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Of Human Bondage (Signet Classics)

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W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage is one of the best novels I have ever read. The language is simple. The narration is subtle. The characters are real and display emotions and feelings everyone can identify with. The power of novel becomes apparent when you are reading it. You choke up every once a while, you smile for hours after you have finished reading certain passages, and you comprehend your own self, your woes and possibilities, better through perspectives that novel provides.

Philip Carey is born with a clubfoot, and as he grows up, orphaned, he struggles with his own deformity. The initial quarter of the novel is about his growing up, and details incidents and relationships that shape our hero. He then develops a fancy of becoming a painter and travels to Paris, only to quit few years later to return to London, where he studies to become a doctor. The most engrossing part of novel starts here with the entry of Mildred, the waitress.

The rest of the novel thrives on the passion of Philip, his love that carries him to the edge of self-destruction, and his coming of age. Unrequited love has never been potrayed better. Philip allows himself to become an instrument in hands of cold-hearted Mildred, who repeatedly ruins herself through absurd choices, and ruins him for not withstanding his love and care, he finds himself snubbed, ridiculed, bereft. Eventhough his reason tells him otherwise, Philip is unable to release himself from his passion for a considerable time. As is said in the novel, "But when all was said the important thing was to love rather than to be loved; and he yearned for Mildred with his whole soul."

The novel is lot more than just story of Philip and Mildred, and there are other unforgettable characters. Each person Philip encounters and each friend he makes, leaves an indelible impression on him and the reader. Be it his idealist friend Hayward, who has too much promise too little product, the poet Cronshaw who dies in poverty, Fenny Price whose hard work cannot make her draw even reasonably well, his uncle and aunt whose love is both tacit and beautifully potrayed and the writer Norah who shows Philip of a caring and loving other.

The most charming people in the novel are Athlneys. Athlney brings life and humor into the novel, and I think saves Philip from a total destruction. The novel really highlights the virtue that lies in a simple, happy married life and Anthlneys win over both Philip and readers with their goodness and simplicity. Thorpe Anthlney with his nine children is a jolly character, and be it his conversations or actions, he wins over our hearts outright.

Philip finds love in most unexpected quarters and is surprised by how help crops up from strangers. His every experience makes him as richer as the reader becomes in reading about it. The thoughts about the meaning of life, or about love or religion or about virtue or vice, and about each aspect of life that Philip encounters are spelt out with a subtlety and mastery. These thoughts find easy resonance with the reader, and make Of Human Bondage an unforgettable affair. The honesty of this piece is stunning. This novel, written without any flourishes and intricate wordplay or mystery, is I think a celebration of the deep insight and understanding of the author.

I have read his other works. The Razor's Edge, The Moon and Six Pence as well as his short stories are a proof of Maugham's ability to tell simple tales with great mastery. These, on their own, make Maugham a great novelist. But it is after reading Of Human Bondage that I realized why most novelists and readers have considered this piece as one the greatest pieces in World Literature. Maugham's aim was perhaps of catharisis and he put his own emotions into the characters, and therefore, he's created a work that is timeless and unforgettable. A must read for everyone who can read.

I never knew that there were so many great classics that I had never read. This one is tops and is easy to read even for those not accustomed to the language of some of these "older" novels. The book grabs you fairly quickly so it is easy to stick with it. I read the freebie on my Kindle and it was fantastic...one of my all-time faves (and I read a lot).

Don't let the title throw you off. It is about an orphan's life as he grows up under his uncle and aunt's care in the English countryside, his moves to various European cities to study just as many professions, and his eventual calling.

I really enjoy Maugham's writing - it is a pleasure to read. Although written close to 90 years ago, the characters and settings are so alive and present that it comes across as a book that could have been released within the last decade. His characters grow and change during the novel, and in this one in particular Philip undergoes tremendous changes in philosphy and lifestyle.

There are times that the reader wants to shake Philip for not making the 'right' choices, but that is a testament to how thoroughly Maugham brings the reader into the story.

The title is perhaps best summed up when Philip realizes that he prefers to love someone who does not love him - someone who he knows he doesn't really like - than be loved by someone he does not share that feeling for.

A few of the events are a bit predictable (the stock market and even the final relationship, for example, not wanting to reveal the details to a new reader) and the endgame resolves itself rather rapidly after a 500 page buildup, but overall one of the best books I have read in quite some time.

Of Human Bondage is quintessential Somerset Maugham and is, or should be, one of the classics of English literature. Don't be put off by its length; you will only wish it were longer by the time you finish it!

The book is set in the last decades of the nineteenth century and, apparently partly autobiographical, it tells of the growing up of a young orphan, his apprenticeship of art and then medicine and of course his painful tuition in love. Philip, the hero, is initially raised in an English country vicarage, the life of which is described with fetching authenticity. In fact, its realistic evocation of exotic settings, a typical feature of Maugham's writing, is one of the novel's undoubted attractions. Philip moves on to Heidelberg, then Paris among a community of artistic hopefuls and painting schools, and back to turn-of-the-century London, with its contrast of glitter and squalor, its top hats and workers' dorms, music halls and stockbrokers' clubs. There he becomes trapped in a tragic and sordid love affair that becomes so compulsive it threatens to enslave him.

