The Razor's Edge

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Summary: The Razor's edge and the meaning of life
Review: In his book, "The Razor's Edge," W. Somerset Maugham tells the story of Larry Darrell, a young man he meets through his friend and international socialite Elliot Templeton. Elliot's niece, Isabel, was engaged to Larry at one point, but settled on marrying Gray Maturin, an up and coming business-man from a very well-to-do family. Elliot was extremely materialistic, and his sole purpose in life was to be accepted and mingle with the wealthiest and most powerful members of society. Isabel and Gray were equally superficial and Larry's lack of motivation in pursuing a career was what sparked her to break off her engagement and marry Gray. Having returned from the war, Larry had lost his best friend, and was disillusioned with life and its' meaning. He was disinterested in pursuing material wealth but rather chose to seek enlightenment by reading, learning and traveling. Elliot and Isabel did not understand Larry's motivations and purpose and simply thought that the obvious purpose and meaning of life was to work, make money, and gain social status. Elliot, having lived by these tenants, had a great deal of money when he died, but lived his life for a futile cause. Larry on the other hand was able to gain true enlightenment and learned what his true purpose was. Therefore Elliot Templeton, after striving all of his life to be somebody, died a sad old man, alone and with only Somerset as his true friend. On the contrary, Larry, who knew the limitations of material and social wealth, sought out his purpose by seeking enlightenment, which when attained, served as an intangible, priceless, asset, that could not be erased with age, poverty, or the market crash of 1929.
Eliot Templeton was born in the United States, but chose to live in Europe for most of his life. He traveled where the jet set traveled and did what the upper class did. He had no other purpose but to impress the most prestigious and wealthiest people in the world. He dined at the finest restaurants (Maxim's, Paris), stayed at the most prestigious hotels (Claridges, London), and gave the most delectable parties imaginable. At first glance, it seems like a lifestyle that everyone strives for. In fact, when conjuring up the notion of the "American Dream," one thinks of fine homes, cars and the best of everything. However, Elliot Templeton dies a lonely man in Antibes, France without any of the friends he gave parties for, introduced into society, and did countless favors for. He had lived his life chasing an image, without finding any substance behind that image. He befriended people, and invited them to luncheons not because he enjoyed their company or they were good people. Rather, he paid respect to them because of their title, social status, or popularity at the time. Elliot symbolizes an empty image that looks good from the outside but lacks substance and is therefore hollow on the inside. Templeton strives his entire life to be accepted socially, only to be rejected by society on his deathbed. Further, he is infuriated, and simply doesn't understand why Larry would refuse his assistance in introducing him into French society. He is completely blind to what the meaning of life is outside social status. Upon his death, Somerset thinks, "It made me sad to think how silly, useless, and trivial his life had been. It mattered very little now that he had gone to so many parties and had hobnobbed with all of those princes, dukes, and counts. They had forgotten him already." (241) Therefore Elliot Templeton's life was centered on superficiality and even his spiritual convictions to the Church had social motivations. He never discovered the deep and profound meaning of life and died an old and lonely man, fulfilled only that he had been invited to the party of the year by, "that bitch." On the other hand, Larry Darrell, even though several years Elliot's junior, had the wisdom and courage to seek out his unanswered questions about life.
