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Of Human Bondage

by W. Somerset Maugham

4.01 · rating details · 12,127 ratings · 1,018 reviews

'It is very difficult for a writer of my generation, if he is honest, to pretend indifference to the work of Somerset Maugham,' wrote Gore Vidal. 'He was always so entirely there.' Originally published in 1915, Of Human Bondage is a potent expression of the power of sexual obsession and of modern man's yearning for freedom. This classic bildungsroman tells the story of Phi...more

Mass Market Paperbound, 704 pages

Published January 2nd 2007 by Signet Classics (first published 1915)

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Mar 30, 2011

Mariel rated it

Recommends it for: Mildrewed Philistines

Recommended to Mariel by: Trevor

Shelves: babywecouldbefamous, coughsyphiliscough, happyhookers

Of Human Bondage used to be under my (re)tired "waiting-until-I'm-not-too-depressed" shelf on goodreads (it had no company. What's the time before birth? I'm gonna say purgatory anyway). Yeah, right. Jump, Mariel, jump! I'm glad it is out of the way. It's the uncomfortable conversations like religious people might feel if they are unstable in faith. The glimpses when someone points out to you a fact (weeeelll) about yourself that pulls off every straggled hair as it is yanked off. I st...moreOf Human Bondage used to be under my (re)tired "waiting-until-I'm-not-too-depressed" shelf on goodreads (it had no company. What's the time before birth? I'm gonna say purgatory anyway). Yeah, right. Jump, Mariel, jump! I'm glad it is out of the way. It's the uncomfortable conversations like religious people might feel if they are unstable in faith. The glimpses when someone points out to you a fact (weeeelll) about yourself that pulls off every straggled hair as it is yanked off. I started reading Of Human Bondage after getting dumped by my friend of many years (I'm "too dark"). All things considering, a stupid book choice on my part, if I didn't want to be reminded of these exact type of conversations. Of Human Bondage is a before the dust settles life part story of Phillip. I'd say it is not much a life story as a whole lot of those conversations that look big and mean a lot of things, and at the same time sound big to beat you down. Like when Phillip wonders if thinking ever helped anyone out when they needed it? Backstory! Subtext! Okay, here's some text: My friend told me I waste my life reading books. Fiction is pointless. Those conversations might have SOME point. They aren't the whole point. That gets in the way of living, when those ideas beat down. I don't want to be beaten down. God, I really don't. What was it that M. Ward said about if life is short then why are the nights so long?

Paragraph break. My eyes would glaze over that much of me babbling. Phillip comes to the realization that life has no meaning. Everyone dies. If you can't be great, why bother? Okay, so stories are not real. But what the hell is? Is love real? Imagined, built up, analyzed interactions. Memories don't match. Life then gets rewritten in that hindsight. I comfort myself that nothing I do matters. It's how I can bully myself to carry on despite my intense stupidity. I don't understand much and sometimes this is really painful. (I say this a lot because it is my recurring nightmare.) So what? That's not gonna change. Stories are where it's surprise and multi sided relationships all in one's own brain. The best part? A surprising brain of your own. Of Human Bondage makes me feel my "But that's all wrong!" and crying out in frustration and misunderstanding when confronted with those beat down conversations. That it isn't forever is how I can carry on. What it means to me, and it doesn't matter if I can give back anything worth as much... Yeah, stories.

To be honest? I was a little lost when the ideals were really entitlement. Wrong foot...

I hated Phillip sometimes. I related to Phillip too much sometimes too. He's a quitter like me. His life's work was all along his introspection. His pitying and self satisfied (mostly in pity) inner life. How could he have missed that he only wanted Mildred because she had rejected him? C'mon, Phillip, even I would have seen that. The side of Phillip that thinks more about how good he could look making love instead of just making love... Frustrating, indeed.

Mildred is too pathetic for me to hate. She's just drifting between thoughtless passions. I'd hate her if I had it in me to hate people who picked on me in junior high. I'm needing more than that these days... Mildred is the void that is no stories. Yet she remembers everything about her dreams... Pretty much the only interesting thing about her. It isn't like he didn't KNOW that. She's not even an adult. How could one ever have a relationship with her? Or expect to?

