maugham demonstrates in allowing these characters to retain their dignity, resisting the urge to turn them into pathetic grotesques? (In this way, the novel reminds me a little of The Great Gatsby.) Perhaps the fun of jet-setting around 1930s Europe at the author’s side, visiting along the way many of Europe’s most glamourous destinations? Perhaps the way Maugham manages to discuss enormous, important themes like love, sacrifice, religion, and life without waxing pedantic? Perhaps because the book provided an intriguing new lens through which to reflect upon some of my own actions and choices? Perhaps a combination of all of the above?
I don’t imagine this is everyone’s cup of tea, and I totally understand that. But for those readers out there who appreciate refreshingly good writing and aren’t daunted by important themes, I strongly recommend The Razor’s Edge as well worth the time it takes to read … and then all the time you’ll spend afterwards, thinking about it.
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anything by Maugham and I got to wondering what, if anything, I might be missing. Am glad I did. Admit I’m still on the fence about Maugham’s decision to narrate the story through the eyes of an unbiased spectator – the author himself, thinly disguised as an independent “man of the world” who just happens to be acquainted with the principle parties and present at a handful of key events. The effect is to create a sort of chasm of disinterest between the characters and the readers that, for me, required an effort to breach. Yet I’m glad I stuck it out, because these characters turn out to be worth getting to know.
The plot (such as it is) revolves around a young, likable American lad, Larry Darrell, who returns from WWI a changed man. Not necessary traumatized, but definitely determined to reconsider his priorities. Toward this end, he shrugs off his Plan A – a safe, highly lucrative job at a stockbrokers office plus marriage to a charming, wealthy girl who genuinely loves him – and wanders off in search of an answer to the question “what makes life meaningful?”, a quest that whisks him from Parisian reading rooms to Welsh coal mines, from German monasteries to Indian temples, before finally landing back upon the vast, anonymous plains of America.
Meanwhile, however, he’s left in his wake a whole cast of characters who lack either the will or courage to liberate themselves from the shallow lives they have chosen for themselves. There’s Elliott Templeton, the arch-socialite, seeking fulfillment through the superficial pageantry of society and religion. Isabel Bradley, Larry’s ex-fiancé, pursuing fullfilment through a marriage that seems to guarantee social and economic security. And poor Sophie, a childhood friend, who (upon the death of her beloved husband) dedicates herself to deliberate, gleeful self-destruction.
While Larry eventually does achieve enlightenment, even becoming a saint of sorts (he gains the ability to cure people, maybe even save them), Maugham’s other characters are left to live out the rest of their flawed lives without redemption. Each is given an opportunity to repent of their shallow ways (Elliott is briefly permitted to see how little his life of toadying has actually won him in terms of regard; Isabel is afforded the opportunity to leave Gray and follow her heart instead of a checkbook; Sophie is given the chance to escape her path towards self-destruction by marrying Larry), but none of them avail themselves of the opportunities.
And so I am left, again, to wonder what it was that kept me reading on. Perhaps Maugham’s gift for creating appealingly likable characters whose flaws are as organic as their virtues? Perhaps the grace Maugham demonstrates in allowing these characters to retain their dignity, resisting the urge to turn them into pathetic grotesques? (In this way, the novel reminds me a little of The Great Gatsby.) Perhaps the fun of jet-setting around 1930s Europe at the author’s side, visiting along the way many of Europe’s most glamourous destinations? Perhaps the way Maugham manages to discuss enormous, important themes like love, sacrifice, religion, and life without waxing pedantic? Perhaps because the book provided an intriguing new lens through which to reflect upon some of my own actions and choices? Perhaps a combination of all of the above?
I don’t imagine this is everyone’s cup of tea, and I totally understand that. But for those readers out there who appreciate refreshingly good writing and aren’t daunted by important themes, I strongly recommend The Razor’s Edge as well worth the time it takes to read … and then all the time you’ll spend afterwards, thinking about it.
