The Razor's Edge @ richardeward.com

The Razor's Edge
by W. Somerset Maugham
from Vintage

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

• Masterpiece
  A stable of characters that you will never forget. The author brings them to life in masterful fashion. This is what people mean when they speak of character development. WSM understood women and men, their relationships, and their strengths and weaknesses. It's message is as resounding and absolute now as it was decades ago....perhaps it is even more relevant in this time of McMansions and the 15000 Dow. I have met a few people like Larry in this world. They always had a great affect on me, leaving me... more info

• Not as represented
  It's not really about one man's search for transcendence. It's more about everyone else's reaction to him. The whole search is covered in Chapter Six, which is all you need to read if you are into the eastern philosophy in the book. Maugham starts the chapter off by saying you don't have to read it at all. But that's only if you're interested in the Paris Hiltons of the day. Very dull stuff, no matter how accurate and well-written in the style in use then -- Maugham's style involves a lot more "telling"... more info

• Doesn't Cut Deep Enough
  The Razor's Edge is one of Somerset Maugham's most beloved novels. It's the story of Larry Darrow, an aviator so damaged by the carnage of World War I that he refuses to jump on the capitalist carousel in post-war Chicago. Instead he devotes his life to searching out the true and the good. His choice doesn't sit well with his fiancé Isabel Bradley, who loves him but loves the high life equally well. Isabel breaks off their engagement to marry a stockbroker. Larry continues on his spiritual search,... more info

• film is so much better
  See the film with Bill Murray instead The Razor's Edge. This book is so pretentious and over-written I had to finally put it down after making it halfway through. In the book, for example, when Isabel visits Larry's room in Paris and asks him about all the reading he's been doing, he launches into a long and unbearable soliloquy about all the things he's learned from his reading; Murray simply says "I skim them." What Maugham says with five pages, Bill Murray says with a sentence, a gesture or a facial... more info

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