Larry Darrell's parent both died when he was young and a family friend, Dr. Nelson raised him. Larry very much enjoyed to fly and so joined the air force and fought in world war one. In the war, his best friend, after saving his life, died. Seeing his best friend, young and full of life die changed Larry forever. When coming back to the U.S., he decided to dedicate his life to "loafing," which in reality meant he wanted to search for the meaning of life. He couldn't reconcile and fathom that an omnipotent and all good God, would allow evil to exist in the world. He viewed his friend's death as the ultimate act of evil, and set out to answer these questions by traveling and learning. Unfortunately for Louisa, he wasn't willing to take a job Gray's father had offered him and settle down. This is the route that Elliot, Louisa's mother, Louisa, and pretty much every-one of his friends wanted Larry to take. However, Larry could not let go of his urge and leave these troubling questions unanswered. So, Larry embarked on a lifelong journey to answer the questions that plagued him, and was ultimately able to find answers to his questions. After being enlightened in India, material wealth meant nothing to him. He meditated, read, and listened to his Yogi for several years until one day, when watching the sunrise, he had "The awesome experience." Larry recounted that what he felt at the time was unexplainable. It forever changed the course of his life. This revelation shows that the questions that seem to be unanswerable can in reality be answered. For as long as mankind has existed, people have pondered why evil exists, and what the purpose of humanity is. These questions can be answered if one is willing to find an answer. Larry did not allow anything to discourage his decision to find out the truth. Even though he loved Isabel and very much wanted to marry her, he forwent that opportunity to search for the truth. Unfortunately, our society places too much emphasis on material wealth and status and that was represented by Elliot, Gray and Isabel.
Ironically, when the stock market crashed in 1929, Gray's father died of a heart attack and Gray had a nervous break down. They had worked hard their entire lives, and devoted everything they could imagine to one thing and that was money. Having made enough to last several generations, they did not stop, and greed dictated their actions. However, Somerset shows that when one invests themselves fully into something material, it can be taken away and when that happens, your life is taken away. That is what happened to Gray's father. It is not until Larry empowers Gray with the ability to cure himself of the excruciatingly painful headaches that Gray is able to work again. Therefore, Gray, also having invested his entire self into his father's business would have ended up like his father had he not come across Larry and been partially enlightened by him. Even though Elliot survives the market crash unscathed, his attachment was more to social-status and acceptance by the jet-set rather than wealth. Therefore, Elliot devotes his life to something that can easily be taken away. He devotes his life to the jet setters of the world, and at the end, dies rejected by them. It is only Larry who devotes his life to the non-pretentious goals of bettering himself through travel, and education. Ultimately, through his experiences, he is able to gain inner peace for himself by attaining enlightenment...an intangible asset that cannot be taken away.
Throughout life, we are all bombarded with images of wealth and prosperity. It is commonly thought that without these material objects, happiness cannot be attained. Our society is superficial and filled with these notions of false-happiness. However, if one could have enough courage as Larry, to go against everything society, his friends, and family told him and to seek out life and true happiness, society as a whole would be better off and happier. On the contrary, the larger proportion of society, like Elliot Templeton, spend their entire lives striving to be something that in itself is meaningless and without substance. Further, when greed takes over, like it did for the Maturin's, precious life is sacrificed for the dollar. Inevitably, a balance must be struck between the two. One could seek out material comfort and seek out true enlightenment. The question lies in if these two concepts, material comfort and enlightenment are compatible or if one makes the other impossible.

