false 31196 35 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. 2095259 1943 The Razor's Edge total:4677|5:1888|4:1781|3:802|2:160|1:46| 4677 19336 6355 561 3 4 false false Tue Mar 04 12:49:05 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 04 12:31:34 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 04 12:48:46 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 3 false false Thu Apr 19 09:17:59 -0700 2007 Sat Jan 12 15:40:30 -0800 2008 After some rather traumatic experiences as a fighter pilot in WW I, American Larry Darrell relocates to France, ...more...]]> 5 4 false false Tue Feb 05 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 20:56:17 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 05 17:48:25 -0800 2008 -I usually prefer contemporary fiction.
-The Americans are, for the most part, sad, sad characters. Eliot is obsessed with society and culture to the detriment of love and emotion. Isabel wouldn't marry Larry b...more...]]> 5 4 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Dec 09 11:29:28 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 09 11:33:24 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 05:10:39 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 01 22:02:17 -0800 2009 The best novels are always unsettling, as this was when I saw so much of myself in the character of Larry Darrell.
It's the bittersweet sort of experience, this unsettling: more of an acknowledgment than a discovery.]]> 5 2 false false Tue Jan 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Dec 10 17:27:13 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 06 11:54:01 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false true Mon Jun 09 12:44:37 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 12:44:37 -0700 2008
Ok, well first the story: Larry Darrell is the World War I veteran who embarks on a life-long quest to find meaning after disillusion...more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu May 29 06:22:51 -0700 2008 Thu May 29 06:23:00 -0700 2008
Sorry to be getting this up later than usual. I've been keeping my nose to the grindstone with a rewrite of my novel and I read John Gardner's On Becoming a Novelist, which was good, but sort of dry and not really the sort of thing I'd recommend to anyone who isn't ...more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 13:27:39 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 13:33:39 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false true Fri May 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 09 14:44:04 -0800 2008 Sat May 10 17:33:49 -0700 2008 not expecting a spiritual quest to India and subsequent enlightenment at an Ashram. How could I not know this?

This book has a lot going for it. Great characterizations of two ext...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Oct 27 10:00:29 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 27 10:11:31 -0700 2007
...more...]]> 5 2 false false Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Aug 23 09:58:07 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 24 11:42:43 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Oct 17 07:26:26 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 25 20:41:53 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 17 07:26:26 -0700 2008 2 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jan 22 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 18 05:56:58 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 00:09:01 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false true Fri Oct 09 11:17:10 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 11:17:53 -0700 2009

Larry was one of Maughams most impressive friends. Larry was born in Chicago. Larry's father was romance language professor, Larry becomes a well loved orphan, adolescent Larry fell in love with adolescent Isabele...more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Oct 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 16:39:04 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 16:39:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Oct 07 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 15:33:44 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 15:10:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Fri Sep 18 02:36:38 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 04:08:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Sep 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 13:32:40 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 13:49:34 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jul 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 13:38:18 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 14:14:14 -0700 2009
"I used to listen to the monks repeating the Lord's Prayer; I wondered how they could continue to pray without misgiving to their heavenly father to give them their daily bread. Do children beseech their earthly father to give them sustenance? They ...more...]]>