The Great War changed everything and everyone, and Larry Darrell is no exception. Though his physical wounds from the war heal, his spirit is changed almost beyond recognition. He leaves his betrothed, the beautiful and devoted Isabel; studies philosophy and religion in Paris; lives as a monk, and witnesses the exotic hardships of Spanish life. All of life that he can find - from an Indian Ashrama to labor in a coal mine - becomes Larry's spiritual experiment as he spurns the comfort and privilege of the Roaring 20s.

This novel is part of Brilliance Audio's extensive Classic Collection, bringing you timeless masterpieces that you and your family are sure to love.

Listening Length

11 hours and 7 minutes
Author

W. Somerset Maugham
Narrator

Michael Page
Audible release date

January 7, 2015
Language

English
Publisher

The Classic Collection
ASIN

B00RYEVG80
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	11 hours and 7 minutes
Author	W. Somerset Maugham
Narrator	Michael Page
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	January 07, 2015
Publisher	The Classic Collection
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B00RYEVG80
Best Sellers Rank	#21,022 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #260 in Fiction Sagas #499 in Classic Literature (Audible Books & Originals) #948 in Literary Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)

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4.5 out of 5

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Daniel R. Pinto

A book that carries you away and opens your mind

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 4, 2023

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Some critics over the years have claimed that Somerset Maugham lacks imagination and that his style is far from elegant. I can agree that his style is plain, but if indeed he is not imaginative, his powers of observation and description are nothing short of astounding. After reading the whole book, I can’t say with absolute certainty if it is just a novel, a memoir, or a fictionalized account of the author’s own experiences and encounters during the interwar period.

There are no uninteresting people in this book. The author shows understanding and compassion towards even the characters he least identifies with. There is something attractive (and sometimes redeeming) in each of them. The story takes place mainly in Paris, with extended scenes in Illinois, the French Riviera, and London. There is also a description of a journey one of the characters takes through Europe and all the way to Southern India.

Most of the characters are American, and Maugham makes a disclaimer in his introduction, saying that only people raised in a particular culture can understand that culture. As a result, he insists these people are Americans as viewed by an Englishman. I don’t think this was necessary. Though I am not an American myself, I saw nothing artificial or unrealistic about the characters compared to those we meet in American novels. People are people, and, with his compassionate look, Maugham makes us identify with everyone in turn, from the spiritual seeker to the lost soul, the ambitious snob, the limited but honest businessman, the vain housewife, the kept mistress, and everyone in between.

In fact, to look inside such a diverse group of people and find something likable or forgivable in each one demands a powerful exercise of the imagination. It is clear Maugham found – or put – something of himself in every character in the book. No mean feat, and so much for the claim about his allegedly poor imagination.

What about his style? It’s true that at no point during my reading did I stop and think, “I wish I could write like that.” But this means his style is unobtrusive and does not stand in the way of the narrative. On the contrary: I couldn’t stop reading and visualizing everything all the time—Paris in the roaring twenties, Prohibition Chicago, and even Southern India.

In short, I can't agree with the critics: Maugham for me is a major writer and this book is undoubtedly one of his best. There’s something else: he is not sloppy, as too many writers are. There’s a relatively long section in the book about Indian philosophy, and it is clear he did his research to present these complex thoughts to the best of his ability. As far as I’m concerned, he succeeded: I’m planning to read about Indian philosophy soon (but only after I read some more books by Maugham).

Much more important than everything I wrote above: this is a great book, a joy to read, and it transports us to other times and places. And, as usual with Maugham, it is tremendously mind-opening as well. Enjoy!

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Roger Brunyate

The Proper Ends of Life

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 18, 2013

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"I have never begun a novel with more misgivings. If I call it an novel it is only because I don't know what else to call it. I have a little story to tell and I end neither with a death nor a marriage...". Somerset Maugham is delightfully disingenuous in introducing his 1944 novel, his last great success; he knows exactly what he is doing. He remains present throughout as observer, catalyst, and occasional participant, shunting himself onto the sidelines, quite disclaiming the tight control he keeps on his material. Even at the end, he apologizes: "I looked back in my mind's eye on my long narrative to see if there was any way in which I could devise a more satisfactory ending." And yet, he realizes, he has in fact "written nothing more nor less than a success story. For all the persons with whom I had been concerned got what they wanted." Quickly, he lists them, and he is absolutely right: it is a perfect ending. But the values by which those individual lives are measured differ in every case, and that is what gives the book its profound moral significance: how should we judge the ends to which a life should aspire?

Unusually for him, Maugham peoples his story mostly with American characters, even though he apologizes for not getting the voice quite right. I think he does this to have one pattern for worldly success ready made: the American pursuit of money. The novel opens in Chicago in 1919. Maugham, the author-narrator, visits an older friend Elliott Templeton, an aesthete and inveterate snob who has built a position in Europe as covert art dealer and social host. He introduces the writer to his sister and her daughter Isabel Bradley, a beauty of nineteen. She is engaged to marry Larry Darrell, a war hero recently returned from service as a fighter pilot. Larry has all sorts of positions open to him in the burgeoning world of Chicago finance, but has delayed a decision for so long that Isabel's family is getting worried. Begging for more time, he moves to Paris to find himself, and eventually the action shifts to Europe completely.