Phillip's ideal was someone beautiful. (Sorry to anyone who hasn't read Lanark! [If you haven't, it's really good.] This relationship made me feel exactly like that. So what? It is your own damned fault.) I'm not inclined to feel that bad for a guy who doesn't try to take a bit more than that looks thing. (Sally reminded me of Mildred with the "If you like" and passiveness, anyway. If she despised Phillip she'd be better off with him. That creeps me out.) Take more! If you can't know how anyone else feels anyway, if you're going to be trapped in your own head... Make that space richer?

Miss Price killed me. Starvation suicide... Phillip's disgust towards her, his impatience with her affection... I mean, he's the same to these other women like Miss Price and Norah that Mildred was to him. Why his Mildred is a bitch talk and poor me didn't get what I deserved? What the hell is deserved?

Sometimes I worry that I'm like a sociopath who cannot fake human emotions when it comes to romance and religion. I just couldn't feel sorry for Phillip when it came to his "ideals" (coughs entitlement coughs) of perfect beauty. (By that token, he didn't "deserve" love because of his club foot.) It isn't about who deserves what. You take what the hell you can get if you can, I say. I don't know what it is like to lose that because I never had it. Entitlement. I don't want to stop caring.

Sad sigh. I felt a lot of things from this book... I just wish they were the sustaining kind that I'd drink from in my camel's hunch back huddled up for sanctuary. I said this already... It's that "But you're wrong! You HAVE to be wrong!" conversation interlude outside of life that almost sounds like it is getting somewhere and probably really isn't. I know what I can't live without...

I marked off so many passages for future reference. I will probably look them over in the future when I miss having someone to piss me off with being wrong that my life in my head from books is meaningless. Life outside too. There were many jumping off points for inspiration. I'm going to have frames of reference. I guess that's what Phillip had from his own life of introspection. He's too much like me and I don't like me.

My favorite part of Of Human Bondage is when young Phillip gets into the picture books. He stares and imagines and goes to places. I can get that retreat. It was the sensitive like feeling attuned instead of his quick to offense that I relate to entirely too much (on my worst days). Phillip's sweet moments when he feels sensitive. Maybe he likes himself for being sensitive. I don't care about that. I like looking beyond that shitty layers and can feel embarrassed, pained... He's at best when no one wants anything from him. Knowing what to do is really hard. Phillip would be a really good friend to have if he were in a book... And not the parts that were me.

P.s. Damn. Why'd I have to write a review of this before bed time? I'm upset.(less)

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Nov 07, 2009

Trevor rated it

Shelves: literature

A lot of this book is quite harrowing – you know the drill, young boy orphaned and alone in the world and being brought up by people without affection. Public school nightmares, a child with a deformity that causes him shame all his life.

I was not surprised to learn that Maugham was homosexual, or bisexual, or trisexual – or whatever it was that he was. There are subtle hints to the fact throughout the book.

Young Philip, the central character (rather than protagonist,...moreA lot of this book is quite harrowing – you know the drill, young boy orphaned and alone in the world and being brought up by people without affection. Public school nightmares, a child with a deformity that causes him shame all his life.

I was not surprised to learn that Maugham was homosexual, or bisexual, or trisexual – or whatever it was that he was. There are subtle hints to the fact throughout the book.

Young Philip, the central character (rather than protagonist, I think – as there is something of the antagonist about him too) fascinated me. His loss of faith, for example, happens so simply that it had a real ring of truth about it – much of the book is autobiographical and this seemed particularly so here – well, to me anyway.

This was not always the case. There were things that happened in the book where I struggled with the suddenness of his ‘discoveries’ – where Philip finally determines the meaning of life from a Persian carpet, for example – the meaning being pretty much Nietzschean pointlessness relieved by recognising life as a work of art – seemed a little sudden for me. I tend not to have such revelational moments in my life, but I guess I should not deny them to others.

His furious passion and ardent love for Mildred – a slut and callous bitch if there ever was one – is all a bit much. But if the definition of a good novel is how often it gets one to call out, “No Philip, not that!” then this is a great novel. Again, I’ve been lucky in that I’ve never loved someone completely in the way Philip does – not in a way that is insensible to how terribly they have treated me and how completely indifferent they are to me. So, perhaps, in this too, I am lesser than Philip.

Maugham defined himself as ‘among the first of the second rate’ – Philip goes off to study painting in Paris and leaves when he realises he will never be more than mediocre as a painter – and the life of penury that being a painter would necessitate could hardly be justified if he was only ever going to be second rate. The question – what is art and how does one know one has the gift – is a constant theme of the early part of the book.

