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The Magician

by W. Somerset Maugham, Robert Calder (Introduction)

3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 · rating details · 1,058 ratings · 119 reviews

Maugham’s enchanting tale of secrets and fatal attraction The Magician is one of Somerset Maugham’s most complex and perceptive novels. Running through it is the theme of evil, deftly woven into a story as memorable for its action as for its astonishingly vivid characters. In fin de siecle Paris, Arthur and Margaret are engaged to be married. Everyone approves and everyone...more

Paperback, 224 pages

Published February 27th 2007 by Penguin Classics (first published 1908)

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Mar 02, 2008 Trevor rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I’m becoming increasingly fond of Maugham. There is something about the self-deprecation of the English that is so utterly appealing. It is worth even just reading the ‘Fragment of Autobiography’ that precedes the text and can be read here - http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14257/... - for a taste of his tone. Bits of this made me laugh out loud. Take: “I was looked upon as a promising young writer and, I think I may say it without vanity, was accepted as a member of the intelligentsia, an honoura...more

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Jan 25, 2009 Ali rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is certainly a novel worth persevering with. The beginning is dare I say dull, and for a little while it drags, but then suddenly it develops into a truly gripping read. The awfully sinister Oliver Haddo is a sly practitioner of the occult, who appears to use his skill to ruin the lives of a couple of good and innocent souls. An excellent read.

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Nov 05, 2012 Tom rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fiction, sci-fi-fantasy

"The Magician" is a captivating story.

Margaret is engaged to Arthur, a well-off English surgeon. Margaret shares a Paris flat with Susie. One evening, they meet Oliver Haddo, a very large, very odd man, around whom the most unusual stories swarm.

Basically, Oliver is a magician, who uses his powers to lure Margaret away from Arthur, which pisses everyone off, and leads to a showdown.

When "The Magician" was published, Aleister Crowley wrote a review, contending that Maugham had plagiarized the st...more

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Nov 27, 2008 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was so worth reading, flawed as it is, in order to get a glimpse into a historic moment when neo-Jeckyll-Hyde-ish sciencey ghost stories were so popular that a writer wishing to "sell out" would choose the Victorian culture surrounding the idea one can manipulate soul/spirit/science for genre/setting. S Maugham does a fine job impersonating any genre, even if it's not the one he writes in most authentically. Also to see Maugham's span, between this v early book and, say, Razor's Edge, is to...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Marts (Thinker) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-reads, classics, etcetera

Magician Oliver Haddo seduces Margaret and runs away to Paris to marry her, this leaves her fiancé Authur Burdon totally confused, and with the help of her friend Susie Boyd and his mentor Dr. Porhoët he goes to Paris to get to the root of Margaret's uncanny change...

(Some elements of this novel remind me of The Wizard by Rider Haggard and Island of Dr. Moreau by Wells)...

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Dec 03, 2008 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book surprised me, especially since I picked it off the bookshelf on a whim.
The real action of the book doesn't begin until halfway through, but the first half is not wasted. The characters are developed, and Oliver Haddo, especially, is shrouded in mystery. He's never a likable character; fat and repugnant from the beginning. His superior attitudes and unusual habits, interests and opinions are contrasted nicely with the protagonists in the story, whose lives would have been too boring to...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Valerie Derbyshire rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love pretty much all the Somerset Maugham stuff I've read - he has this amazing sparsity of prose whilst simultaneously leaving the reader with no doubt as to his meaning. Where as Victor Hugo never uses one word when eighty will do, Somerset Maugham can create the same vivid image for his readers by using just one beautifully chosen word. This one I enjoyed less than the others - it's not as convincing for instance as I found "The Painted Veil" or as detailed and as heart-wrenching as "Of Hum...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Caglar Koca rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Magician is one of Maugham's early works. Even though it contains some marvelous features of Maugham, it stands away from most of his other works. The descriptive language that marks Maugham's style is as good as any other of his books. In fact, by choosing a doctor as his protagonist, he achieves a higher level in vivid descriptions. (view spoiler)...more The Magician is one of Maugham's early works. Even though it contains some marvelous features of Maugham, it stands away from most of his other works. The descriptive language that marks Maugham's style is as good as any other of his books. In fact, by choosing a doctor as his protagonist, he achieves a higher level in vivid descriptions. (view spoiler) One of the themes in the book is familiar as well: dysfunctional triplets. Our Oliver, Margaret, Arthur triplet reminds us Larry, Isabel, Sophie in the Razor's Edge or Phillip, Mildred, Sally in Of Human Bondage, and they are almost as sophisticated as the triplets in his famous books. Another similar theme is the supernatural elements. Dr. Porhoet, who most probably represents Maugham himself keeps an open mind about supernatural elements, as he does in the Razor's Edge or in the Pacific Stories. However, the plot is not as solid as his other books. The climax was not clear and the transitions between the scenes were not smooth.(view spoiler) Overall, this book is a good read, however not the best start for Maugham's works.