Maugham treats the American characters with a touch of mostly-affectionate satire. He revels in baroque flamboyance with Elliott Templeton, and dissects Isabel Bradley with a fine mixture of admiration and venom, though he is perhaps a little ham-fisted in portraying Gray Maturin (her other suitor) as the epitome of an American businessman-jock. The single exception is Larry Darrell, whom he presents entirely straight. As the action moves in snapshots through the twenties through the Wall Street crash and gradual recovery, Larry drops in and out, going his own way, which takes him from a coal mine in Flanders to an ashram in India. It becomes clear that he is seeking some kind of goodness, some meaning to life, and eventually we suspect we are in the presence of a kind of saint. But Maugham does not make him entirely an ascetic. As Maugham presents a world increasingly marked by excess -- contrasting the social heights with the depths of sex, drink, and drugs -- Larry retains the ability to move easily in any environment, although he does not always succeed in his attempts to do good.

THE RAZOR'S EDGE was a major success; perhaps Larry's search for meaning struck a chord with readers faced with the meaninglessness of war. This was the period when Maugham's younger contemporary Graham Greene was beginning his own series of books about spirituality and redemption, from BRIGHTON ROCK in 1938 to THE END OF THE AFFAIR in 1951. But the extreme compression of the latter points to the one aspect that I find least satisfactory in Maugham's novel: that he could not seem to decide whether he was painting a fresco of high life or engraving a detailed portrait of the protagonist who rejects it. Yes, I can see the care with which the author has balanced his characters -- for instance having Elliott Templeton bank spiritual credit by building a church and furnishing it with antiquities as a favor to the Pope, while Larry mortifies himself by working in a coal mine -- but I would have preferred more concentration on spirituality than wealth.

Finally, I have a personal reason for being drawn to this book. My father returned from WW1 also as a decorated hero, and he also (though less spectacularly) rejected the openings that his family expected of him. Instead, he too wandered the world in search for higher meaning, leading to a religious conversion some time in his thirties. This twenty-year period occurred, of course, before I was born. Perhaps because of his traumas, my father never spoke of it, and it remains a dark hole in my understanding of him. Maugham's novel goes far to shed some light.

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Fisherman

It's so good to return to read one of the masters of English literature

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 17, 2019

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To many modern readers some of the story, the characters, and their lifestyle may appear to be so old-fashioned as to be stilted. Look beyond this and revel in Somerset Maughan's minute details of the scenes and the people and you will discover how his observations have been translated into the written word. I defy anyone to master it better than he does. Today the study of someone who rejects the strictures of his upbringing to seek an alternative lifestyle is as poignant today as it was when it was written.

13 people found this helpful

Marmite

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 29, 2020

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A good read interesting characters.
The style is a little different from what I'm used to, but is easy to get used to.
It jumps about a little in places but manages to maintain a good chronology.
It get's a little heavy on the philosophy towards the end but as the author points out you don't need to read that chapter, I did and am none the worse for it.
I think it's less about 'Larry's life' than about the author.
Not my usual read but most enjoyable, will read more by this author.

2 people found this helpful

Samuel Barber

The Unemployed Man Judged by All

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 14, 2014

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This is a really good novel. I was advised to read Somerset Maugham over a decade ago, and went to the library to research all the titles under his name. After skimming through them I wasn't impressed. However, when I saw the film version of this book with Anne Baxter I thought I should read the book as I enjoyed the film. The reason why the film was good is because the book is good. If I was told to read 'The Razor's Edge' specifically and watch the film over a decade ago then that would have saved a lot of time. The reason why the book works is because of the writing. All of the characters are well drawn, and you get the feeling that Maugham is leaving stuff out rather than putting stuff in. I found Larry, Sophie, Gray and even Isabel engaging. Larry could be your contemporary unemployed man who is judged by everyone for living on benefit. Isabel is your typical middle class woman who has certain standards and doesn't want to drop below it for love or money. Sophie is an endearing character and I felt that more could be said about her. This is why I feel that stuff has been left out because we don't experience the tragic car accident that robs Sophie of her husband and children, nor do we get any indication of what she was like before she met her husband. It is for this reason why I think the novel should have been longer than its 341 pages.

12 people found this helpful

CM14

A bit hard going in 2021

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 25, 2022

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I've seen both film versions (1946 and 1984) so thought I should give the book a try. I found it a bit heavy going to be honest.

2 people found this helpful

A good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 11, 2022

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Marginally better than Moon and Sixpence but I much preferred Of Human Bondage. I loved the way he developed the characters and it cleverly made me consider the prospect of reincarnation.
However, it got a bit heavy towards the end and thought the plot could have done with a twist in the last chapter.

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