The conclusion is hard to say – there is much talk in the book that reminds me of Wordsworth, the artist shows the world how to see and how to feel. But there is also a terrible pointlessness to art. In the end I think art isn’t what one does because what is produced is good or bad, it is what one does because there is no other choice. And for most of us there are always other choices.

Repeatedly, as someone is about to die, Philip is struck by how pointless their lives have been. In the end Philip is grateful for his acceptance of the meaninglessness of his existence – which reminds me of that quote from Stendhal, “God’s only excuse is that he does not exist.” There is a terribly interesting scene towards the end of the novel where this is brought home with full power. It is a favourite ploy of the faithful to think that atheists on their death beds convert to join in hope of salvation. While his uncle is dying, and Philip has been sitting contemplating murdering the old man to relieve his own intolerable poverty, he knows the old man is almost panic stricken at the idea of losing his life. This resolves differently to how I expected – leaving room for the faithful to celebrate at the comfort their faith offers in the end – but it seems a somewhat hollow victory when their own saviour’s last words were – “Oh Father, Father, why hast thou forsaken me?”

The central idea of this book is that life has no meaning – no overarching meaning – that most of life is pain and bitterness and at times punctuated by tiny moments of joy and happiness – and these ought to be accepted and celebrated equally – both the pain and the joy – as part of the tapestry of life. Love is almost impossible and is never equal – it is a sad and bitter vision.

In the end the real lesson seems to be to live in the present. I would have liked to have read this book years ago, I’m terribly sorry I have only read it now for the first time – I would have liked to have read it when I was 18, when I would have had no means to understand it. I would have liked to have had it with me during darker times than this. It was quite a read and I enjoyed it, if enjoyed is at all the right word, very much.

(less)

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Jan 11, 2010

Ben rated it

Shelves: all-time-favorites, favorites, good-fiction, to-read-again, read-in-2010, romantic-love-and-hate, growing-up, memorable-characters, transformative-experience

I fell in love with this book; it spoke to me, and I will aways have a strong affection for it. After three weeks of opening its pages virtually every night, I now find myself saddened that I can no longer turn to it. How can anything else compare?

Of Human Bondage is a classic in every positive sense of the word. Aside from The Brothers Karamazov, it is the only book I've read, whereupon finishing, I was able to say to myself: "This novel is life itself: it contains all of ...more

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Sep 10, 2010

JSou rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 1001, classics, favo-u-rites, owned

THIS BOOK IS ABOUT A GUY WITH A CLUBFOOT HIS GIRLFRIENDS A BITCH

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Jul 07, 2008

Martine rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: people who are looking for the meaning of life

Shelves: british, early-twentieth-century, film, modern-fiction, psychological-drama

Of Human Bondage is a Bildungsroman which frequently makes you groan and mentally exclaim 'Oh, no!', only to blow you away with the power of its message and the perfection of its ending. Over the course of the 656-page book, the main character, Philip Carey, a young orphan born with a clubfoot, takes many wrong turns, mostly because he has taken it into his head that he wants to live the life of a romantic hero. He makes unwise career moves, recklessly spends money he should have saved, and gets...moreOf Human Bondage is a Bildungsroman which frequently makes you groan and mentally exclaim 'Oh, no!', only to blow you away with the power of its message and the perfection of its ending. Over the course of the 656-page book, the main character, Philip Carey, a young orphan born with a clubfoot, takes many wrong turns, mostly because he has taken it into his head that he wants to live the life of a romantic hero. He makes unwise career moves, recklessly spends money he should have saved, and gets obsessed with a woman who is so obviously awful that even he himself, at the height of his passion, calls her an 'ill-mannered slut'. But such is the depth of his obsession and extravagant generosity that he goes on treating her nicely even when she grossly abuses him, because hey, you never know -- she might realise one day that he's a much nicer fellow than the rakes with whom she likes to hang out. And so he drags himself down into a hell of masochistic misery, very nearly ruining himself in the process, only to find that happiness of a kind he had never given any serious thought is within his grasp, if only he cares to accept it and let go of the false dreams and ideals that he has cherished for years.

