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Summary: A story of self-fulfillment and the quest for truth
Review: The Razor's Edge is the story of a young man, Larry, and his quest for spritual fulfillment. After losing a friend in WWI, Larry becomes reclusive and disturbed. He resolved to himself that he is going to seek the answers to the questions that bother him. Is there a God? What happens when you die? His philosophical and spiritual journey is told from the eyes of Maugham, who sees Larry at various points in his journey.It is not so much the conclusions which Larry reaches (Which I do not happen to agree with) that make this book so wonderful. It is the singular devotion to truth which Larry holds that are the source of my admiration.
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Summary: great book, but..........
Review: Let me start by saying that this book is indeed great. The style of writing by Maugham is incredible. The book is basically the life of Larry as described through the eyes of the author. Larry searches for the meaning of life and supposedly finds it in an Ashram from South India. The whole discussion between Maugham and Larry towards the end of the book is fascinating. Since I am from South India I exactly understand what they were saying. The only problem I had with the book was the abrupt transformation that Larry goes through on the top of the mountain. This leaves a taste of an unfinished work and the satisfaction of an answer is never gained at the end. On the whole an excellent read.....
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Summary: Night-Glo at the Brasserie
Review: This book centers around a character called Larry, who receives from the author the literary equivalent of flash cinematography--unclear, fleeting images of an interesting figure--and just enough to keep the reader wondering, until his spiritual denuding at the conclusion of the novel. There is a certain stiffness in the work, owing to the intra-World War period in which the novel is placed, and the rest of the characters are frippery: the matron-in-training, the prostitute, the prissy bachelor uncle. It is only Larry that really captures the reader's attention, when he meters a few sentences or when the other characters speak about him. (There is a lot of "and then I unexpectedly ran into So-and-So, and they told me This-and-That about Larry.") So, what does Larry have to say that is so interesting at the end? During an all-night conversation at a Brasserie, he performs a soular strip-tease. It's not like he reveals something titillating like a "size matters" soul or two souls where there should be one. Let's just say it's a cross between Hinduism and the Absolutism of the Urantia Book.
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Summary: Hard to figure why this book is a classic
Review: I am a lit major and I am still puzzled by why people gush over this book. It's only peripherally about Larry's search for meaning in his life. In actual fact, it's a tableau of US and British high society in the late 1920's--full of all kinds of dysfunctional people caught up still in the class consciousness and snobbery. If you like this kind of thing, many authors have done it better--Henry James for American literature, and Proust for French literature. Overlaid on this is the story of Larry who drifts in and out of the narrative with accounts of his various spiritual adventures. The trouble is that Maugham's description feels dated. Presumably in his day to hear about reincarnation must have been a weird and unusual thing. But today to read about someone transfixed by his first exposure to systems based reincarnation feels a bit sophomoric. Sort of like talking to someone in college who has just discovered these ideas. The only good part of this book in my estimation is the few pages in which Larry describes what it's like to live in an Indian ashram. This was well written and presented information not so easy to come by. Otherwise, though, this book was not particularly insightful or profound, nor was it all gripping or narratively inviting.
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Summary: Journey to the Edge
Review: I don't believe any other story has moved me quite the way this one has. Larry Darrell's single-minded quest for meaning is told by one of the true masters of prose, Englishman W. Somerset Maughm. Set mostly in upper-class Europe following the first World War, Larry contrasts sharply with his rich acquaintances who desperately seek meaning in their own lives, but never seem to know exactly what they are looking for. While Maughm makes it clear that Larry has gained unique insight from his endless quest, he also takes pains to detail what Larry has given up - allowing us to wonder about the choices we might have made along the way. He never quite allows us inside of Larry's head, leaving his peaceful state just out of reach, almost as if Maughm is urging us to pursue a quest of our own. Maugham wrote this late in his career, and he patiently tells this story in a way that demonstrates understanding of both the subject and form. Unfortunately, in a culture that values 60-minute television dramas and 120-minute films with clear plot-markers, his style of meaningfully building characters who actually live the story instead of being rushed past the various turning points is not well understood or appreciated today. However, any reader who willingly follows Maughm as he learns about Larry Darrell will be richly rewarded.
