The Magician [Paperback]

Somerset Maugham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2009

Somerset Maugham was a British novelist, short story writer and playwright. He was born in 1874 in Paris. During the 1930Žs his popularity soared and he became the highest paid author of his era. MaughamŽs father was a British lawyer working for the embassy in Paris. In France anyone born on French soil must serve in the army. To avoid this Maugham was born at the embassy, which was technically on British soil. After five years in medical school Maugham began a successful writing career. While Maugham worked in midwifery training in a London slum during medical school he learned about the working classes. In The Magician the sinister and repulsive Oliver Haddo gradually brings a happily engaged young English girl under his hypnotic spell, a spell from which the efforts of her fianc and friends cannot save her. In the 1908 edition of the magazine Vanity Fair Aleister Crowley wrote a critique of The Magician, accusing Maugham of plagiarism. Crowley accuses Maugham of having plagiarized several books in writing The Magician.

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

This third novel in the Amelia Peabody series once again takes the listener to Egypt and its ancient ruins. Who better than author/Egyptologist Elizabeth Peters to concoct a turn-of-the-century mystery in which humor, romance, and an archaeological dig come together. Susan O'Malley's narration is adequate. Amelia and her husband, Emerson, investigate the death of an antiquities dealer and the theft of a mummy case. Their son, Ramses, collects his own amusing evidence. The scenes and pace of the novel are kept intact, but the narration noticeably lacks the ethnic accents that enliven these stories. B.J.L. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Book Jungle (March 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1438513674
• ISBN-13: 978-1438513676
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Neglected Gem, June 16, 2000

By 

Bruce Kendall "BEK" (Southern Pines, NC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Magician (Paperback)

This is one of Maugham's least-read works, judging from its absence in most bookstores and libraries. Of Human Bondage, Cakes and Ale, The Moon and Sixpence are usually fairly easy to locate on most shelves. You must do a little digging to find this one, but it will reward your efforts.

At the center of the book is Oliver Haddo, who, as you can tell from the other reviews here, is based entirely and without much thought of disguise upon Aleister Crowley, the London necromancer. The plot is indeed pure melodrama, the virginal fiance drawn irresistibly towards her doom by dark forces against which there appears to be no defense. Think of Bram Stoker, or Coppola if you haven't read the novel. Will our hero somehow find a way to overcome the great odds and emerge victorious? Will Haddo succeed in his plan of evil debauchery? Stay tuned for the heady conclusion.

What saves The Magician from sinking into the morass of its conventional and even hackneyed plot is the quality of Maugham's writing. We are aware at all times that we are in the hands of an accomplished writer and artist, who can turn a tired theme into an event of wit and real pathos. At times the scenes are in fact quite chillingly rendered as well. There is real suspense here, as well as some startlingly weird and realistic depictions of the occult. The scene that comes most readily to mind is Haddo's creation of the homonculi, some home-grown little fiends he cooks up in a test-tube. Many of the scenes have a surreal edge to them, but are grounded in enough realistic detail to lend them plausibility at the same time.

I would recommend this book to those who have read and enjoyed Maugham's other works, as well as to anyone who enjoys books about the occult or to fans of horror novels (of which there are legion). It's an easy and fun read and is frightening enough that it just might have you looking over your shoulder the next time you're dining in a London restaurant, double-checking to see if Haddo might not be sitting somewhere across the room. Then again, these days, a lot of women probably hope that he is.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gripping horror tale from a master stroyteller, November 8, 2003

By 

R. J. Marsella (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Magician (Paperback)

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.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A literate page turner, November 1, 2001

By 

Nicholas R. Hunter (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Magician (Paperback)

Maugham's elegant prose, his mastery of dialog, and his uncanny ability to sketch living, breathing, three dimensional characters in a few sentences serve him well in this gripping tale of the life and crimes of the evil Oliver Haddo and the handful of unlucky naïfs who fall under his spell in Paris at the turn of the last century.

Unlike many of Maugham's other novels, the appeal of "The Magician" owes as much to the tight plotting as to the characterizations. In particular, the character of the deliciously wicked Oliver Haddo, based on the infamous Aleister Crowley, "the wickedest man alive," jumps off the page. However, like Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (a book that in structure "The Magician" resembles more than a little) the plot can sag slightly when the villain is off-stage. Luckily, this is never for more than a handful of pages.

Still surprisingly fresh and readable nearly a hundred years after its first publication, this book will appeal as much to the literate horror fan as to the typical "Twentieth Century Classics" reader.