The Razor's Edge
by W. Somerset Maugham
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Book Summary Information
Author: W. Somerset MaughamEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2003-09-09
ISBN: 1400034205
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of The Razor's Edge
Book Review: The core of enlightenment
Summary: 4 Stars
W. Somerset Maugham's classic work of fiction, THE RAZOR'S EDGE, depicts another aspect of the Lost Generation and American expatriates who traveled to Europe. Paris is the setting and centers on the high-class society of the Jazz Age as they carouse in their almost aristocratic nature. There is an inkling of semi-autobiographical references intertwined within the narrative that is loosely associated with the author's own life. The six major characters in the book that Maugham examines with great detail and blunt sarcasm construct the bulk of the story. First, there is Larry, a World War I veteran who typifies the "lost" in the Lost Generation and highly educated, who could have easily been in an F. Scott Fitzgerald or Ernest Hemingway story, Second, Elliott Templeton, the seasoned and kind uncle who hobnobbed with society, third, Gray Maturin, the average man who cannot be without his work, fourth, Isabel, the life of the party and Larry's former girlfriend who is married to Gary, Sophie, almost a female version of Larry, and Suzanne Rovier, mature and friendly woman who eventually becomes Larry's wife. With most novels that use the generation that happened to survive the Great War and quickly adjust to adult life, though fragmented, this novel cuts deeper and crosses cultures philosophically and spiritually.
Larry represents the hundreds of young men and women who attempted to find their way in the world during the 1920s and 1930s seeking some form of solace in a life where he had experienced chaos. And within the center of his journey, identity is at the core. His character and his part of the storyline are the heart and soul of the book, which is beautifully written within the last 71 pages; it is a display of enlightenment that has woven Western intellectualism, but in particular in the English vernacular, Eastern philosophy, Hinduism and the hierarchy of Vishnu, Brahma, and Siva, that attempts to interconnect and bring greater meaning. However, Larry grasps for understanding when he is asked if he believes in all these elements, `I don't think it's possible for us Occidentals to believe in it as implicitly as these Orientals do. It's in their blood and bones. With us it can only be an opinion. I neither believe in it or disbelieve in it' (266).
THE RAZOR'S EDGE is a thought-provoking book that may leave questions to be asked. Possibly that may have been Maugham's purpose, but he has left it to the reader to determine that aspect of the story, especially with the opening lines of the book. But while reading the passages, one cannot resist to think that if this book had been given a third opportunity to be made into a film, Merchant-Ivory comes to mind because the storyline and the characters possess the traits that many of their films depict. But setting that thought aside, Maugham writes an intensely contemplative story that shows the kinks of life not seen through the lens of rose-colored glasses.
Summary of The Razor's Edge
Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of his spiritual odyssey involves him with some of Maugham's most brilliant characters - his fianc?e Isabel whose choice between love and wealth have lifelong repercussions, and Elliott Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate American snob.??Maugham himself wanders in and out of the story, to observe his characters struggling with their fates.Classics Books
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