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LibraryThing member figre
A true test of good writing: take characters who, while not detestable, have flaws that make them slightly unlikable, then tell a story that is engrossing and still makes you care about those flawed people. (Think of it this way – when you can feel genuine disappointment in a character’s
This is the story starting between the wars and extending past the Depression, and it is about people who are all probably better off than you and me. Viewed closely, it would be easy to dismiss them as vapid – walking through their lives more concerned about the next fun thing to do, the next important party to attend, the next person to impress. But Maugham’s skill does not allow such easy dismissal. Among the people that might so easily be written off are two which do not fit neatly into that description. The first is the narrator who, as a novelist, has snuck his way into this social whirl through the help of Elliot. Elliot is the epitome of the status seeker – the individual who is concerned about who is in attendance and what is being worn. At the outset, the narrator admits that Elliot has many faults, but explains that he has many other attractive qualities. We learn a few, but it is still hard to cozy up this individual. The other person who does not fit the mold is Larry, a man engaged to Elliot’s niece, but a man who has learned a new perspective on life because of events in the First World War.
The lives of these people are followed as the young move to adulthood and the adults move to old age. In the process, the people do not so much change as evolve (implying a slower, more true-to-life movement of events and change.) In most cases this evolution only entrenches them into the shallow attributes that are their lives. And even the people with the best attributes are changed into something that is not quite as nice as we might have thought. But for a very few, the evolution leads to enlightenment, and makes them truly better.
While we may not like them all, they are people we want to learn more about. And the conversations and the events bring a slow enlightment about the people that is revealing, but never overly shocking. Maugham ends with the phrase “…so perhaps my ending is not so unsatisfactory at all.” It is more than satisfactory, the story is more than satisfactory, the event of reading this book is more than satisfactory. And (since this is the first Maugham book I’ve read) I pay it the highest compliment by saying that I am immediately on the hunt for more of his work to read.
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actions, you can know that the author has created a living, breathing individual.) Such is Maugham’s success in this book. This is the story starting between the wars and extending past the Depression, and it is about people who are all probably better off than you and me. Viewed closely, it would be easy to dismiss them as vapid – walking through their lives more concerned about the next fun thing to do, the next important party to attend, the next person to impress. But Maugham’s skill does not allow such easy dismissal. Among the people that might so easily be written off are two which do not fit neatly into that description. The first is the narrator who, as a novelist, has snuck his way into this social whirl through the help of Elliot. Elliot is the epitome of the status seeker – the individual who is concerned about who is in attendance and what is being worn. At the outset, the narrator admits that Elliot has many faults, but explains that he has many other attractive qualities. We learn a few, but it is still hard to cozy up this individual. The other person who does not fit the mold is Larry, a man engaged to Elliot’s niece, but a man who has learned a new perspective on life because of events in the First World War.
The lives of these people are followed as the young move to adulthood and the adults move to old age. In the process, the people do not so much change as evolve (implying a slower, more true-to-life movement of events and change.) In most cases this evolution only entrenches them into the shallow attributes that are their lives. And even the people with the best attributes are changed into something that is not quite as nice as we might have thought. But for a very few, the evolution leads to enlightenment, and makes them truly better.
While we may not like them all, they are people we want to learn more about. And the conversations and the events bring a slow enlightment about the people that is revealing, but never overly shocking. Maugham ends with the phrase “…so perhaps my ending is not so unsatisfactory at all.” It is more than satisfactory, the story is more than satisfactory, the event of reading this book is more than satisfactory. And (since this is the first Maugham book I’ve read) I pay it the highest compliment by saying that I am immediately on the hunt for more of his work to read.
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LibraryThing member jmchshannon
The Razor's Edge is a subtle novel. The action is slight while the character development is not visibly apparent, and yet, each of the characters has matured and grown in such a way that the reader is left feeling completely satisfied upon finishing reading it. In addition, it is designed in such a
The main story revolves around Larry, a WWI veteran who returns from the war facing a spiritual crisis. The narrator, Maugham himself, then proceeds to share his knowledge on how Larry manages to go through life searching for answers that will assuage the crisis and help him achieve peace and happiness. The reader is also introduced to several dissimilar characters who all help define Larry's search - Elliott, the wealthy snob with a soft spot for his family, Isabel, Larry's former fiance, Gray, the man Isabel eventually marries, Sophie, and a cast of other characters. Each is flawed, each is unhappy and searching for something to help ease their pain. Their journeys, as told through Maugham's eyes as the ever-present narrator/friend of the participants of the tableau, and the subsequent endings of those journeys provide the reader with ample ideas on what true happiness entails. Materialistic or spiritualistic, everyone seeks some form of satisfaction in their life. The forms it takes is uniquely personal and what makes life worth living.
Highly philosophical in nature, The Razor's Edge is definitely a thinking person's novel.
"Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it." (p. 277)
Published in 1943, it promotes the currently popular Eastern philosophies touted in such novels as Eat, Pray, Love and the like. Yet, The Razor's Edge is not a sermon. Rather, it is an expression of love and acceptance. Everyone's search will result in a different ending, and that is okay. To quote a friend, "life is a journey". This is a sentiment prevalent in The Razor's Edge.
I fear that words have failed to describe how much I adored this novel. I empathized with Larry in his search for peace, while several members of my book club felt for Isabel and her search for social acceptance. Each reader will bring his or her own biases to the novel and will walk away with a completely different take on the meaning behind the story and on Maugham's purpose in writing it. I love novels that are like this. Having read several of Maugham's other novels to date, The Razor's Edge solidified Maugham's place near the top of my list of all-time favorite authors. It truly is the epitome of historical, literary fiction.
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way that different characters will appeal to different readers. The end result is a lush novel revolving around the search for happiness and what it means to different people.The main story revolves around Larry, a WWI veteran who returns from the war facing a spiritual crisis. The narrator, Maugham himself, then proceeds to share his knowledge on how Larry manages to go through life searching for answers that will assuage the crisis and help him achieve peace and happiness. The reader is also introduced to several dissimilar characters who all help define Larry's search - Elliott, the wealthy snob with a soft spot for his family, Isabel, Larry's former fiance, Gray, the man Isabel eventually marries, Sophie, and a cast of other characters. Each is flawed, each is unhappy and searching for something to help ease their pain. Their journeys, as told through Maugham's eyes as the ever-present narrator/friend of the participants of the tableau, and the subsequent endings of those journeys provide the reader with ample ideas on what true happiness entails. Materialistic or spiritualistic, everyone seeks some form of satisfaction in their life. The forms it takes is uniquely personal and what makes life worth living.
Highly philosophical in nature, The Razor's Edge is definitely a thinking person's novel.
"Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it." (p. 277)
Published in 1943, it promotes the currently popular Eastern philosophies touted in such novels as Eat, Pray, Love and the like. Yet, The Razor's Edge is not a sermon. Rather, it is an expression of love and acceptance. Everyone's search will result in a different ending, and that is okay. To quote a friend, "life is a journey". This is a sentiment prevalent in The Razor's Edge.
I fear that words have failed to describe how much I adored this novel. I empathized with Larry in his search for peace, while several members of my book club felt for Isabel and her search for social acceptance. Each reader will bring his or her own biases to the novel and will walk away with a completely different take on the meaning behind the story and on Maugham's purpose in writing it. I love novels that are like this. Having read several of Maugham's other novels to date, The Razor's Edge solidified Maugham's place near the top of my list of all-time favorite authors. It truly is the epitome of historical, literary fiction.
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LibraryThing member texliz
The Razor's Edge is one of the best books I have ever read. This is a classic. The author's tone is conversational, as if he were sitting next to you and telling a story. I read this very slowly and enjoyed every word.
LibraryThing member kambrogi
This is the story of Larry Darrell, a young man so changed by his WWI experience that he leaves his friends, his fiancé and the promise of a lucrative career in America to pursue Truth, first in Paris and Europe, and later in the Far East. His tale is revealed through scraps of information
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gathered by a writer – presented as Maugham himself – who interacts with Darrell’s fiancé Isabel, her uncle, and various other acquaintances, even on occasion Larry himself, over the course of many years. I found the story, which is as much about Isabel and her uncle as it is about Darrell, a fascinating examination of life choices. I did not care, however, for the narrative style. Although the disinterested first-person narrator has a distinguished history with outstanding writers – William Styron, Phillip Roth and F. Scott Fitzgeral, among others – I find it frustrating. We are always kept at a distance from emotion, and made to understand that the information we have will at best be sketchy. Fortunately, this is a story powerful enough to that survive even such cool treatment. Show Less
LibraryThing member robinamelia
My father always raved about Somerset Maugham, and had quite a large collection of his books; the only one that I seem to have kept is a Penguin paperback of The Razor’s Edge. I do remember reading some of Maugham’s journals at one point, and my father was always promoting Maugham’s method of
This was probably not one of my father’s favorites of Maugham: how could it be when the central character was on a religious quest? If he recommended it to me it would have been because he thought I would like it, or perhaps he thought it would show me the error of my ways. After all, Larry gets enlightenment and decides, in the end, to go back to America and drive trucks and taxis. One reader describes the book as being about how Larry affects the lives of those in this social circle, but I would disagree. If anything, it shows how his spiritual quest does not affect anyone’s lives. Of that this spiritual quest is as meaningful as the other pivotal character, Elliott Templeton’s, quest for social status. Yes, everyone does get what he or she wants, and that is essentially meaningless. As I was reading Larry’s adventures in India, I was reminded of Hesse as well as of Isherwood. Didn’t he bring the awareness of Sri Ramakrishna to the West? And he was gay. Others speculate that Isherwood was a model for Larry, but there are other contenders as well. In any case, this is an interesting study of some of the earlier stirrings of interest in Hinduism that blossomed more fully in the 1950s. Just as for TS Eliot, the Great War led to spiritual questing and a turn to Christianity, renewed spirituality in all directions seems to emerge from the horrors of that war.