Here is a note for non-native English readers, as most of you might have realized that English is not my mother tongue. The language in the book is not hard, especially if the reader would be content to understand the plot. However in order to enjoy the book in a further level, readers might have to reread the descriptive parts and occasionally use a dictionary.

The book is available as a part of GutenMark project so Kindle users can access it freely.(less)

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Aug 04, 2012 Aussiescribbler Aussiescribbler rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, horror

This simple little novel was inspired by Maugham's brief acquaintance with the notorious occultist Aleister Crowley in Paris in 1907. And it is unlike anything else of his that I've read. It begins in typical Maugham territory by describing the bohemian art community in Paris, but it gradually mutates into pulp horror territory ending up with scenes more reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft. Along the way there is much fascinating discussion of the principles and history of occultism. How much of this...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: badness, fiction, genre-literature, genre-horror, france-french, britain, 2012, reviewed, downloadable, favorite-fiction

Written towards the beginning of his career, ‘The Magician’ has not earned W. Somerset Maugham the canonical status of ‘Collected Short Stories’ or his Gauguin novel ‘The Moon and Sixpence’. A short but intense work with a gothic character that slips too often into melodrama, ‘The Magician’ reminds of Stoker and Mary Shelley, albeit without the originality or substance.

Its novelty lies in its main antagonist, the magician Oliver Haddo. One of the earliest in a subgenre of caricatures modelled o...more Written towards the beginning of his career, ‘The Magician’ has not earned W. Somerset Maugham the canonical status of ‘Collected Short Stories’ or his Gauguin novel ‘The Moon and Sixpence’. A short but intense work with a gothic character that slips too often into melodrama, ‘The Magician’ reminds of Stoker and Mary Shelley, albeit without the originality or substance.

Its novelty lies in its main antagonist, the magician Oliver Haddo. One of the earliest in a subgenre of caricatures modelled on the histrionic life of Aleister Crowley, it portrays a man of crude appetites and mysterious disrepute that conjures ill will wherever he goes. Crowley had mixed feelings about his alter ego. Writing in an article for 'Vanity Fair’s' December 1908 edition, under the name Oliver Haddo, he has “his fun” with Maugham “[disclosing] the method by which the book had been manufactured”. He alleges that Maugham plagiarized from 'The Island of Dr Moreau' and several texts on the occult. According to Crowley he would end a conversation with Maugham some years later with a riposte no doubt composed many years before: "I almost wish", I said, "that you were an important writer." In this remark he reveals the consuming narcissism that propels Oliver Haddo’s personality – something Maugham shows only obliquely. It also suggests that, like Oscar Wilde, Crowley appreciated that notoriety may be a small price to pay for enduring fame.

History will have its own view on the literary merits and longevity of the two writers. If Bloom’s 'Western Canon' is anything to go by Crowley - with nary an entry - fails.

Except for those interested in the lesser works of the cognoscenti, ‘The Magician’ is an unlikely candidate for the average bucket list. If you do consider it, read it with Ian Fleming’s ‘Casino Royale’, paying attention to the villain Le Chiffre.

If you’re now curious about Crowley and are not easily taken in by sophistry consider his main work ‘Magick, Liber ABA, Book 4’. Read it in tandem with L. Ron Hubbard’s ‘Dianetics’. The two authors knew one another – hardly a surprise since both were intent on founding their own religions. Then read ‘Hammer of the Gods’, a biography of Led Zeppelin, and crown the quartet with Edward Saïd’s 1993 Reith Lecture, ‘Representations of the Intellectual’. Look out for the phrase non servium and how it is mimicked by Crowley’s cherished dictum.

‘The Magician’ in all its modesty is latter-day Faust. It's like a hyperlink to the soul of the West post-Nietzsche, joining the sixties to 9-11, Gramsci to rock and roll and modern literature to eschatology. (less)

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Sep 24, 2011 Tim Pendry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: british, classics, dark-fantasy, decadent, esoteric, horror, literature-general, modern-european, twentieth-century

The Penguin edition is not being reviewed here. This is the Vintage Edition. The only difference in practice is that this does not have Calder’s introduction but has a short and somewhat languid autobiographical sketch from Maugham himself.

Written around 1907 before he began to make serious money as a playwright, this exhibits all the strengths and weaknesses of Maugham.

