Cakes and Ale: Amazon.ca: W. Somerset Maugham: Books

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8 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
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4.0 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful portrait with insight into the human condition.., Aug 29 2000

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J. Michael Showalter (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews

First, this should not be the first book by Somerset Maugham that a person should read. Certainly, every character in it is well drawn and there is a wonderful storyline BUT it lacks some of the majesty and grand sweep that make 'The Razor's Edge' and 'Of Human Bondage' so powerful, so grand, and able to stand among the best English language works written this century (although neither of these is typically regarded with Faulkner or Joyce because they are not stylistically avant-guarde in any way). If you haven't read both of these books, read them first.

On the other hand, this is another great book by this author: and like every other one of his that I have read (atleast five more) a worthwhile read. It may be more lacking in pathos than the two mentioned above: while it is second to them in this area, for how much the characters are touching, and heartfelt, it is eons ahead. Rosie, the main characters love interest, is beautifully written as is the other main character.... it's definately a good and worthwhile read.....

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4.0 out of 5 stars A pleasure to read, Aug 4 2000

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Matthew Hallock - See all my reviews

Maugham once said of himself that he was in "the first row of second tier" of writers ... but this book leaves novels by "first tier" writers in the dust. Wonderfully written, great paragraphs, insights into the human condition, and a story line and builds and builds. You really identify with the characters by the end and feel their emotions as they feel them. I loved it. Maugham did, too -�he said it in the intro to my edition that it was his favorite novel.

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4.0 out of 5 stars short and sweet, July 29 2000

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Dominic Buschi - See all my reviews

I have never been disappointed by Maugham Somerset: Cakes and Ale is a light, beautifully written, partially autobiographical story about a barmaid with a big heart, British class-conciousness and snobbery and the literary scene in the first half of the twentieth century.

The narrator (Willie Ashenden, modelled after the author, a medical student turning into a writer) is mainly observant and doesn't influence the events taking place: The origins and later success of the great writer Edward Driffield and the touching portrait of his first wife, Rosie.

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