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Summary: Restructure Your Life
Review: What an amazing novel! Maugham's brilliant philosophical tale of self-discovery remains as true today as it did 60 years ago--perhaps even more so. Though the novel doesn't focus exclusively on Larry, it is his tale more than anything else that lends the novel its power. The other characters, though thoroughly explored and developed--even more so than Larry--are in many ways no more than the background to his saga. I won't say too much about the novel itself, other than that I discovered it at a time when it spoke very deeply to me, and I have been profoundly grateful ever since. If you are at all interested in the life of the mind, or any sort of a life of exploration and of the unordinary, then do yourself a favor and read this today. Even if you are not, you may enjoy the book throughly, as it is a humorous, well-crafted, and often touching tale.

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Summary: It speaks to me.
Review: I read this book as a child, but retained little of it, though it struck a chord. While re-reading the book, I was delighted to find it better than I'd remembered. It fed a spiritual part of me. Very very rarely does a novel transcend entertainment to satisfy a need and shift the perspective on daily life.

If Larry did represent an actual person in Maugham's aquaintance, then I would say the ripples of his stone thrown in the river had reached me. Sweet testement to the life of a socialite, soldier, miner, farm hand, philospher, yogi and perhaps, eventually, a cab driver.

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Summary: Life changing book
Review: I read this for a book club I am in. I have to say, I wasn't enthusiastic about it. However, this book has haunted me. The imagery in this book is terrific. I have never been outside the United States but Maugham made feel as though I was looking through a peephole, seeing it all. His description of Isabel gazing upon Larry's wrist and feeling such desire. I felt as though I was sitting alongside them all in the car. Please read this book. Do not let your life continue on without this tale.

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Summary: Best Maugham Ever
Review: I am not a Maugham fan. This is only the second book of his I have read, the first being "Of Human Bondage" which I hated. It made me leary to know that "Razor's Edge" was lumped with "Human Bondage" as his greatest works. Razor's Edge, although similiar to Bondage is about a young man "of breeding" searching for himself, is far less pretentious. It contrasts Larry's search for meaning and God in a post WWI world with the meaninglessness of 'cultured society'. The characters lives are interesting and the novel moves fairly quickly. A must-read for anyone searching for their own happiness in a meaningless world.

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Summary: Thought-provoking classic
Review: I really like Maugham's work, especially "The Moon and Sixpence," and enjoyed this book. The basic plot concerns a writer (Maugham himself serves as narrator) who becomes acquainted with group of wealthy Americans. They come into and out of each others lives over a period between WWI and WWII. One of these Americans, Larry, decides to drop out of society. At first it is unclear why he does so, but eventually it becomes apparent that he is seeking spiritual fulfillment. Equal parts mysticism and social comedy, the "Razor's Edge" is well-written and thought-provoking.

I'm not a fan of novels that deal with religion or philosophy, but I was intrigued nevertheless by "The Razor's Edge." It's the type of novel that sticks with you after you've read it and the characters remain vivid. I did however, think that Larry is more of a literary device than a fully fleshed out character. He seems to pop in at convenient times, drop some spiritual wisdom, remain mysterious, and then vanish. Maugham also spends a disturbing amount of time describing again and again what a wonderful smile Larry has. The use of Maugham as the narrator is also a bit suspect at times, as he frequently (and needlessly?) elaborates that he is simply relating stories that others have told to him, that he is reconstructing these tales, that he is adding details, etc. - very repetitive. Despite these flaws, the book is a very worthwhile read, and I highly recommended it.

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Summary: Worth every word
Review: A synopsis is unnecessary with this many reviews. The immediate impression I had while immersed in this thought-provoking book was that I was reading what seemed like mere character essays of a circle of family members, friends and acquaintances. Only one of the character surveys, if you will, was truly worth reading about. The others were there simply to contrast the views, words and deeds of Larry Darrell. These experiences Larry had (as told to the author within the scope of the book) are extremely well conceived and passionately described. Larry's noble pursuit for ultimate truth and spiritual clarity places the conventional approaches to life (as chosen by his friends and former fiancee) in a perspective that is worth observing by anyone interested in the nature of Western culture and the patterns of the Western mind.
Uncle Elliot, Isabel, Gray Maturin and Sophie all appear to represent a wrong turn made by the human spirit that in modernity has perceived himself to be free. Larry symbolizes an unquenchable desire to turn back and find that fulfilling and peaceful path of pure consciousness and deliberate awareness that has been largeley eschewed by capitalist, democratic societies of the twentieth century.
On another level, I found Isabel and Sophie to be compelling characters. Elliot's portrayal was interesting only in comparison to that of Larry's (Elliot was basically a tedious individual who strived for empty modes of personal satisfaction). And could someone (Maugham's ghost is welcome to chime in) please help me to understand why Suzanne was included, even mentioned in this novel? I just finished the book a few days ago so her pretentious purpose in the story has yet to materialize for me. But acquainting myself with the captivating and fittingly incomplete persona of Larry Darrell was worth reading every word of this book.

