Rating: 
Summary: A Must
Review: This book is a must for any young adult who is in a relationship, or is asking any questions about searching in life. I feel that i was able to relate all of the characters in the book to someone I knew including myself. It was an easy book to want to read on a friday night or the weekend.
Rating:
Summary: A true success
Review: As Maugham puts it, it is a "success story". The tale of several characters going through life with an idea of what life should be like, and each of them finding it. Wheather respectable or not, the pursuits of the characters are described in a way as not to judge too harshly but obviously enought to convey the point.
An excellent story with something to learn for everybody.
Rating:
Summary: An amazing novel
Review: This novel analyzes different attitudes toward life. I found it deeply interesting and at the same time entertaining. Following Elliot, Larry, and Isabella's life kept my attention, and yet it was the philosophical discussions that I enjoyed the most. He clearly showed the hollowness of a life lived only in a pursuit of material pleasure. Money, Social Status, and things did not create happiness. The novel also shows the bitterness of spurned love.What happens. Elliot is wealthy and a gentleman with much class. His social status matters more to him than anything else, and the patheticness of his life is shown at his death. Isabella and Larry are originally engaged, but separate. Larry seeks personal peace, while Isabella seeks materialistic satisfaction. Larry travels the world searching for inner peace and finds it. Isabella settles for something less, and lives an incomplete life. The novel is great, its revelations about life are tremendous.
Rating:
Summary: Loss, pain, discovery, triumph
Review: Loss, pain, discovery, and the triumph of the human spirit. All laid out for us in a variety of characters, and told with eloquence. This book isn't a road map to enlightenment, but rather a mirror. What is it that you see? And where is it that you are going? This book will give you a brief reprieve from the mundane, and a few moments to step back from it all and ponder!
Rating: 
Summary: An entertaining soap opera---
Review: Like OF HUMAN BONDAGE and CATALINA, Maugham is a master storyteller albeit with a "soap-operatic" flair. His characters border on (or surpass!) camp but are always entertaining. This book is no exception and a very engrossing read. Lively characters and a witty POV make for quick page turning!
Rating:
Summary: life's many paths
Review: A book I could not put down--in this book Maugham is the narrator of the tale of peoples lives--we follow a number of characters (most notably, Larry) and see the consequences of their decisions and priorities--the thing that I admire most about this book is the way Maugham somehow manages to present every character without ever passing judgement on any of their decisions--each character has perfectly understandable reasons for choosing the paths that they choose, and perfectly understandable consequences--and yet somehow Maugham teaches the reader a lesson about life, mainly through the vehicle of Larry--Larry is the only one in the whole book who never compromises himself, and ends up being the only one who is happy (as a taxi driver in New York, mind you)--and its not as if Maugham delibrately makes it happen that way--everything works out quite naturally and to the point--no surprises--A must read for young and old alike
Rating:
Summary: A book you will not forget
Review: The Razor's edge a book written by W. Somerset Maugham is very unique. This book is not your traditional novel where the author feels that every page is a masterpiece. In fact this book is just the opposite where Maugham comes out and says this book is not like the rest. Maugham tells the reader straight up that his book is misgiving and if you are looking for your traditional story line where everything is scripted get out now. But if you decide to stay on for the ride and read this book I promise you will not be disappointed.
This book covers a vast amount of time where the reader gets a good idea of how the world is changing. The book starts out in Chicago in the mid 20's. The stock market is booming and possibilities are endless for anyone interested in making something out of themselves. This book carries on all the way to around the mid 40's no one can really be sure. As time goes on the reader gets to follow characters on an amazing journey through the streets of London, the slums of Paris, the beautiful beaches of Marseilles, the temples of India, libraries of Bonn, all the way to a ranch in Texas. If you like to learn about different people and place this is definitely worth a read.
Through out your journey you will be introduced to many characters. First we have Maugham who plays a rather respectable English author. Maugham acts as the narrator of the story keeping the reader up to date with constant updates. All the characters are written about on an account of Maugham interactions with them and or interviews conducted with them. We have Larry fresh out of WW1 who is dealing with emotions he does not know how to handle and a thought in the back of his mind that just will not leave. Larry is your all around young man whom immediately becomes a favorite of all the readers. Larry is engaged to marry Isabel a spoiled rich girl who is very materialistic. Along with Isabel we meet Elliot her uncle whose only concern in life is his social status, in fact it inadvertently kills him. We also meet the man Elliott would rather have his niece marry Gray. Gray is your stereotypical man of the 20's, caught up in his success of the stock market and very eager to start a family. Further along the way we are introduced to some more characters like Suzanne Rouvie who is a "professional mistress". She sleeps with man after man until she ether gets tiered of them or the men have no use for her. And finally we get to meet Sophie who meets some tragic circumstances in life that has sent her in to a rage of drinking and promiscuity. All of these characters centrally revolve around Larry and his impact on them.
Focusing around Larry the plot revolves around his quest for knowledge and the people he helps and influences along the way. Ever since the war ends Larry becomes obsessed with finding the answers to the philosophical and religious questions he constantly thinks about. Larry starts out his quest not really knowing what he is seeking but by the end of the book you come to understand that Larry eventually satisfies his thirst for knowledge and wisdom, which brings him the happiness, he has been longing for. In the end the reader will not be dissatisfied with the results of everything that has happened and will be satisfied with the overall outcome of events.