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Summary: Other than the introduction, body and conclusion it was good
Review: This book had the potential to be great. He could have made it dramatic, he could have made it beautiful and he could have made it wonderfully artistic. However, he chose none of these and instead went with making it boring and pointless. If you are thinking of reading this book, I guess go ahead... but I hope this serves as a warning to you that it will not be the most exciting or inspiring thing you have ever read.
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Summary: LARRY DARRELL: Real or Fictional?
Review: "The Razor's Edge" in my personal estimation is one of the greatest books of fiction ever written. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the novel, which was originally published in 1944, the story is set between WWI and WWII and follows a young American Maugham calls Larry Darrell as he embarks on a spiritual journey in search of God and the Absolute. High in the mountains of India, after meeting a venerated Maharshi, he experiences Enlightenment. I sought out and re-read the book after first coming across an excellent review of it on the net written by a professor of English Literature from the College of San Mateo (California) and following a link that discussed who Larry Darrell was in "real life" and what happened to him post-novel. "The Razor's Edge" is an absolute must read!
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Summary: More to this than just the plot.
Review: I read this once before, in Rome, when i read most of the Maugham i have read ~ several novels and large quantities of the short stories. I have, at least to a degree, the same reaction now i had then: Is this fiction or truth disguised as fiction? Doubtless the reaction (one of them) Maugham wanted one to have. I feel that this book is didactic in a differing way from Maugham's usual stories; not heavy-handed ~ my inclination is to call the others often heavy-handed ~ but straighter, more honest about the didacticism. The question that arises, of course, is What are we supposed to learn from Larry Darrell? And, Is this the story of Larry or Elliot, Isabel, and Gray? And, Is this truly a success story, as Maugham claims, or, just as reasonably, a story of the failure of the story-teller's art? I can't answer the questions, of course; i can just pose them. So, do i like it, or is that another unanswerable question? Yes; i liked it in the early '80s and i like it today. As a description of how to live your life, what the answers to the questions of faith are, a solution to the problem of evil, it is an utter failure: Larry never gives an inch on allowing anyone to know his quest or its results. As a picture of a man's quest to understand it is a success. The story could not be told otherwise: Even the periodic style of revelation fits the subject matter, beause that is how our lives and any searches we undertake are. We do not, except in the rarest cases, proceed straight from birth, though maturity and a search, to understanding. Our lives are episodic, convoluted, and puzzling. "The Razor's Edge" does not sort through the confusion, it merely asserts that one man has found a path to his satisfaction.
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Summary: My goodness, what an amazing book
Review: I hardly know where to begin with this review...this book touched me at a very deep level. By pursuing Larry's quest for meaning with such gentleness stiffened with a razor sharp edge, Maugham kept me reading this book late into the night. The characters are slyly and completely drawn in a way the highlights both their beautiful character strengths as well as the horrible depths that each of us is capable of sinking into. Read this book, it may change your life as it has mine.
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Summary: The Razor's Edge
Review: I think this was overall great book. It was very enlightening and made the reader think about his life. At times it gives the reader the painful truth about life, and it makes him a little depressed. One such instance is when Sophie says, "You know, the Commerce et la Marine. When you go in there at night the corridors reek of [opium]. Sweet and acrid, you know they're smoking in their rooms, and it gives a nice homey feeling" (233). This makes the reader stop and think about the ghettos and slums in your town. It makes the reader realize drug abuse, and prostitution is going on in the world and makes it a little more real. This book also covers the many moods of life. It covers pain as shown on page 289 and 290 when Sophie is murdered. It demonstrates the passion in life. There are two major example of this, one is Larry's love for reading and knowledge, and the other is Isabel's love for Larry. Larry's love for reading is shown at the beginning, "I was surprised to see Larry still immersed in his book"(38). Isabel is in love with Larry the whole novel this is shown in this quote, "It's all very fine to say you don't want to make me miserable. You are making me miserable. You see, I love you" (50). This was a very good novel and I would recommend it to anyone with questions on life. The truth is no matter how much you love someone you can't make them love you. Also that it is foolish to think you can change someone.
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