I also found the book interesting, reading it in 2009, for the way it hinted that the Depression was coming, while the characters all talked blithely and optimistically about American industry and prosperity after WWI. Hindsight, of course, did not require much of Maugham in the way of foreshadowing. It was a bit disappointing, actually, to see the characters all go relatively unscathed by their financial losses, but perhaps the upper classes never really did suffer all that badly.
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learning how to write by reading a paragraph of a great writer and then trying to reproduce it without looking at the original. It was a method I never tried, but one I can see Maugham might have benefitted from. Now that I have finally gotten around to reading The Razor’s Edge, I am more bewildered than ever as to what made my father admire his work so much. There were quite a few sentences that should have had a razor taken to them. I know there may have been different comma rules back in ’44, but really: he wasn’t trying to be Faulkner, so there’s no excuse really for some of the convolution. Judging from the date of publication, if my father fell for this author it was because he was at that vulnerable point in his life. He also developed his passion for Shakespeare around this time; that love cannot be faulted, even if he did never know quite how to tell the real wisdom from the spurious (i.e., Polonius). I can see that my father would have found that Maugham’s view of women—sexual yes, but their sexuality is life and truth denying—agreed with his own. I wonder he wasn’t concerned that he had so much in common with the views of a homosexual. I wasn’t sure I remembered Maugham’s sexuality correctly as I began reading, but it wasn’t hard to tell from the text. Larry, the central figure, is always described in terms of natural beauty and lightness. Isabel makes herself beautiful through dint of will and good taste, and though he (the Maugham in the text) enjoys looking at her, it is without desire. As one of the critics I read on the web after finishing the book said: the women are essentially rivals. This was probably not one of my father’s favorites of Maugham: how could it be when the central character was on a religious quest? If he recommended it to me it would have been because he thought I would like it, or perhaps he thought it would show me the error of my ways. After all, Larry gets enlightenment and decides, in the end, to go back to America and drive trucks and taxis. One reader describes the book as being about how Larry affects the lives of those in this social circle, but I would disagree. If anything, it shows how his spiritual quest does not affect anyone’s lives. Of that this spiritual quest is as meaningful as the other pivotal character, Elliott Templeton’s, quest for social status. Yes, everyone does get what he or she wants, and that is essentially meaningless. As I was reading Larry’s adventures in India, I was reminded of Hesse as well as of Isherwood. Didn’t he bring the awareness of Sri Ramakrishna to the West? And he was gay. Others speculate that Isherwood was a model for Larry, but there are other contenders as well. In any case, this is an interesting study of some of the earlier stirrings of interest in Hinduism that blossomed more fully in the 1950s. Just as for TS Eliot, the Great War led to spiritual questing and a turn to Christianity, renewed spirituality in all directions seems to emerge from the horrors of that war.
I also found the book interesting, reading it in 2009, for the way it hinted that the Depression was coming, while the characters all talked blithely and optimistically about American industry and prosperity after WWI. Hindsight, of course, did not require much of Maugham in the way of foreshadowing. It was a bit disappointing, actually, to see the characters all go relatively unscathed by their financial losses, but perhaps the upper classes never really did suffer all that badly.
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LibraryThing member BayardUS
Is there a trope in Eastern literature where an unhappy young man journeys to the West and learns things from a priest, or monk, or some such person, how to be at peace with life? And maybe some mystic powers that impress everyone back home in the bargain? Just curious.
