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Loading... Of Human Bondage (Bantam Classic)by W. Somerset Maugham
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. A good, solid book. Phillip is a very genuine character who lives and loves, exults and suffers, learns and grows. He has talents and faults and his life is nothing extraordinary, except that he is so compelling to read about. I know that it is considered by some to be an English classic. But it remains one of the most depressing books that I've ever read. Do you think that somewhere in the great beyond, Maugham, Dickens, and Hardy are reading to each other? A little Jude the Obscure followed by a little Hard Times Bondage? Intense and somewhat depressing since I am an eternal optimist. Yet the writing is exceptional and paints a very clear picture of the life of the main character. This is a real thinking person's book. The journey of self discovery, questioning ideologies, the influence of others in our lives and the lessons learned from mistakes are all explored beautifully in this book. I would love to go "hopping". 0.077 seconds to build listing no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 037575315X, Paperback)It is very difficult for a writer of my generation, if he is honest, to pretend indifference to the work of Somerset Maugham," wrote Gore Vidal. "He was always so entirely there."Originally published in 1915, Of Human Bondage is a potent expression of the power of sexual obsession and of modern man's yearning for freedom. This classic bildungsroman tells the story of Philip Carey, a sensitive boy born with a clubfoot who is orphaned and raised by a religious aunt and uncle. Philip yearns for adventure, and at eighteen leaves home, eventually pursuing a career as an artist in Paris. When he returns to London to study medicine, he meets the androgynous but alluring Mildred and begins a doomed love affair that will change the course of his life. There is no more powerful story of sexual infatuation, of human longing for connection and freedom. "Here is a novel of the utmost importance," wrote Theodore Dreiser on publication. "It is a beacon of light by which the wanderer may be guided. . . . One feels as though one were sitting before a splendid Shiraz of priceless texture and intricate weave, admiring, feeling, responding sensually to its colors and tones." With an Introduction by Gore Vidal Commentary by Theodore Dreiser and Graham Greene (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:17 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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This madness that grips Phillip makes this an uncomfortable read at times. We can only watch on passively as the hero fritters away his small inheritance on the gold-digging waitress. This is a large book in both length and depth and the discussions and musings on Art, religion and philosophy are particularly engrossing and become more so as Philip’s suffering increases and lends a desperation to his search for ‘the meaning of life’, and it is his painful investigations into these areas that leads him ultimately to his own enlightenment in chapter 106. (