Staff Pick
The Razor's Edge is a very readable and highly enjoyable classic. W. Somerset Maugham is his own narrator as we follow the lives of a diverse group of people around him through many years. He is excellent at showing the dark side of each character, yet in an optimistic light. The open-minded Larry is one of the most brilliant characters I have read in literature. Add this to your basket/cart (it's normally used and very affordable) and read an underrated masterpiece of the 20th century. Recommended By Jeffrey J., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of his spiritual odyssey involves him with some of Maugham's most brilliant characters - his fiancée Isabel whose choice between love and wealth have lifelong repercussions, and Elliott Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate American snob. Maugham himself wanders in and out of the story, to observe his characters struggling with their fates.
Review
"[Maugham is] a great artist...a genius." Theodore Dreiser
Review
"[Maugham's] excessively rare gift of story-telling...is almost the equal of imagination itself." The Sunday Times (London)
Review
"It is very difficult for a writer of my generation, if he is honest, to pretend indifference to the work of Somerset Maugham....He was always so entirely there." Gore Vidal
Synopsis
Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of his spiritual odyssey involves him with some of Maugham's most brilliant characters his fiancée Isabel whose choice between love and wealth have lifelong repercussions, and Elliott Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate American snob. Maugham himself wanders in and out of the story, to observe his characters struggling with their fates.
About the Author
W. Somerset Maugham was one the twentieth centurys most popular novelists as well as a celebrated playwright, critic, and short story writer. He was born in Paris but grew up in England and served as a secret agent for the British during World War I. He wrote many novels, including the classics Of Human Bondage, Cakes and Ale, Christmas Holiday, The Moon and Sixpence, Theatre, and Up at the Villa.