The most autobiographical of all Somerset Maugham's novels, Of Human Bondage is a frequently maddening but always impressive account of the education of a shy, bullied young man who seeks to free himself from the shackles of existence without realising what exactly these shackles are. Following a strict and unhappy upbringing, Philip goes on to look for freedom, romance and adventures in the world of art, ideas and ideals, not realising how dangerous and seductive these are, and how they will lead him astray. For much of the first half of the book, Philip is a somewhat unlikeable, self-pitying snob whose bad decisions and obsessive love for an obviously horrible woman occasionally exasperate the reader. In the final third, though, he learns important lessons and meets genuine friends, and by the end of the book he has improved so much that you really find yourself rooting for him, hoping he'll recognise the goodness of the life and wife that are placed before him, and accept them. Maugham paints his journey towards awareness in exquisite detail, looking deep into Philip's soul but also sharing the outsider's perspective on him. He also does a great job drawing the large cast of secondary characters. Many of them are vain, selfish and pretentious, but that only adds to the 'Oh, no!' quality of the story. As for the book's message, which is that life has no meaning and that it's better to accept this before one drives oneself mad searching for it, this is brought home in magnificent detail, especially in the superb final third of the book, which has more depth than just about any other novel I've read. Granted, the story is a bit long, and the first half drags a bit, but it's worth sticking with it for the final chapters, which are so cathartic and revelatory that you cannot but come away impressed and converted. I know I did. Twice.

I'd give the book 4.5 stars if I could, but alas...(less)

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Jul 19, 2007

Siobhan rated it

Recommends it for: anyone, but especially young adults and boys

It's hard for a bildungsroman not to seem trite, when we've all gone through much the similar phases as the protagonist - there's something slightly embarrassing about revisiting the gradual death of innocence, the flailing search for Meaning, and all that comes inherent with becoming an adult.

So it's pretty impressive that Somerset Maugham manages to capture the reader's attention so completely, as we follow Philip Carey through death, exclusion, lust, discovery, disillusionment, ...more

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Jan 27, 2008

Lenny Husen rated it

This, like Tapping the Source, is another ultimate Coming of Age novel. And the descriptions of unrequited love are the truest I've ever come across. I love the descriptions of med school in the 1920's. The main character isn't likeable for most of the story, but he's a real person, and the ending is the best ever. Truly my favorite book of all time.

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Nov 27, 2010

Jana rated it

You know those people that are scared of silence? So, if you find yourself in a situation where talk isn’t necessary, you can just enjoy the view, those people will ridiculously blabber just because they think they have to.

'Isn’t this traffic jam just exhausting. Every day the same, oh, look, this guy with a guitar is crossing the street, I wonder where he is going. See, that blue car didn’t even see this tram, nearly knocked this lad over! Omg, luckily, it’s such a nice day, imagin...more

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Jul 02, 2007

Katherine M rated it

· review of another edition

Maugham mastered all the techniques necessary to be an excellent writer. The book flowed easily pulling the reader deeper and deeper into the story, the detailed descriptions allowing the characters to rise alive and unique from the story. The strength Maugham used to pull the reader into the story, however, created a few hundred unbearably emotionally taxing pages. Philip's unrequited, obsessive love for Mildred felt akin to smashing one's head repeatedly into a brick wall, and as a frustrate...more

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Aug 16, 2007

Meredith rated it

I tried and tried to get through this book. I stuck by Phillip hoping that eventually he would get his act together. It became quite tiresome to read about him making one pathetically wrong choice after another. He was a complete weakling and I could not get through the book because of it.

This novel has been stated to be one of the best books written. Perhaps I missed something great by not sticking it out to the end, but I just could not. There are too many other great stories to r...more

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Nov 06, 2007

Kelly rated it

Has one of literature's great lines about reading:

"Insensibly he formed the most delightful habit in the world, the habit of reading: he did not know that thus he was providing himself with a refuge from all the distress of life; he did not know either that he was creating for himself an unreal world which would make the real world of every day a source of bitter disappointment."

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Dec 18, 2008

Anjali rated it

I read this just before going on my recent quest to read (at least some) novels by women of color. I decided on doing this out of frustration with the fact that the mostly "classic" lit I'd been reading was almost overwhelmingly, inappropriately, disgustingly dominated by white men. This book, I think, was the ultimate white male literary send off. It is long and simply told, without any of this "look at me I can write fancy sentences!" nonsense. In my opinion, Maugham do...more

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Feb 02, 2009

James rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fiction, read-and-reread, lplib-classics, bildungsroman

One of my favorite novels; yet, strangely, I have difficulty understanding the hero (anti-hero?) Philip Carey. Philip, like the author himself, is orphaned and brought up by his uncle. Harshly treated, he is burdened with liabilities, both physical, a clubfoot, and intellectual, a habit of making the least of his opportunities through bad choices and/or lack of talent.
As I reread the novel I am immediately impressed by the importance of reading for the young Philip Carey. He turns to rea...more

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Apr 26, 2007

Anne rated it

Recommends it for: anyone who likes descriptions and Brit Lit

This was my Spring Break project. Just to give you an idea of what my "projects" often look like, my trip-to-San-Francisco project last August was Anna Karenina. Large in scope, lengthy of page.