LibraryThing member CBWolff
I like Larry because he wasn’t buffeted by forces of circumstance and was lucky or determined enough to aim his life toward a creative end of his own devising.
I liked that he was unperturbed by the criticism that his plan for his life inspired. I like that he stuck with his unusual decisions
I liked that he was unperturbed by the criticism that his plan for his life inspired. I like that he stuck with his unusual decisions
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assiduously enough to find happiness. And I liked that he remained a kind person throughout: he never criticized those who didn’t understand him. Show Less
LibraryThing member tstan
4.5 stars rounded up to 5. I love Maugham's writing style- it's so engaging. Primarily character studies, this book is the stories of American expatriates in Europe, primarily Paris. Each is searching for meaning in their own way, and Maugham keeps the reader interested clear through.
LibraryThing member bibliophile007
" The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the path to Salvation is hard." Excellent book with a character reminiscent of Gatsby-he's equal in shallowness, and features another character desparately trying to find himself. Unique format-one of the characters is the
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author and the narrator. Show Less
LibraryThing member tercat
My opinion of the book fluctuated as I read. The author inserts himself as a character, and sometimes that makes the narrative flow awkward. You end up with passages where he's writing things like (not an actual quote), "I wasn't there so I can only surmise that it went something like this."
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Overall, though, I once again really enjoyed Maugham's style and the story itself is thought-provoking and entertaining. He creates good characters, and the at times dark material is sprinkled with some healthy doses of humor. After Of Human Bondage and The Razor's Edge, I'm still anxious to read more of Maugham's work. Show Less
LibraryThing member cinesnail88
As much as I adored Somerset Maugham before, I must say I like him even better after reading this novel. I had forgotten what a talent he has for writing - his style is so perfect to me, I become immediately enthralled with any narrative he puts forth. Not to mention his wit is particularly lovely,
I absolutely loved Eliott Templeton in all his shallowness. What a marvelous character, created in such a way as to make him even more so.
I definitely will be returning to Maugham again soon.
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and his descriptive powers are decidedly unmatched.I absolutely loved Eliott Templeton in all his shallowness. What a marvelous character, created in such a way as to make him even more so.
I definitely will be returning to Maugham again soon.
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LibraryThing member bkinetic
Maugham explores the conflict between materialistic and nonmaterialistic motives by mapping the lives of those who seek one or the other. Structurally the book is interesting because the main character, who lives a detached existence, is himself often detached from the storyline, dropping in and
Larry, the protagonist, is compelled to live deliberately or mindfully because a fighter-pilot buddy sacrificed his life for him. The end result is to confront the reader with choices that most people do not even consider because they are swept through their lives entirely by convention. Ecological considerations have made it increasingly important that we find pursuit of knowledge and wisdom more interesting than things, so the theme is more timely than ever.
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out of the action.Larry, the protagonist, is compelled to live deliberately or mindfully because a fighter-pilot buddy sacrificed his life for him. The end result is to confront the reader with choices that most people do not even consider because they are swept through their lives entirely by convention. Ecological considerations have made it increasingly important that we find pursuit of knowledge and wisdom more interesting than things, so the theme is more timely than ever.
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LibraryThing member bibliest
Intimate acquaintances but less than friends, they meet and part in postwar London and Paris: Elliot, the arch-snob but also the kindest of men; Isabel, considered to be entertaining, gracious, and tactful; Gray, the quintessence of the Regular Guy; Suzanne, shrewd, roving, and friendly; Sophie,
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lost, wanton, with a vicious attractiveness about her; and finally Larry, so hard and so trustful, lost in the world's confusion. Their story, one of Somerset Maugham's best, encompasses the pain, passion, and poignancy of life itself Show Less
LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
The Razor's Edge is first of Maugham's book that I read, and it blew me away. Maugham is a gifted writer with a great insight in the human psyche. He creates compelling characters and literally inserts himself into the narrative as a character (which I love in this book). Well worth the read -- and
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maybe even a re-read! Show Less
LibraryThing member DianaLynn5287
I was bored throughout. Took me a little bit of effort to finish this classic. Didn't care for it as much...maybe a second read through?