If the hero's unrequited obsession is alluded to in the title, however, Of Human Bondage has a broader scope. Indeed it is - well - about life; but if that sounds pretentious, this is probably one of few works that can genuinely make that claim. The cast of characters is impressive in being both broad and convincing, and sufficient plot is granted each so that they can come alive. True, Maugham's sometimes acid, always witty and insightful style is at its best when portraying human faults. Purely positive archetypes are given briefer and just a little less compelling descriptions; but perhaps that is just reality. Few novels are able to bring forth such a variety of places, people and situations so convincingly and with such depth. Ultimately the test for this sweeping portrait is that one feels one has stood in it many more times than once, so strong is the association with its protagonists. And if you have occasionally fallen for an idiot who wasn't interested in you, then reading this may provide a cure.

The novel 'Of Human Bondage was one of the few novels (along with Memoir of a Geisha) which ever drew me in so deeply to form a bond with the main character, but this one was even more intimate. I became increasingly frustrated with the main character Phillip and with his arrogance and self pity, cruelty and foolishness of his behavior. I will not give the book away, but it is one of the novels I can most readily recommend to anyone, and it is the only book I have ever read which I was still emotionally attached to the character months afterward, still frustrated with his behavior and still wanting to change him and make him do the right thing, only stopping after continually telling myself it was just a book. I recommend it highly.

Somerset Maugham's early 1900's novel of birth, life, death, tragedy and discovery is considered a masterpiece and rightly so. The very roughly autobiographical book is a descriptive and evocative collection through the adolescence of the central character, Philip Carey. He is afflicted with club-foot, but the physical condition is only the beginning for him. Suffering the death of his father and mother at a young age, the loss of his familiar governess and seeping beliefs and hopes he is undeniably a tragic figure.

The book's title is hardly a mistake. It is apt. As if riding an endless wave without destination or direction Philip flows through life for most of the book until its triumphant end - until his `eureka' moment - which comes swiftly and surprisingly and only when he is free of his bondage. The slavery that most humans are afflicted with and dare not get away from is his too and only the nihilistic realization of the futility and the mediocrity of it all sets him free from love, sorrow, betrayal, religion, dreams, societal rank, family and friends. "I do not confer praise or blame. I take my cues from the persons themselves."

Of Human Bondage is the story of the young Carey, but indeed could be several novels pieced together. Characters drift in and out and not usually sympathetically. The book meanders through different parts of England, mirroring the swift departure of his Philip's parents and others, via Paris and Heidelberg with dreams of Asia, America, Spain and Italy interwoven into the narrative. Mirroring this, Philip is young yet tries painting (which he abandons after Monsieur Foinet advises him of his mediocrity while denigrating art as subsistence), theology, accountancy, shop floor work, fashion design and finally medicine. It is full circle given how his father was a doctor. At times Maugham rejects the notion of morality in tandem with his dismissal of a divine purpose to humanity. Indeed his belittling love for Mildred is subjugation so utterly embarrassing that the mind aches of repulsiveness. "I have never committed a sin," insists Philip's friend Cronshaw who at the end is instrumental in his younger friend's evolution. "How can I regret when what I did was inevitable?" This is fatalism and in Of Human Bondage, it surges increasingly towards a disdain for reprehension. The meaning of life is to be found in a Persian carpet. A riddle that helps Philip rescue himself once the cryptic answer unfolds to him.

Of Human Bondage figures in The Catcher in the Rye and the thoughts of its hero, Holden Caulfield. It is very much a classic in itself, but Holden's reference is not an insignificant one given the more contemporary book's disposition. Maugham casts aside religion, morality or any self-defined systems that would replace them. He finds himself. "There is no such thing as abstract morality." The patterns are all there is.

Of Human Bondage was first published in 1915 and that version of the book is much longer than the abridged edition that was approved by the author. I suspect that this might explain some of Philip's sudden revelations and insights. I just finished reading an old Pocket Books paperback edition with a "new" introduction by Somerset Maugham in which he explained his motivations for writing this book, I found this to be very interesting.
This was a reread for me after many decades on the shelf, I felt it compelling then and I still feel the same.
If you enjoy classic cinema, please view the 1934 movie "Of Human Bondage" with Bette Davis as Mildred in one of her best performances and Leslie Howard as Philip, an unforgetable movie.

If you are asking me if you should read this book, the answer is an unequivocal yes. It is fine writing because it is life, told simply and powerfully. It is true what others say. Maugham so intertwines the reader with the main character that the reader actually becomes angry and sorrowful and happy with that character. When a writer can engage the reader to that extent, he is at the top of his form. I don't like everything that Maugham wrote, but that doesn't really matter. Here he proves his greatness and I can only tell you to read it to see what I mean.

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.

This is an amazing book that is not about kinky stuff, it'sabout an orphan trying to find his place in the world. It' s one of those books that you will end up reading again because it is amazing and you'll find new nuances on the second read. The characters and scenes and emotional ties are all covered in beautiful depth.