The strengths are (in general and allowing for a few moments where he shifts in to the purple-conventional) his exceptional abi...more

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Shamim E. Haque Sorry for the rather belated response to your post. Thank you for the great comments. Unfortunately I have not read Selina Hasting's book. I do intend...more
Apr 20, 2012 09:51pm

Tim Pendry Good literature is generally a process of continual disinformation out of which the reader gets interpretative value relevant to their own situation....more Good literature is generally a process of continual disinformation out of which the reader gets interpretative value relevant to their own situation. We like to believe (a liberal arts presumption) that literature is both good and true but it is neither - it is merely effective in that it is good or true for the reader and then sufficient individual choices will enter it into the canon by consensus. But it has no intrinsic worth outside the reactions of individuals, socialised or not.

The 'ethics of invention' might be regarded as a non-issue because none of this is a matter of ethics but only of aesthetics or taste. My point, I suppose, was to use this work to highlight a problem - that literature has no ethical content (especially when it claims to have it) but makes implicit claims (usually at the behest of its readership) to 'improve' the human condition as if it was an ethical rather than an aesthetic enterprise.

Maugham's aesthetic is detached and observational and I wanted to pull the reader up short and ask whether such detachment and observation is fair when it deals with real persons - similar things might be said about journalism, history and photography when they are not commissioned by the portrayed to their own commissioned taste.

One is left with a set of lies, more or less noble, which are perpetrated by propagandists at one end of the scale and hero-artists at the other but where both are no better than the other in their presumption of their right to define the lives of others. Indeed, the propagandist may be more honest because the picture, though a lie, is at least a consensual one with the subject (albeit at the expense of the reader) whereas the detached artistic portrayal can be another sort of lie entirely, the imposition of ego-morality on the reader at the expense of a real and complex person.

Again, who is to say the reader and the liberal writer have greater rights than the person portrayed and the propagandist - it is simply a matter of 'situation' The fact that more people are in one situation rather than the other seems to be taken to mean that majoritarian judgments, usually within a cultured elite, must (ethically) automatically matter (a classic liberal-democratic fallacy about a democracy of taste based on education which automatically privileges the educated).

I am not suggesting that this can or should change (it is intrinsic to how humans manage the world), only that we should read literature without illusions as to any claim of moral improvement it may make insofar as it is a general category and with a mind to fiction in relation to reality being what we commonly call a 'lie'.

We love to privilege creativity in and for itself but nothing is quite so simple ... armaments manufacturers are immensely creative people, after all. I just think, in the case of literature, that we need to appreciate the lie at every level as we enjoy it and not delude ourselves us to our 'goodness' in being literate.(less)
Apr 25, 2012 12:22pm

May 15, 2011 Tocotin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: early-20th-century, forgotten-books, ebooks, scary-stuff, romance

I feel as if I had read this book already, it had so many familiar elements. A beautiful but frail young virgin, her straightforward and manly lover, the repulsive villain with supernatural powers... oh yeah it was just like "Trilby"! The interesting parts were: 1) the plain, faithful Susie, who was the friend of the heroine and in love with the heroine's fiance, and who had sacrificed her happiness for the sake of others - almost. She liked clothes and had good sense (artistic and otherwise), a...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Liviu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mainstream, genre-fantasy, read_2013

a 1908 book that is compulsively readable (most Maugham is for that matter showing why he was one of the most popular author of the early 20th century and reputedly the best paid such in the 20's and 30's) and doesn't show its age except through the interactions of the characters (typical of the early "prudish" fiction) and the obligatory "evil is punished" ending (this one happens most of the time today for that matter especially in genre and this book like pretty much all Maugham for that matt...more

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Aug 23, 2011 Benjamin Duffy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books

What a surprising, interesting book. After reading all of W. Somerset Maugham's most celebrated works several times over, and delving eagerly into his lesser-known (though not necessarily lesser in quality) material afterwards, this is the first one to completely surprise me.

The book is preceded, happily, by a foreword, in which Maugham admits that the character of Oliver Haddo is indeed based on Aleister Crowley. He pulls no punches in his assessment of the real Crowley, whom he knew peripheral...more What a surprising, interesting book. After reading all of W. Somerset Maugham's most celebrated works several times over, and delving eagerly into his lesser-known (though not necessarily lesser in quality) material afterwards, this is the first one to completely surprise me.