LibraryThing member cherylscountry
I loved this book and have meant to read it for years. So I am sure glad I finially did. I admire Maugham's style. I feel he was ahead of his time in the subject of "what is life" "Why am I here" "Hindustani" etc. His characters were interesting and were presented as intimate acquintances but not
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really friends. I am looking forward to reading more of his writings. Show Less
LibraryThing member CandiedMapleLeaves
I enjoy Maugham's style of writing. He paints his characters very vividly and very humanly. None of his characters are absolutely good or absolutely evil, and even though I thought he would set up Larry as some sort of saintly figure, he is also revealed for his faults.
Part of the reason I didn't
Overall, I enjoyed the book. It isn't something I'd reread, but I would take a chance on his other works, as this is the first novel I have read by Maugham.
Part of the reason I didn't
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absolutely fall in love with the book is that I am not fond of the 'rich people travelling at leisure and laughing at the poorer classes in the swinging 20s' setting. If you loved The Great Gatsby, this book has many parallels. I also tend to shy away from books that are told such as this one is: where the narrator is merely flipping between various social occasions, none of which he is a central part of, simply relating others' lives through his point of view. However, I did enjoy Maugham's discussion of up-and-coming America and the comparison to established Europe. This is a coming of age story in a way, but through the point of view of an older character.Overall, I enjoyed the book. It isn't something I'd reread, but I would take a chance on his other works, as this is the first novel I have read by Maugham.
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LibraryThing member gypsysmom
At long last I have read this book. This is the story of a group of Americans who reach adulthood just as the First World War is in full swing. Maugham gives himself the role of narrator of the story as a good friend to all involved.
Larry Darrell lied about his age and flew with the RAF during
I couldn't help contrasting this book with The Sheltering Sky which I read recently and which is also about Americans on a quest for meaning. However, as opposed to those characters I quite liked these people even Elliott who thought the most important thing in life was to be accepted in high society. As a consequence of liking them I was entranced by their story. My one quibble with the book is that the language seems a little stilted and I'm not sure people ever really talked this way. Nevertheless that is a minor flaw in a book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Larry Darrell lied about his age and flew with the RAF during
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the war. His best friend died saving his life and that event was life changing for Larry. Back home in Chicago he gets engaged to Isabel but then he decides he has to return to France to search for a philosophy or faith that made sense to him. Isabel agreed to wait for two years but before that time is up she and her mother go to France to stay with her mother's brother, Elliott. Larry tells Isabel he wants to travel more but he asks her to marry him and join him in his quest. Isabel is shocked by the idea he wants her to live in poverty ($3000 a year is the small inheritance Larry has) and she breaks off their engagement. Her mother and uncle are relieved. Isabel, on her return to Chicago, loses no time in marrying Gray Maturin, a stock broker who can support her in the style which she is expecting. However, we all know what happened to the stock exchange at the end of the 1920's and Gray was ruined. Isabel's mother dies and Elliott persuades Isabel and Gray to move to Paris and live in his apartment while he pays all the expenses. Elliott has moved to the Riviera where all society can now be found so he doesn't need his apartment. Larry appears back in Paris after spending a number of years in India where he found the knowledge he wanted. Isabel realizes she still wants him but Larry seems unmoved by her. Instead, when they run into another old friend, Sophie, who lost her husband and daughter in a terrible accident, he helps her kick her alcohol and drug habits and becomes engaged to her. Isabel is horrified but Elliott convinces her to accept the marriage and even help Sophie get a wedding dress. Just before the wedding Sophie disappears and the wedding never happens. Isabel is vindicated but Larry is still unobtainable. That is not the end of the book but I don't want to spoil the ending for the next reader. I will quote Maugham's words in the concluding passage "...to my intense surprise it dawned upon me that without in the least intending to I had written nothing more nor less than a success story." I couldn't help contrasting this book with The Sheltering Sky which I read recently and which is also about Americans on a quest for meaning. However, as opposed to those characters I quite liked these people even Elliott who thought the most important thing in life was to be accepted in high society. As a consequence of liking them I was entranced by their story. My one quibble with the book is that the language seems a little stilted and I'm not sure people ever really talked this way. Nevertheless that is a minor flaw in a book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
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LibraryThing member TheAmpersand
I read this one when I was a teenager. I didn't feel that I'd quite grasped what was going on, but certain parts of the book stuck with me anyway. Rereading it now, I can see why: Maugham has an almost preternatural ability to sketch realistic, memorable characters. There's hardly a line about
I found other aspects of the book more interesting. "The Razor's Edge" could be described as a Lost Generation novel: Larry is, after all, a veteran of he First World War, most of the characters in the book suffered some setbacks in the Great Depression. It's also an Englishman's attempt to grapple with the United States, then a country that felt young, confident, and very much on the rise. Though Maugham skillfully inserts himself into the narrative, I also felt that there might have been a lot of him in Eliot Templeton, the charming, cultured, and somewhat superficial character that helps bring these characters together. The foursome that make up the core of this novel are not nearly as cultured or as expensively educated as either Eliot or the narrator is -- but the novel forgives them easily. Larry is clearly a deeper, more complicated individual, but Maugham neither begrudges these young Americans their love of nice things or good times, nor does criticize them for their rather conventional goals. The novel takes them very much as they are, and makes them much more memorable by doing so.