This was no exception, though I must say I found it much more enjoyable that Anna K. I had previously read The Razor's Edge and Christmas Holiday, so I knew basically the style I was in for.

I found Of Human Bondage to be a good deal more readable than expected. It's ...more

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Oct 01, 2007

Kate rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: most everyone, I dug it

This is one of those 600 pagers that slowly but surely begins to feel like one of your own appendages. I became very fond of the feel of this 2 pound monstrosity in my work bag and in my hands on the subway. I'm sad that Of Human Bondage is over. I became so attached to Phillip and his tumultuous love life, so pissed at that stuffy vicar, and don't even get me started on Mildred. What a bitch. Sure the steps that Phillip takes in his life and the language used are a little dated in an it-all-ha...more

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Sep 29, 2009

Laurele rated it

Shelves: books-read-in-2009, audible

Just as I was beginning to wish this novel was a short story, it took an unexpected turn and I was glad that I had 300 more pages or so to go (it's a 700-page book). It was fortuitous that I read it just after finishing _Nicholas Nickleby_. Like Nicholas, Maugham's hero, Phillip Carey, keeps reinventing himself and varying his stage and adventures. Phillip Carey, though, has no dependents for whom to toil. He is on a quest for freedom while all the time being bound by his own passions. Not unt...more

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Jul 03, 2007

Sergey rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2006, own, fiction, read_in_english

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 16, 2007

Matthew Klobucher rated it

When I first picked up this book, I was chiefly interested because the author was an athiest. I was subsequently surprised to find the story enthralling. Entrenched in the banality of modern life, but punctuated with pathetic attempts at romance and art, the main character struggles through the story in a confused and quietly desperate manner. The writing is lucid and raw, though very intelligent. The melancholy is well hidden under the events of the story. I don't know if I really enjoyed the b...more

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Feb 21, 2008

Cherie rated it

Shelves: fiction

A- No, not an S&M book; a terrific classic! The story of Phillip, a young man whose clubfoot shapes his life, but not as much as his inability to ask for what he wants (or even to think what he wants has value in this world). Love, death, happiness, passion, career dreams, and relationships play major roles. Highly recommended to those who like a good book with an interesting storyline; I didn't think I would like it as much as I did, but it passed the time on several arduous bus rides on unpave...more

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Jul 25, 2007

Skipp rated it

Recommends it for: anyone

Amazing. My favorite book. A long, beautifully written, intimate portrait of the human condition. Maugham is a genius. I felt very connected to the protagonist and his life even though it was set in England almost 100 years ago. I recommend this to anyone, but I feel that young people (20s-30s) still exploring their place in life will get the most value from it.

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Mar 13, 2007

Dave Russell rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: novels, classics, favorites

Have you ever felt an author had stolen your thoughts and feelings and put them in a book? I felt that way through this entire book.

