The Razor's Edge (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) (Paperback)

~ W. Somerset Maugham (Author), Anthony Curtis (Introduction)

Editorial Reviews

Review

One of the ??most challenging books Somerset Maughan has given us. Those who look to him for a colorful, romantic story will find this slow-paced at the start; but in the final analysis even they will find that he has told a good story - more than one, in fact, and that he has given ?? something else as well. For in Larry D??ornell he has drawn a character symbolic or ma??ny we shall meet in the years ahead - a youth who has lost touch with the ??ing?? that had ??ttered before the war (this time the first World War) and who is seeking knowledge and faith. Larry was engaged to a girl he had always known, Isabel Bradley; but Larcy's ??unworldliness and reluctance to conform result in a broken engage??t??, and she ??rries as Maugham tells her ten years inter "for a square diamond and a mi??k co??t. And Larry goes on with his search, through study, through travel, finally to find at least a glimmer of light in two years spent in the ??ashram?? of an Indian ?? story - Larry's story - and the story of the tragic worlding, Elliot?? Templeton, Isabel's bachelor uncle, are threads that most and part and most again in a pattern skillfully woven by Maugham, who is father confessor to each ??one in ter??m. The book has some of Maughan's best writing, some of his finest ??characterization....This appeared in Red Book last Spring; it is the ?? selection of the Literary Guild. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“[Maugham is] a great artist . . . a genius.” –Theodore Dreiser

“[Maugham’s] excessively rare gift of story-telling . . . is almost the equal of imagination itself.” –The Sunday Times (London)

“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

“Maugham remains the consummate craftsman. . . . [His writing is] so compact, so economical, so closely motivated, so skillfully written, that it rivets attention from the first page to last.” –Saturday Review of Literature --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (March 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140185232
• ISBN-13: 978-0140185232
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (152 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #535,682 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 149 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Stuff, August 17, 2001

By	Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

William Somerset Maugham is considered one of the best authors of the 20th century. After reading this book, I can understand why. His grasp of the human condition is simply phenomenal. He is one of those rare authors that can make his characters leap off the page and become living, breathing creatures. The introduction to this Penguin edition spends much time trying to place the fictional characters into the context of Maugham’s life. I’m sure the characters in this story are somewhat based on real people, as any author worth his salt always draws on real experience to create a story. Personally, I couldn’t care less if these characters were based on real people, as it wouldn’t make them any less interesting to me.

“The Razor’s Edge” really has a simple message. It asks us to reflect on how we lead our lives. Do we follow the masses or seek inner fulfillment? Is it right or wrong to drop out of society and follow our inner selves? Maugham makes us ponder these questions as he introduces us to his characters ... When I think of the overall plot of the book, even after reading it, it doesn’t really seem that interesting. But when I think all of the little things within the book, I realize how excellent the novel is. Read this book, even if it is the only Maugham book you ever read (which is a pretty pretentious statement on my part, as this is the only one I’ve read). The prose is excellent, and the psychological insights are really amazing. Recommended.

81 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dazzling bit of writing, January 30, 2005

By	E. Karasik (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Razor's Edge (Paperback)

The Razor's Edge is an unusual amalgam -- three-quarters witty social commentary about American and European society, one-quarter Eastern philosophy -- bound together by Maugham's impeccable prose -- almost as though Henry James and Hermann Hesse had collaborated. The book contrasts the adventures of Larry, a seeker who travels widely in search of life's meaning, with that of his former fiancee, Isabelle, who sacrifices her love for Larry in favor of wealth and social standing. While the book is an odd literary chimera, the result is supremely satisfying. One gets to luxuriate in Maugham's biting descriptions of the social milieu in Paris, the Riviera, and London, while simultaneously being exposed to some much bigger issues presented in the context of Larry's intriguing quest for enlightenment. Along the way there is beauty, degradation, betrayal, forgiveness, art, fashion, turgid fascination with France's demimonde, and lots of other juicy material. A great read -- fun yet substantive -- like eating a fluffy eclair that actually has nutritional value!

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shows what we are not by holding up a mirror, February 24, 1999

By	Anthony P. Mayo "Tony Mayo" (Virginia near D.C., USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Razor's Edge is often described as the story of Larry, a war veteran who forsakes a comfortable life in Chicago "society" for a vague spiritual quest. It is better appreciated as a portrait of his acquaintences, whose conventional lifestyles are starkly contrasted to the path walked by the seeker. Some readers have wished to know more of Larry and criticize the space and attention Maugham lavished upon the "ancillary" characters. The Razor's Edge instead reveals much about the spiritual path by focusing on people more like the typical reader, people who do not give up materialistic Western striving. The best way to see Larry is to look at what he is not.

This narrative technique succeeds wonderfully in the masterful hands of author W. Somerset Maugham, best known for Of Human Bondage. Rather than simply lay out the details of Larry's explorations and development, which, being spiritual and internal, would be rather dull to watch, Maugham illuminates Larry by dissecting the contrasting behavior of his associates.

Maugham lavishes narrative care and attention less on the figure of Larry the seeker, but on his ground, those who embraced the life of conventional society without a thought for spirituality. Maugham shows us several possible outcomes of such an unexamined life, from the indulgent businessman to the fragile social climber to the dissolute substance abuser. The contrasts are presented realistically and without sermon yet are no less stark for their subtlety. These characters are a rare delight: fictional creations with genuine life, who make choices, have unpredictable effects on one another, and grow as the novel develops. Maugham shows how each suffers in their particular ways, for hell is not a physical place but a denial one's relationship with God.

The power and flexibility of relating to oneself as a network of relationships instead of as an object with fixed characteristics and a predictable future is why one of the three key principle of our executive training is "Be Transitive." Larry beautifully expresses all three principles.

He is genuine, always learning, and clear that he is not a fixed quantity but a network of evolving relationships with people, possessions, and God. In short, he is fully alive.

If Maugham had told us the story of Larry without the contrast of his conventional friends, the novel's entire message would have been lost. Ancient mystics, quantum physicists, and existentialist philosophers are all giving us that same message. Neither figure nor ground is the thing itself, nor even both together. There is no "thing" at all, except as we create it in our minds. It is the relationship between figure and ground that gives rise to an experience, and neither can exist without the other. Take away the ground and there is no boundary for the figure, take away the figure and the ground is meaningless. Each is relative to the other and neither stands alone. What are the details of any figure, except another relationship between a figure and its ground? The edge is where the relationships emerge, where experiences occur, where reality manifests. The Razor's Edge.