For all of the money and high culture on display, "The Razor's Edge" also has a pleasantly seedy edge to it at times. We spend some time in Parisian dives, artist's cafés, and speakeasies. We meet a sympathetic artists' model and a varied cast of toughs and operators. Characters drink and smoke rather a lot and discuss sex and pleasure unblushingly. Readers who enjoy stories that describe the outlaw nightlife of interwar Europe will likely eat these scenes up. The narrator himself comes off as something of an Ian Flemming type, a writer of genre fiction who is well-acquainted with the underworld he writes about and could easily be a minor character in one of his own books. His frank assessments and dry demeanor provide a wonderful and necessary leavener to both Larry's account of his spiritual pilgrimage and Eliot's dandified lifestyle. Apparently they tried to make a movie out of this in the eighties involving, of all people, Bill Murray. It didn't work, and I can hardly say that I'm surprised. In fact, I'm rather surprised that someone even tried to film this one "The Razor's Edge" is best when it focuses on its characters; the rest is mostly talk. "The Razor's Edge" is still worth reading, though.
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Larry, Gray, Isobel and Sophie that doesn't hit its mark. They are, in the final telling, the only real reason to read this book. Maugham spends a lot of time on Larry's spiritual quest, and, -- much like Aldous Huxley in "Eyeless in Gaza" -- ends up with a kind of Westernized version of Eastern religions. This will likely be of limited interest to modern readers, but Larry's spiritual yearnings are real enough. I found other aspects of the book more interesting. "The Razor's Edge" could be described as a Lost Generation novel: Larry is, after all, a veteran of he First World War, most of the characters in the book suffered some setbacks in the Great Depression. It's also an Englishman's attempt to grapple with the United States, then a country that felt young, confident, and very much on the rise. Though Maugham skillfully inserts himself into the narrative, I also felt that there might have been a lot of him in Eliot Templeton, the charming, cultured, and somewhat superficial character that helps bring these characters together. The foursome that make up the core of this novel are not nearly as cultured or as expensively educated as either Eliot or the narrator is -- but the novel forgives them easily. Larry is clearly a deeper, more complicated individual, but Maugham neither begrudges these young Americans their love of nice things or good times, nor does criticize them for their rather conventional goals. The novel takes them very much as they are, and makes them much more memorable by doing so.
For all of the money and high culture on display, "The Razor's Edge" also has a pleasantly seedy edge to it at times. We spend some time in Parisian dives, artist's cafés, and speakeasies. We meet a sympathetic artists' model and a varied cast of toughs and operators. Characters drink and smoke rather a lot and discuss sex and pleasure unblushingly. Readers who enjoy stories that describe the outlaw nightlife of interwar Europe will likely eat these scenes up. The narrator himself comes off as something of an Ian Flemming type, a writer of genre fiction who is well-acquainted with the underworld he writes about and could easily be a minor character in one of his own books. His frank assessments and dry demeanor provide a wonderful and necessary leavener to both Larry's account of his spiritual pilgrimage and Eliot's dandified lifestyle. Apparently they tried to make a movie out of this in the eighties involving, of all people, Bill Murray. It didn't work, and I can hardly say that I'm surprised. In fact, I'm rather surprised that someone even tried to film this one "The Razor's Edge" is best when it focuses on its characters; the rest is mostly talk. "The Razor's Edge" is still worth reading, though.
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LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
When I first read this, I was too overwhelmed to try to sum up my feelings about it with just a bit of text. (Plus, I wasn't on Goodreads at the time.) There is still no earthly way that I can convey how fantastic this book is, but I did want to mention what still strikes me years later.