Overall I love this book and could not and would not ask for anything more. Though this book has its flaws I find that when a book is to perfect it is no fun. Mangham's characters are not only easy to relate to they are interesting and not predictable. If you like to travel while you read then this book is good for you. Maugham has an excellent talent of making his writing speak to all classes of people where everyone form the popper to the king can relate to some aspect of the book. Nothing was left unturned. Any questions you develop eventually get answered one way or another. There is no real negative aspect I can write about this book because the only bad part is the book is to real but that is exactly what I love about it. The Razor's Edge is accurate testaments to what it is like to go against what people feel is the right path and just leave your own trail. In the end there is a Larry in all of us.
Rating: 
Summary: The Razor's Edge
Review: From the book The Razor's Edge, and the author name is W. Somerset Maugham. The book is mainly about a man named Larry and his quest to find spiritual path in life. Larry's quest was helped because of World War 1 and having a friend to save his life for the cost of his own.
The settings in the book are perfect for the time of the book. It ranged from; Chicago, France, Germany, India and Texas. All this places have their own oar and have a special meaning. The book covered the years of 1920's to the early 1940's. But sometimes it skips years. Maugham writes about the places with the up-most description.
The jest of this book was influence on a few people they are Isabel, Elliott, Sophie, and Larry. Isabel is a robust lady who lonely wants the material things of life. Elliot is a writer and tries to improve his wealth and position in society. And the free spirited woman named Sophie. She had the hardest time by tragedy and degradation. Larry was the lonely person you could relate too. But he was also a person who you just understand by a social group.
The book evaluation to me did not rank very high. I just could not get into this book. I do give Maugham credit for writing this book because of its format and the way he tells the characters to us. Overall this book was well written and can catch the reader's eye if you like books about wealthy, arrogant people, and the people who are care free and don't have a penny.
Rating:
Summary: A Different Reading
Review: The Razor's Edge After reading a deep novel. I was a little hesitant about reading this book, the Razor's Edge, by Somerset Maugham. I didn't think that this book could compare to the magnitude of my previous book. I was unfair to the book and it's author, because I had this mindset, especially in the beginning of the book. Once I read this book I could change the previous negative statements I had about this novel. This novel has many unexpected twists. Larry Darrell is a young man when the reader first starts to read about him. Larry returns home to Chicago form World War I. He is a on a spiritual journey because of the war when his friend gave up his life for him. Where everybody he interacts within his society are materialistic. This is very typical of us Americans. When he decides to go on his quest, this is viewed as the incorrect thing to do by his peers. This book also takes place in Germany, India, UK, and France. If you decide to read this read this book you need to keep the mind set that after World War I people were losing faith in the American way. Another unique part of the book is how the author himself is a character in the book as a narrator. He is involved with the story but at the same time he is not. Elliot on the other hand is very annoying and he kind of reminds me of Mr. Collins from Pride and Prejudice. Isabel the lady who is the women Larry is in love with. She is really simple she is the only decent character in the book. I also like how Larry does not care what people think about him. I liked this book because I think anybody that can relate to a character, at one point at another. I could relate to the main character, Larry, because I am graduating and unsure of what I want to do in life. I felt I fit right in his shoes and I was Larry. People always want big cars and big houses. I also wonder about the mysteries within. The author is also very descriptive, this has its pros and cons because he makes you feel like you are in each country, but at times he can be too descriptive.
Rating:
Summary: The Razors Edge
Review: The Razors' Edge The Razors Edge is an inspirational novel about a young man who is living in a post WWI life. The young man, Larry Darrell is in search of the meaning of his life. The sacrifices he makes throughout the novel to find his meaning are very audacious. The author, Somerset Maugham goes into deep detail about the characters and events that occur in the book, giving you the full-fledged feeling of actually knowing these people. Maugham presents his impeccable writing abilities by keeping his words flowing one into the other, which results in a fast, simple, and sensational read.
Throughout the novel the reader is placed in several locations across the globe including Paris, the Riviera, Germany, London, and Chicago, IL. Maugham describes each setting as if he has been there and explored the places, again helping the reader feel the area, instead of just reading about it, the reader almost experiences the places.
The women that Maugham describes in this novel are not thought of too highly. The woman that Larry is in love with, Isabel is only attractive because of her dazzling beauty. Isabel seems to be the only decent one described in the whole novel, of the other main female characters, Sophie is promiscuous and shamelessly degrading, Susan is right in Sophie's path, she was described as a drug addict, and careless about her life. This is one fault that was noticeable in this novel; Maugham appears to be sexist towards women.The last, and my favorite character in the novel Elliott Templeton was described as serviceable, hospitable, and very wealthy. Elliott had only one goal, and that was to improve his position in an amoral society. Elliott was admirable because even though he was a family man, he kept on working for himself, and for no one other.
The Razors Edge creates an often funny and enjoyable novel about the exploration of spiritual satisfaction. This novel is a masterpiece of incredible ideas that are still floating around today. Larry is not the only one with the dilemma of "finding himself" on his shoulders. In the end, it almost feels that the book should not end and I do believe that this novel deserves a sequel of equal quality.
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