The book is preceded, happily, by a foreword, in which Maugham admits that the character of Oliver Haddo is indeed based on Aleister Crowley. He pulls no punches in his assessment of the real Crowley, whom he knew peripherally, and the more you know about Crowley going into this book, the more scathing a portrayal it is. At any rate, the foreword is hilarious, humble, and charming in its English understatement, like all of Maugham's essays. Among other things, he admits that he hates to reread, or even talk about his novels once they're finished.

The book itself, as I stated up there, is surprising and utterly unique among Maugham's work in that it has the whiff of the supernatural. The reader is left to guess, for most of the length of the book, whether Haddo is truly a magician, or simply a cunning, manipulative charlatan. I won't spoil anything for you by saying which is the case, but by the time the reader is sure, it's Act III and the rest of the book is a breathless chase to the end. In this, The Magician is also rather unique among Maugham's novels, because nonstop action is not his normal style. Here, he pulls it off with aplomb, showing himself to be one of the most versatile writers in the history of English literature.

I would recommend this book to anyone who's read at least Maugham's big three - Of Human Bondage, The Razor's Edge, and The Moon And Sixpence, and maybe Cakes and Ale or Up at the Villa to boot. To read it before those might give you a mistaken impression of W. Somerset Maugham as a writer. In my opinion, the best time to read The Magician is when I did: as a longtime fan who thought he knew the old master's style forwards and backwards, and was ripe for having his assumptions blasted. This book did that for me and I was delighted for it.(less)

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May 25, 2010 Joseph Grinton rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: recent-reads

Maugham's caricature of Aleister Crowley (Oliver Haddo) is brilliant and, no doubt, accurate. Maugham says in his preface that Crowley recognised himself. I'm sure he did. He was probably even flattered in spite of Maugham's blatantly unflattering portrait. Maugham says he never read the review by 'Oliver Haddo' (Aleister Crowley) in Vanity Fair and wishes he had. I have read it and enjoyed it immensely. I love it when two very smart men clash. Maugham has definitely researched his subject and g...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Irene Aprile rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: classic

I really like William Somerset Maugham style. His way of writings always catch my attention so that I'm prompted to read page after page.

In this novel the author deals with a main topic in literature, the struggle between good and evil, and what is important beyon the mere facts are characters and their development.
The good character is Arthur Burden, a rational man who's not easily influenced by superstition. The evil character is Oliver Haddo, the magician. Does he really believe in what he s...more

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Jul 27, 2011 Rachel Hirstwood rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm really disappointed. I read Of Human Bondage last year (or maybe the year before) and I loved it, so when I spotted 3 Maughan novels in a thrift store I had to have. This is the first of the three I got. It is supposed to be about the dark arts, but it's not very dark and not very artful. The best that can be said for it is that it's relatively short. I kept getting deja vu as well. I know I read a lot of books, and occasionally I buy one I've already got, but I know I've not read this one b...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Albert rated it 4 of 5 stars

I hadn't read anything by W. Somerset Maugham and he was on my queue for awhile. I decided to start with "The Magician" because Alistair Crowley (upon which the character of Oliver Haddo was loosely based) is also one of the inspirations behind Jeff Martin's new album '777'. The story is well paced and offers a keen portrayal of the fine line between the rational and the occult, the skeptical and the magical, the Victorian life of manners and the underbelly of the mystical, and how easy it is fo...more

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Aug 05, 2011 EZRead eBookstore rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: amelia-reviews

With images of carriages rolling through Paris and London, a respect for witty banter, and an old fashioned sense of propriety, literature enthusiasts get the feeling of being set up for an enjoyable travel through time with an impending romance. In addition, merging the mysterious aspect of a magician adds the shift and friction of the plot of the story, which is initially enjoyable. The magician’s unexplained tricks give a sense of mysticism. It is unfortunate that the novel’s themes, plots, a...more

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Aug 23, 2009 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, fiction, fantasy, supernatural

I enjoyed this very much, even though it was not the story I was expecting it to be. I thought the magician of the title would be a somewhat convincing poseur, but no, this is actually a fantasy novel and I didn't realize that when I picked it up. The story was much darker and more fantastical than I was expecting, and these qualities were not a disappointment to me.
There were some slow parts at the beginning, but once into the second half I did not want to put it down. One thing that kept me in...more

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May 15, 2013 David rated it 2 of 5 stars

It was alright.
Very oldish... like things that are "scandalous" occur that aren't really that scandalous. The ending is somewhat anticlimactic but I was really interested to see Mr.Maugham's writing style, having read his magnum opus which I enjoyed thoroughly. This work, however, had some holes throughout and was far less enjoyable, despite a much more clear cut purpose. There's a reason why "Of Human Bondage" is so well received, it is amazing. This is not. This is a much weaker idea from a st...more

