Rating: 
Summary: Not for everyone
Review: I found this book a dissapointment, but that doesn't mean it's not a good read. I suppose it depends on where in your life you're at when you read the book. Maugham's writing is very subtle, and despite the many dramatic plot twists, I was left with the impression that life was just passing by without event. It cannot be denied however, that Maugham does a great job of contrasting the unique path in life taken by Larry with the norm or accepted lives of the other characters, and that all these characters are very well developed. I just found that for me, 'The Razor's Edge' did not produce the answers it promised. Still highly recommended though, if only to ensure that one is well read.
Rating: 
Summary: This book is a piece.
Review: That is all I have to say, this book is a piece
Rating:
Summary: Simply Amazing
Review: There are several things that I like about this work. One of the first things that comes to mind is the characterization of Larry Darrell. There's a lot that we never learn, and the main character has, I believe, only two scenes where he ever explains anything about himself, everything else is through hearsay and other characters. All the same, we get a definite sense for the man. He isn't perfect. He's made mistakes. He has also suffered tragedy. For all this, however, his attention is still focused intently on a deeper understanding of himself. One item that I found very real about the work is how much Larry stands out from those that surround him, and how the author conveys this. Which is by portraying Larry not so much a religious nut, but as a man who is just after something different out of life.I was introduced to the story througha recommendation of the Bill Murray version of the movie. Which I personally loved. Another friend of mine who became familiar with it found a hardcover version of the book at his mother's house. I have since read the book as well. I think the book's impact on me personally is the emphasis that it isn't what Larry does that gives him his inner peace. Any of the other characters could have gone to a temple in India and still be exactly who they were. It is *how* he is, and *how* he does things that makes the difference. Maugham captures this brilliantly. I consider this essential reading material.
Rating:
Summary: makes you look at why you live your life
Review: Rich characters - Maugham shows the beauty and weaknesses of all his characters and does so with excellent prose. Although this book is not an in depth analysis of the philosophy that Larry searches for on his spiritual quest (in fact, most of the depth stems from the contrast between Larry and his childhood contemporaries), it will certainly make you think - its a book that will make you ask different questions every time you read it.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic farse on early 20th century society.
Review: I found this book delightful in every possible facet.. It combined all the essential charachters I look for in a novel.. A stable outsider, a foppish society man, a beautiful woman and a tormented artist. Althought on the surface the plot deals with some what of a superficial subject matter the real undercurrents become almost overwhelmingly obvious. These under currents being the value of art, the misery of life even at the so called top, and the illusion of organization in religion, and finally the ridiculous nature of high society. Perhaps the reason I enjoyed this novel so incredibly much (besides the fact that I revell in Maugham's style) is the associations I make as artist with the tormented young american searching for his spiritual and soulful identity and as a capricorn who loves society and properness and creates friendships mostly on the basis of personal societal status gain with Elliot. I think that that is the true genious of this novel and thus the reason why it has prospered for years as one of the greatest novel of the 20th century. Even though I am only 18 and have limited experience with literature I consider this book to be the best I have read of yet.
Rating:
Summary: Phenominal book
Review: This is by far one of the best books ever written by a man who tried to understand the meaning of life. I assume that Maugham tries to find the meaning of life by portraying himself as Larry who reads philsophy and travels to many countries including India. Maugham's prose is probably one of the best that one can read. This book has many meanings to life and it is probably a good idea if one chooses to read it as many times as possible. Every time I read this book I always get some thing out of it. This is a great book for relaxation.
Rating:
Summary: On meeting Larry Darrell
Review: It is not because the author is Somerset Maugham that I like The Razor's Edge so much, but because of the story he weaves as Larry seeks spiritual enlightenment. It is not unlike so many of us have tried or dreamed of. It was only after running into a web page on the net recently by a man that met Larry in person, did I obtain a new copy and re-read it. I had read the book many years ago and because of it, tried other Maugham novels, but none of them really hit the mark like The Razor's Edge. Well worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: A man's search for his own self!
Review: One of the best books that I've read! I've read this book a lot many times and also presented it to a lot of friends. I think Somerset Maugham is a genius...the characters in his books are so real that you can identify them. At least I could identify them in real life. I'm also looking forward to seeing if the Larry that I know finds himself! His quest continues!
Rating:
Summary: To be re-read periodically
Review: Yes, it is sometimes shallow and has philisophical pretensions that it cannot really live up to, but, having said that, it is one of the 2-3 most influential books I have ever read. Like some others I read it for the first time in my 20s, in my case almost 40 years ago. The character of Larry jumped off the page as someone that I should try to be like, even though deep down I knew that, no matter how much I strived, I could never live up to his ideal. But, I strived a little anyway, and it has certainly changed my life, at least a little. Maugham is a marvelous writer; every word flows perfectly into the next and none being superfluous they each contribute to the meaning of the idea in a succinct way achieved by few other writers. He has said that a good story must have a beginning, a middle and an end, which the Razor's Edge does, and which is another reason why it reads so well. Yet, his characterizations of Larry and the other personalities is such that you feel you know them so well that there is no reason for the novel to end; the Razor's Edge begs a sequel. Since there is none, read it over periodically as I have.
Rating: 
Summary: Shows what we are not by holding up a mirror
Review: The Razor's Edge is often described as the story of Larry, a war veteran who forsakes a comfortable life in Chicago "society" for a vague spiritual quest. It is better appreciated as a portrait of his acquaintences, whose conventional lifestyles are starkly contrasted to the path walked by the seeker. Some readers have wished to know more of Larry and criticize the space and attention Maugham lavished upon the "ancillary" characters. The Razor's Edge instead reveals much about the spiritual path by focusing on people more like the typical reader, people who do not give up materialistic Western striving. The best way to see Larry is to look at what he is not. This narrative technique succeeds wonderfully in the masterful hands of author W. Somerset Maugham, best known for Of Human Bondage. Rather than simply lay out the details of Larry's explorations and development, which, being spiritual and internal, would be rather dull to watch, Maugham illuminates Larry by dissecting the contrasting behavior of his associates. Maugham lavishes narrative care and attention less on the figure of Larry the seeker, but on his ground, those who embraced the life of conventional society without a thought for spirituality. Maugham shows us several possible outcomes of such an unexamined life, from the indulgent businessman to the fragile social climber to the dissolute substance abuser. The contrasts are presented realistically and without sermon yet are no less stark for their subtlety. These characters are a rare delight: fictional creations with genuine life, who make choices, have unpredictable effects on one another, and grow as the novel develops. Maugham shows how each suffers in their particular ways, for hell is not a physical place but a denial one's relationship with God. The power and flexibility of relating to oneself as a network of relationships instead of as an object with fixed characteristics and a predictable future is why one of the three key principle of our executive training is "Be Transitive." Larry beautifully expresses all three principles. He is genuine, always learning, and clear that he is not a fixed quantity but a network of evolving relationships with people, possessions, and God. In short, he is fully alive. If Maugham had told us the story of Larry without the contrast of his conventional friends, the novel's entire message would have been lost. Ancient mystics, quantum physicists, and existentialist philosophers are all giving us that same message. Neither figure nor ground is the thing itself, nor even both together. There is no "thing" at all, except as we create it in our minds. It is the relationship between figure and ground that gives rise to an experience, and neither can exist without the other. Take away the ground and there is no boundary for the figure, take away the figure and the ground is meaningless. Each is relative to the other and neither stands alone. What are the details of any figure, except another relationship between a figure and its ground? The edge is where the relationships emerge, where experiences occur, where reality manifests. The Razor's Edge.
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