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Summary: Larry Larry, quite contrary...
Review: ...how does your garden grow? For me, the book is about peace, or more specifically inner peace, and how different people choose to approach their ideas of inner peace and equilibrium. I think it's interesting how Maugham concludes by saying that all of the characters achieved a sort of happiness in their own ways. But wow... the diverse ways they did so! I thought it was really innovative how Maugham included himself in the story, as the ubiquitous confidante.

Of course, Larry is the pivot, the hinge character. Everyone has to come to one or another conclusion about Larry... but he is not obligated to do so in return. He is indifferent to the pursuits of others, yet everyone is concerned with Larry's pursuits. Isn't it interesting how that while everyone seems to be so involved in evaluating Larry's stability and sanity, he remains the most stable and sane of them all? While lives are undulating... Larry has, for the most part, spent the decade on an even keel. Others are gasping, he is sighing. And nothing seems to sway Larry's convictions about what is really important in life. I think this is the quality that makes him admirable. Success or failure will not determine Larry's sense of purpose and meaning. (Larry himself admits in his final talk with the narrator that he really hasn't found the ultimate ANSWER to his original quest of unravelling the nature of evil in the world. No, in the end he concludes basically that perhaps "the values we cherish in the world can only exist in combination with evil." Perhaps all we can really do is "make the best of it.") Rather than actually "changing the world" he thinks that he may be at least able to create "a ripple effect" like a stone thrown into the water. The true GREATNESS of Larry is his strength of inner conviction and achievement of peace regardless of outward cost and opinion of others in the process.

At any rate... I have one question that I believe we as readers can ask ourselves that will point out our true reaction to meeting Maugham's Larry in The Razor's Edge, and the question is this: If dear darling Isabel were our niece, or our daughter... how would we counsel her, if she were faced with the option of marrying either Larry or Gray? (knowing what we knew of each of these characters in the earlier part of the book). I think it's a good question. Would we encourage her to consider the man who was perhaps less earthly ambitious, but who was asking the BIG questions of his world... or would we encourage her to "go for the money" and latch onto the man who seemed to have nowhere's to go but UP... especially when we were conscious of the fact that her own heart's desire, indeed, her true love, was for the former man! I haven't read any other books by Maugham but this one inspires me to do so. I appreciated his straightforward style.

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Summary: Amazing Stuff
Review: William Somerset Maugham is considered one of the best authors of the 20th century. After reading this book, I can understand why. His grasp of the human condition is simply phenomenal. He is one of those rare authors that can make his characters leap off the page and become living, breathing creatures. The introduction to this Penguin edition spends much time trying to place the fictional characters into the context of Maugham’s life. I’m sure the characters in this story are somewhat based on real people, as any author worth his salt always draws on real experience to create a story. Personally, I couldn’t care less if these characters were based on real people, as it wouldn’t make them any less interesting to me.

“The Razor’s Edge” really has a simple message. It asks us to reflect on how we lead our lives. Do we follow the masses or seek inner fulfillment? Is it right or wrong to drop out of society and follow our inner selves? Maugham makes us ponder these questions as he introduces us to his characters ... When I think of the overall plot of the book, even after reading it, it doesn’t really seem that interesting. But when I think all of the little things within the book, I realize how excellent the novel is. Read this book, even if it is the only Maugham book you ever read (which is a pretty pretentious statement on my part, as this is the only one I’ve read). The prose is excellent, and the psychological insights are really amazing. Recommended.

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Summary: There are better ways...
Review: There are far better ways to acquire what this book has to offer. As other reviewers have stated, it is about a handful of people and the way they live their lives, particularly one young man who strays from the beaten path in search of Truth. The occassional snippets of philosophy and theology are smothered between long descriptive passages of rather uninsightful people-watching. If you have a lot of time on your hands, perhaps this book would appeal to you. If you are looking for an interesting or enlightening read, look elsewhere.