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Jul 14, 2009 Benjamin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature

I good friend once described Aleister Crowley to me as fat and stupid. With that image firmly in mind, this book added a degree of malevolance and evil to that character that is truly disturbing. The supernatural aside, Maugham paints a convincing tale of dark enchantment that is enhanced by the occult science around it, but would be rendered no less convincing or horrible if that were removed. I swear I've met people like Oliver Haddo in my life, and this book has allowed to me to affirm to mys...more

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Sep 21, 2010 Patrick Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Maugham apparently met Aleister Crowley, black magician, in a cafe and hated him so much that he decided to craft an antagonist and an entire novel around him. Thus, he came up with Haddo in The Magician, who uses dark magic to try to steal away the beautiful Margaret from her fiance Arthur. Haddo is described as disgusting in character and in visage. I loved his description of Haddo and how he incorporated his absolute hate for Crowley into the character. I think this serves as a great example...more

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Jan 20, 2011 Nicholas Cavenagh rated it 3 of 5 stars

Maugham lacked the literary turn-of-phrase of his contemporary greats, but nevertheless has the ability to tell a good yarn, including sudden twists and turns in the narrative. The highlights are earlier in the book and to begin with the magician is a fascinating character, as is the atmosphere of the occult. However the story finishes like a weak B-grade film. Some very archaic gender stereotypes are present; one has to wonder why Arthur and Margaret didn't just have a good old shag at some poi...more

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Sep 24, 2008 Syco rated it 4 of 5 stars

W. Somerset Maugham is consistently one of the most fascinating writers I've ever read.

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Apr 18, 2013 Frankco Lamerikx rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: esoterica, occult

A magnificent novel, steeped in the kind of esoteric horror that was popular in the period 1880-1920. If the picture that the author paints of Oliver Haddo only partly resembles the real-life Aleister Crowley, then he must have been a thoroughly unlikeable character. The story, with its heroin-in-distress being captured by an evil magician who takes her to his secluded estate in the British countryside, bears some striking resemblances to the later "The Devil Rides Out", written by Dennis Wheatl...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Federica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, horror, narrativa

"Gli occhi erano la cosa più strana in lui. Non erano grandi, ma di un azzurro chiarissimo, e fissavano in modo stranamente imbarazzante. Dapprima Susie non riuscì a scoprire che cosa avessero di tanto particolare, ma ben presto lo capì: gli occhi della maggior parte delle persone convergono su chi guardano; quelli di Oliver Haddo, invece, rimanevano paralleli, certo per un'abitudine acquisita per fare ancora maggiore effetto. Davano l'impressione di attraversare il corpo con lo sguardo, vedendo...more

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May 18, 2013 Mark Carver rated it 4 of 5 stars

A captivating story about a repulsive yet irresistible character and the madness that he weaves around everyone he meets. As the plot progresses, things start going beserk, and we're treated to a full-blown biological nightmare in the climactic scene. The only thing keeping this book from getting 5 stars is the abundance of unanswered questions as the book draws to a close. This one almost had it, and it stutter-stepped just at the very end, but it still knocked it out of the park. To quote the...more

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Jul 06, 2011 EZRead eBookstore rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: amelia-reviews

Having the beginnings of a romance interrupted with the throes of a slow-built suspense novel, Maugham presents a group of characters whose lives are altered because of an imposing and self-proclaimed magician. Set in the early twentieth century, questions of early modern science and occult abilities are incorporated to create a classic story that unfortunately reeks of unoriginality.

Slow to start, “The Magician” has the usual pace of a classic novel that builds up its characters in an effect to...more

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Jun 27, 2010 Colleen rated it 2 of 5 stars

If I had to describe this story in one word, I would use...silly. And yet, the story behind the story is fascinating. Let me back up. I have two cardinal rules about reading. One is to read at least 50 pages of a book before deciding whether to continue or quit. The second is to NEVER read an introduction before I read the story. I find that an introduction often reveals important aspects of the story before you even have a chance to read it. I don't understand that logic. Why not put the introd...more

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About W. Somerset Maugham

William Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874. He spoke French even before he spoke a word of English, a fact to which some critics attribute the purity of his style.

His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in 'Of Human Bondage' , Maugham became a qualified physician. But writing was his true vocation. For ten years before his first success, he alm...more

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Quotes from The Magician

“Yet magic is no more the art of employing consciously invisible means to produce visible effects. Will, love, and imagination are magic powers that everyone possesses; and whoever knows how to develop them to their fullest extent is a magician. Magic hs but one dogma, namely, that the seen is the measure of the unseen.” — 4 people liked it

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