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The Razor's Edge
  
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The Razor's Edge (Hardcover)

by W. Somerset Maugham (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)

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3 used from CDN$ 82.95

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Product Description

From AudioFile

This is a masterful adaptation of Maugham's tale of one man's search for enlightenment. His quest weaves through European and American society from WWI through the Great Depression, allowing Maugham to introduce characters from every niche of French, American, and English society. It's a pleasure to hear Michael Page switch accents to bring each of them to life. His voice balances perfectly Maugham's strong narrative with the individualized syntax and slang that distinguishes them. Page also manages one of the toughest tasks of all, delivering Maugham's reflections on the nature of the human spirit so that both the worldly cynicism and the spiritual yearning come through. G.T.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.


Product Description

Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of his spiritual odyssey involves him with some of Maugham's most brilliant characters - his fiancée Isabel whose choice between love and wealth have lifelong repercussions, and Elliott Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate American snob.  Maugham himself wanders in and out of the story, to observe his characters struggling with their fates. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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The Razor's Edge
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The Razor's Edge 4.6 out of 5 stars (90)
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Customer Reviews

90 Reviews
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3 star:
 (7)
2 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (90 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars A look into another world in another time, Jun 25 2007
By bernie "xyzzy" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Razor's Edge (Paperback)
Yet the writing is so full that we can feel part of this other world.

I came to this story by the back door. My first introduction to Somerset Maugham was through the movie "The Razor's Edge" (1946) staring Tyrone Power as Larry Darrell. I have no idea as to how much it was adapted from the book. Then in 1984 we watched Bill Murray as Larry Darrell. This film lost what magic the 1946 film had. So it was time to read the book. Yes I know very few films can do more than present the essence of a book. Turns out that even the older film wrote Summerset out of some of the scenes.

Larry is back from the war (WWI). As with many of us he is left with nagging questions about why one person lives and another must die. This problem leads Larry to search for the answers. He turns down opportunities and takes up a lifestyle to help him find answers. This story is told or narrated by Somerset Maugham himself. In the book Somerset takes more of an active part in the story. Larry come as close as any of us to the answer he seeks and we leave him much the same way one enters and leaves your life.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Butterfly Net of Words, Jun 8 2004
By Dorion Sagan (East Coast, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Razor's Edge (Paperback)
In this brilliantly understated masterpiece W. Somerset Maugham slips the timeless theme of mysticism into the time-bound narrative of a novel. It is a class act with all the charm of a daguerrotype. The protagonist is a war hero who gradually withdraws from the world of ego and money inhabited by the social-climbing narrator, who is himself divided between high society and inner happiness. Of course, they are mirrors of each other: Boddhisatva. The excellent old movie based on the book catches the action but misses the nirvana behind the samsara that Maugham captures for us in his butterfly net of words. This has been a high-falutin' Zen review.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Throughly enjoyable, and illuminating!, May 31 2004
By Vivek Sharma "Vivek" (Cambridge / Boston, MA, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Razor's Edge (Paperback)
The Razor's Edge is a tale of one man (Larry) who was born and brought up in US, spend many years in Europe, first flying aircrafts in WW I and later living an idiosyncratic existence where he searched for purpose and ambition through books, languages and labor. He later travels to India, and finds solace in the Hindu philosophy, where he also learns how to medidate and be at peace with oneself and the world. Maugham writes a very accurate and engaging account of Hinduism.

The novel explores the relationship of various people. The author as a part of story travels in and out of the life of Larry and his friends, and through several conversations that occur intermittenly recreates the story of Larry, Isabel, Gray, Elliot and Sophie. Isabel loves Larry, but Larry's insistance on choosing to loaf and search for the meaning of life and his purpose (and hence living a poor life) and marries Gray, the multimillionaire. Without divulging much details of the story, one can say that the author does a good job in making his characters real and interesting, and presents through them an array of human emotions.

The Razor's edge is also a social commentary, and Maugham opens a window into the lifes and times of early twentieth century Upper classes, their constant striving for popularity and for materialistic pleasures, their hopes, and failings. The story is written in a sentiment and style that makes this discussion and critique on classes as invisible score playing somewhere in background.

In modern context of the philosophy of science, as say Capra in his Tao of Physics points out, or read Complexity by Waldrop, Eastern and especially Indian ageold wisdom and philosophy resonantes with the new contexts and paradigms in science. The paradigms of having cycles of existence, of evolution and coevolution, of each and every action of every creature affecting everyone else (Butterfly Effect), of uncertainity and unpredictability. Some sentences about Hinduism are particularly well written, say quoting from the book " Can there be anything more stupendous than the conception that the universe has no beginning and no end, but passes everlastingly from growth to equilibrium, from equilibrium to decline, from decline to dissolution, from dissolution to growth, and so on till eternity?"

Larry's description resonates with the beliefs and ideas I was taught while growing up in India. And since I have stayed in US for three years now, I guess I read into novel the kind of questions that I have faced: choice between materialism and spiritualism, choice between love and ambition, between my own country and the land of opportunity, of religion and beliefs! If you are a wanderer, and faced with such questions of life and reality, maybe you will love this book as much as I did!

It ain't only a love story, does not mean it isn't a good love story. Read it, maybe you will like it too!

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Superlative storytelling
Rarely can a book truly pull you in from the moment you commence reading. Well, The Razor's Edge is the exception to the rule. Read more
Published on May 25 2004 by Chris Salzer

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what it appears to be...
'The Razor's Edge' is usually billed as the story of Larry Darrell, a young man on a spiritual journey. Read more
Published on May 21 2004 by Robert Bezimienny

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic!
This book has been passed around my family and friends and it is looking a bit ratty. We can all see a bit of ourselves in the characters. Many lessons to be learned...
Published on May 4 2004 by rachel@thousandmiles.org

5.0 out of 5 stars Maugham's Best Work -- Must Read
While some rate the quality of the religious or philisophical references of this book, that really isn't the soul of the story. Read more
Published on Jan 17 2004 by Michael Allison

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving suggestive portrait of what it means to yearn to know
It has been said that a young man should not read Somerset Maugham too early in life, lest he be ruined, and The Razor's Edge is a tremendous example of the truth behind that... Read more
Published on Dec 3 2003 by killerpooh

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining,meaningful,fun
I read this book first as a teenager and was compelled by the philosophy. I liked the way the story patronizes true spirit and internal quest in life. Read more
Published on Nov 17 2003 by Proma Ray

5.0 out of 5 stars The Razor's Edge
I own a First Edition of this book(it is for sale) and have read it, but when I viewed the original film with Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney and Anne Baxter, it really touched... Read more
Published on Oct 17 2003 by Catherine A. Hill

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must
This book is a must for any young adult who is in a relationship, or is asking any questions about searching in life. Read more
Published on Sep 16 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars A true success
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... Read more
Published on Sep 2 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing novel
This novel analyzes different attitudes toward life. I found it deeply interesting and at the same time entertaining. Read more
Published on Aug 4 2003 by Evan Wearne

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