W Somerset Maugham Books

The thing I found amazing about this novel was the emotional openness for the time it was written. It is no secret now (nor was it a secret when it was written) that this novel is autobiographical. Maugham writes vividly about the torture he faced as a child and young man, but what is more extraordinary is his recognition of his own contribution to his pain. Rare now, but rarer then.

Highly recommended!

Of Human Bondage truly is the greatest English-language novel of the first decade of the twentieth-century. In its depth, psycho-emotional sensitivity, its continent-ranging scope, and above all in the young Somerset Maugham's understanding of the human species, Of Human Bondage is one of the best novels penned in any language, in any era. I rank this story and the method with which its author tells it among the giants of the art form and on a par with War and Peace, Les Misérables, Gone With The Wind, and The Great Gatsby. It has lost absolutely nothing to age or time and stands as touching now as it no doubt did a hundred years ago or will a hundred years hence. (Check back with me in 2107 and I'll confirm that.) Personally I admit I was shocked and humbled by the breadth of Maugham's talent. For its size Of Human Bondage never once grew boring or slow and was the utmost pleasure to read. The only regrettable thing about this novel was that it eventually did have to come to an end, as we are proverbially reminded that all good things do. A lover of literature should read this book in his or her lifetime. It's that profoundly remarkable.

Worth buying, Asia is still much like this under the glitz and glamour. The essence is captured!

The story Rain is extraordinarily memorable. I recommend this book, though it's definitely not upbeat!

Somerset Maugham is an amazing writer. He style is clear and straightforward but packed with thoughtful meaning and introspection. The Razor's Edge is the story of life's journey that resonates with anyone who questions the materialistic values of the modern day. It is timeless. One of my all time favorites.

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!

The Short Stories Of William Somerset Maugham II is a superbly accomplished "theatre of the mind" audiobook experience showcasing seven of Maugham's short stories: An Official Position; Mayhew; The Alien Corn; The Verger; Red; Home; and In A Strange Land. Skilfully narrated by Charlton Griffin and enhanced with both music and sound effects, The Short Stories Of William Somerset Maugham II is an enthusiastically recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library audiobook collections -- and a terrific introduction to a master storyteller's talent for a whole new generation of listeners.

The first volume in this series won the Audie Award for Classic Fiction, and this second volume is just as good. Maybe better. It is rare to find a narrator who can keep you riveted to a story like Charlton Griffin. This man obviously knows his Maugham. Maugham was a storyteller par excellence, and in Charlton Griffin we have the man who was born to be his narrator. Every story sparkles.

This 2001 award-winning audio book was the debut performance for Audio Connoisseur. You'd never guess the refined, British voice of narrator/actor Charlton Griffin was Georgia-bred. The subtle and well-chosen audio track adds color and emotional dimension to Maugham's classic tales from the waning years of the Pacific-rim colonial era. Audio Connoisseur is setting a new standard in audio books. Highly recommended!

Charlton Griffin delivers renditions of Somerset Maugham's hauntingly brilliant short stories with the reading and dramatization talent that is equal to the genius of the writer. I have been a fan of Maugham since college, where I read most of these stories because they were assigned in my literature courses at Emory University. Mr. Griffin's love of the literature is clear as he brings these stories to life in such a way that I dare say would curl old Somerset's toes. If you like to listen, don't miss this, it is a gem.

This book not only contains the most fascinating short stories, but they are told in the most beautiful and skillful English, with just the right turn of phrase, just the right nuance to make you smile. Excellent!!

Huellas en la Jungla William Somerset Maugham

Las seis historias cortas que componen esta obra, están escritas de la forma ingeniosa con que este autor siempre nos hace interesarnos por pasajes exóticos. Este autor sufre del defecto británico de ser un escritor metódico y moroso, es decir, se toma todo el tiempo del mundo para narrar su historia, lo que, cuando la historia es buena, suele ser desesperante. Sin embargo son tan interesantes que estamos dispuestos a sacrificar sus introducciones largas y a veces tediosas, para llegar a su tremendo y a veces excitante desenlace. Todas las historias están situadas en las colonias que tenia Gran Bretaña tenia a mediados de del siglo pasado en diferentes partes y en casi todas ellas el autor actúa como una especie de oyente a quien, por su carácter de transitoriedad le es confiado un secreto que pesa en la mente de algún atormentado residente de esas tierras. En otras el autor se da cuenta de cosas que los otros no, debido, según dice él, a que los demás están embotados por el clima. Somerset muestra a veces en sus obras una especie de superioridad pedante, pero no por esto deja de mostrar una gran perspicacia y un gran manejo de los elementos lingüísticos.

Luis Méndez.

This is the American edition of "ALTOGETHER." Thirty stories. Nine-hundred, fifty-five pages. Dobleday & Company. The stories were published singularly between 1919 and 1931.

This book is not really a novel as much as it is a collection of short stories. Ashden is the linchpin around which the stories revolve.

Somerset Maugham actually worked for the British Secret Service and it's pretty much accepted that the fictional character of Ashden represents Maugham.

These spy stories are some of the best and most entertaining spy stories ever written. Maugham does a masterful job.

While designated as being a fictional book, some of these stories are probably fictionalized versions of actual events. In fact the blurb of the 1941 edition states "Containing probably the most expert stories of espoinage ever written, this work was for years a virtual handbook of the British Secret Service:....." "Based on Mr. Maugham's own experiences as a British Agent during the First World War,.....".

Again, while described as a novel, each chapter stands on it's own and is essentially it's own short story. Many stories are famous even outside of the spy fiction genre. "The Hairless Mexican" is a story that has been done in movies and television both in it's original form and in adaptations by other authors.

Do not despair over the relative unavailability of this book. Many or all of the chapters in the book have been published as short stories in various collections of Maugham's stories.

Whether you are a fan of Maugham or not, you will enjoy the Ashden stories.

An amazing fictional account of Maugham's real life adventures as a spy for Great Britain during WW I. Written in Maughm's usual concise and elogant prose, these stories make the reader root for Ashenden who is nothing short of a literary James Bond. This account, written as a collection of short independent stories, shows that, when in the hands of an author with a command of the English language, suspense and intrigue can be create in a book in other ways besides stringing together one action scene after another. Simply Maugham at his best