In the
I have read countless stories in which the characters who are not spiritual or artistic are not valued. They are simply the villains or the foils. Being "worldly" is always a condemnation. Pursuing money in any way is seen as crass and loathsome. And as for not marrying for love! Isabel is not the heroine of this book; she has an ordinary intellect and a conventional, unexciting life. But I don't think Larry was the hero, either. Maugham does not present one choice as completely right, and the other as completely wrong. To be perfectly frank, I can't think of another male author (of Maugham's era or before) who understood that not everyone can live on sensibility; that supporting an artist or a saint is all and very well, but there's more to life than being someone's adoring crutch. I am amazed at his sensitivity.
In the
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hands of most authors, this book would focus on Larry, the young man who abandons a life of privilege to seek enlightenment and meaning after terrible experiences in the Great War. His fiancee, who breaks her engagement with him when she realizes that his priorities will never be worldly, would be the villain, an example of how foolish and narrow-minded Society can be. And Maugham follows this cliche--to a point. He shows us all the downsides of bowing to the conservative demands of other people's opinions. But he also gives the fiancee a voice. And she, in a truly unique flip on the "support the Great Thinker!" trope, asks, (I'm paraphrasing here--Maugham's words are more natural and nuanced) "and what are we to live on? If he's out chasing transcendentalism, how am I supposed to feed myself, or any children we have? I love him, but I have my own set of values." And even better, Isabel refuses to feel bad about this choice. She likes pearls and nice food, and doesn't want to travel, or live in a hovel. She's not interested in whether Larry understands his place in the universe or not. I have read countless stories in which the characters who are not spiritual or artistic are not valued. They are simply the villains or the foils. Being "worldly" is always a condemnation. Pursuing money in any way is seen as crass and loathsome. And as for not marrying for love! Isabel is not the heroine of this book; she has an ordinary intellect and a conventional, unexciting life. But I don't think Larry was the hero, either. Maugham does not present one choice as completely right, and the other as completely wrong. To be perfectly frank, I can't think of another male author (of Maugham's era or before) who understood that not everyone can live on sensibility; that supporting an artist or a saint is all and very well, but there's more to life than being someone's adoring crutch. I am amazed at his sensitivity.
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LibraryThing member dbsovereign
"The sharp edge of a razor is difficult to pass over; thus the wise say the path to Salvation is hard." —Katha-Upanishad. Maugham seems to imply that if you chose enlightenment over materialism, you will be better off in the long run. Despite the book being a bit dated now, it was remarkably
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prescient for 1944. As it has been sugggested elsewhere, Maugham, like Hesse knew that we would become fascinated by the East. Show Less
LibraryThing member ffortsa
Although Maugham published this in the early 1940s, it actually chronicles society between the wars. We meet a set of well-off socialites and social climbers circa 1920, among them Eliot, who makes it his life's work to be in society in Paris, his young relative Isabel, in the fashionable set in
Toward the end of the book, Maugham treats us to Larry's story of his wanderings in Europe and spiritual adventures in India; it must have been the first time many readers encountered a description of Eastern philosophy and mysticism. (Maugham the narrator suggests the reader skip that chapter!) The rest is much more classic: the various ways in which people find or do not find a sort of salvation, or happiness, or completeness in their lives, and what they are made of.
Maugham is a favorite stylist of mine, but I know him most from his wonderful short stories. I am also fond of the games a writer can play with narrative voice as Maugam does here. Even with the ga-ga over India, it was a delight to read.
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Chicago, and a curiously unnamed narrator we are meant to assume is the author himself, in general bearing witness to the next decade or two in which these characters swim. Moving through this is a young wartime pilot named Larry looking for the meaning of life, or God, or something.Toward the end of the book, Maugham treats us to Larry's story of his wanderings in Europe and spiritual adventures in India; it must have been the first time many readers encountered a description of Eastern philosophy and mysticism. (Maugham the narrator suggests the reader skip that chapter!) The rest is much more classic: the various ways in which people find or do not find a sort of salvation, or happiness, or completeness in their lives, and what they are made of.
Maugham is a favorite stylist of mine, but I know him most from his wonderful short stories. I am also fond of the games a writer can play with narrative voice as Maugam does here. Even with the ga-ga over India, it was a delight to read.
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Language
Original publication date
1944
Physical description
336 p.; 7.7 inches
ISBN
0140185232 / 9780140185232