Of human bondage somerset maugham

This is the story of an unforgettable fictional "character" named Philip Carey and his extremely tumultuous and tormented life from age 9 thru

I n Aspects of the Novel , EM Forster wrote: "The final test of a novel will be our affection for it, as it is the test of our friends, of anything else that we cannot define. For English readers, this is a Bildungsroman we mostly first encounter as adolescents. It earns its place in this list for the edgy economy of its dark, often cruel narrative more than its style prosaic or its humanity tormented. Maugham's unforgettable portrait of Philip Carey is one that teenagers, typically, will ingest like junkies, not least because Maugham poured so much of himself into the plot of the novel and its strangely sympathetic protagonist. Perhaps not since David Copperfield , an obvious inspiration No 15 in this series , had an English writer mined his own life so explicitly or so ruthlessly.

Of human bondage somerset maugham

Of Human Bondage is the first and most autobiographical of Maugham's novels. It is the story of Philip Carey, an orphan eager for life, love and adventure. After a few months studying in Heidelberg, and a brief spell in Paris as a would-be artist, Philip settles in London to train as a doctor. And that is where he meets Mildred, the loud but irresistible waitress with whom he plunges into a formative, tortured and masochistic affair which very nearly ruins him. W Somerset Maugham. William Somerset Maugham was born in and lived in Paris until he was ten. He spent some time at St. Of Human Bondage, the first of his masterpieces, came out in , and with the publication in of The Moon and Sixpence his reputation as a novelist was established. At the same time his fame as a successful playwright and writer was being consolidated with acclaimed productions of various plays and the publication of several short story collections. In Somerset Maugham settled in the South of France and lived there until his death in Search books and authors.

For the film adaptations of this novel, see Of Human Bondage film.

Of Human Bondage is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. The novel is generally agreed to be Maugham's masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although he stated, "This is a novel, not an autobiography; though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure invention. The book begins with the death of Helen Carey, the beloved mother of nine-year-old Philip Carey. Philip has a club foot and his father had died a few months earlier. Now orphaned, he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle, Louisa and William Carey in Blackstable , a town in Kent. Philip lives at his uncle's vicarage.

Of Human Bondage is the first and most autobiographical of Maugham's novels. It is the story of Philip Carey, an orphan eager for life, love and adventure. After a few months studying in Heidelberg, and a brief spell in Paris as a would-be artist, Philip settles in London to train as a doctor. And that is where he meets Mildred, the loud but irresistible waitress with whom he plunges into a formative, tortured and masochistic affair which very nearly ruins him. William Somerset Maugham was born in and lived in Paris until he was ten. He spent some time at St. Thomas' Hospital with the idea of practising medicine, but the success of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth , published in , won him over to literature. Of Human Bondage , the first of his masterpieces, came out in , and with the publication in of The Moon and Sixpence his reputation as a novelist was established. At the same time his fame as a successful playwright and writer was being consolidated with acclaimed productions of various plays and the publication of several short story collections.

Of human bondage somerset maugham

The day broke gray and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow. A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the curtains. She pulled down the bed-clothes, took him in her arms, and carried him downstairs. He was only half awake. She opened the door of a room on the floor below and took the child over to a bed in which a woman was lying. It was his mother. She stretched out her arms, and the child nestled by her side. He did not ask why he had been awakened.

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She seemed not to desire anything more than the companionship of those walks. This book grew on me; it sort of seeps into you. It depicts how much pain and agony life gives us. Okay, so stories are not real. Sally seems to be plenty enthusiastic about making love to Philip and affectionately calls him "an old silly", but then we get a passage like this:. I am sure you will agree with me that there are books one is better off reading when one is older and more experienced. Author books followers. Somerset Maugham. Of Human Bondage, the first of his masterpieces, came out in , and with the publication in of The Moon and Sixpence his reputation as a novelist was established. They aren't the whole point. Despite Joyce's fiery descriptions of Catholic visions of Hell, I never quite managed to sympathize with Stephen as he lost his faith. I know how your unchanging text artfully conceals the fact that no two people ever experience you in exactly the same way, and that as a person grows and changes with the passage of time, the same text might suddenly offer up new lessons and messages especially if you collect enough box-tops for the magic decoder ring. I would have liked to have had it with me during darker times than this.

Account Options Ieiet. Of Human Bondage. Somerset Maugham.

This book now sits on my classics pedestal, next to the books that have helped me grow spiritually and intellectually by illuminating the meaning of life, like The Count of Monte Cristo ; it attaches itself to my personal experiences, gifting me with highlighted passages that are snippets of my meandering thoughts as I try to discover the meaning of life like Philip does, and in so doing, it also reminds me of the search for lost time in Proust's Swann's Way. Philip's relationships with women in Of Human Bondage are various and complex. There are times in your life where you meet people and you give to them much more than you receive in return. As part of his training he witnessed cesarean births in the hospital, where death was not uncommon. Philip develops a cutting sense of humor and is ultimately befriended by a boy named Rose whose attention flatters Philip and before leading to jealousy. Somerset Maugham is. I thought I was going to be reading some sexy victorian novel, but I was definitely mistaken on that front. Philip advises Mildred to give up that life but she declines and exits the plot with her fate unknown. I was constantly swept off my feet by Maugham's ability to display the wretched and beautiful in smoothly written, truthful ways. Philip's guardians persuade him to move to London for an apprenticeship. This is a shame, because Norah was cool, and I wish she had showed up again although that might have been awkward. In the end the real lesson seems to be to live in the present. Whatever manipulative streak Mildred has in her she has learned, and even if she is prone to sloth and indolence, again, she was allowed to develop these things because she was always able to find someone like Philip to support her. Yeah, stories.