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Apr 15, 2011

Tânia F rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

O livro despertou sensações estranhas em mim, a história é bastante triste, contudo no meio das adversidades mostra como podemos encontrar a felicidade, em como o prazer e a dor fazem parte da obra-prima que é a vida de cada um de nós. Muito bem escrito, a entrar dentro do cérebro humano, das suas contradições, qualidades e defeitos. Que minucioso retrato do homem.
(Atenção: A partir daqui tem spoilers!)
Impressionou-me a franqueza do autor em admitir para a sua personagem o desejo, a â...moreO livro despertou sensações estranhas em mim, a história é bastante triste, contudo no meio das adversidades mostra como podemos encontrar a felicidade, em como o prazer e a dor fazem parte da obra-prima que é a vida de cada um de nós. Muito bem escrito, a entrar dentro do cérebro humano, das suas contradições, qualidades e defeitos. Que minucioso retrato do homem.
(Atenção: A partir daqui tem spoilers!)
Impressionou-me a franqueza do autor em admitir para a sua personagem o desejo, a ânsia de que o tio morresse rapidamente por forma a herdar o seu dinheiro e dessa forma poder sair da pobreza e retomar os seus estudos. Quando a doença do tio se prolonga, numa degradação paulatina e passa pela cabeça de Philip trocar os medicamentos do tio por forma a este morrer imediatamente, já que a morte daquele seria uma inevitabilidade no curto prazo. Depois logo afasta tais pensamentos, por saber não ser capaz, principalmente porque cometer tal acto iria ensombrar a sua vida futura de problemas de consciência, de culpa.
Também achei curiosa a franqueza e frontalidade do autor ao retratar que quando Philip soube que havia possibilidade da namorada estar grávida, os primeiros pensamentos que o assombraram foram dos seus planos de futuro arruinados, colocando como hipótese abandoná-la. Depois rapidamente toma consciência de que é "fraco" de mais para o fazer, pois "sabia que não teria sossego nas suas viagens, se levasse consigo o pensamento constante de tê-la tornado infeliz". Decide que a única coisa a fazer é casar com Sally, mentalmente faz planos nesse sentido ao ponto de já sentir em si uma devoção pela criança e da vida em família. Quando sabe que a rapariga não estava grávida, fica desolado, e decide abandonar os seus planos de viagens à volta do mundo e abraçar uma vida pacata e caseira,concluindo que "o desenho mais simples, aquele segundo o qual o homem nasce, trabalha, casa, procria e morre, era de certo modo o mais perfeito? Podia bem ser que abandonar-se à felicidade fosse aceitar a derrota; mas era uma derrota melhor do que muitas vitórias."
Uma obra que recomendo vivamente, principalmente pelas suas sábias divagações sobre a natureza e relações humanas e por apesar de ser maioritariamente um relato dramático, é inevitável acabarmos de o ler com uma enorme sensação de alegria e esperança.(less)

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Jul 19, 2010

Eric Aiello rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 50-book-challenge-2010

Well, well... what we have in Of Human Bondage is one of the greatest and all-encompassing stories to ever come from human kind. Written in the early 1900s, Maugham's novel is not only incredibly relevant in today's society but should also be required reading in our schools. I, for one, had never heard of this book until I was well into college (and even then it was not by professors but by the internet). The novel is essentially a bildungsroman tale (coming-of-age tale - allow me to also recomm...moreWell, well... what we have in Of Human Bondage is one of the greatest and all-encompassing stories to ever come from human kind. Written in the early 1900s, Maugham's novel is not only incredibly relevant in today's society but should also be required reading in our schools. I, for one, had never heard of this book until I was well into college (and even then it was not by professors but by the internet). The novel is essentially a bildungsroman tale (coming-of-age tale - allow me to also recommend Nervous Conditions of the same genre) that follows the life of Philip Carey, a club-footed boy orphaned at the age of 9. He goes to live with his aunt and uncle, neither of whom are parents, and from here the novel surges through Philip's life until he is about thirty. Surges may be a poor word choice. This book is, after all, rather long, but not a word could have been spared by editors. I savoured every last one of them until the end.

Considering the novel deals with quite literally the ENTIRETY of Philip's experience as a person in society, it would be a daunting task indeed to review every aspect of this story. So I won't attempt it. Alas, I have other books to read! But I will address a few specific aspects of the novel which had me reeling in delight (and sometimes reeling in annoyed frustration!).

As the title implies, the story has everything to do with the enslavement of the human spirit by various societal institutions and physical and psychological tendencies. The story also has everything to do with the human liberation from such bondage. Philip's tale is our case study here - he is who we will follow and examine as we consider human bondage in a world largely operated by humans!

I was able to identify with Philip on many levels. One such level was that of religious fervour and then the dismissal of that fervent belief. Philip was raised religiously, even professed the beauty of his faith. Soon, he realized the absurdity of religion. He noticed that so many religions sought after the one valid and universal truth, that they all claimed eventually to have found that truth, and that theirs was the legitimate faith and all others illegitimate. Philip saw the problem in this. He realized that this bred a prejudice world, one that would enslave Philip to the Anglican life. This was his first liberation. He shed his faith, realizing that if God would punish him for honestly not believing then there was nothing he could do about it (also touching briefly on Pascal's Wager here). The world was his to explore, and in his exploration he wished to seek a new meaning for his life.

I'm not going to go crazy summarising the rest of the novel and I will let you read it on your own to discover his new views of life as they mature. I'll simply say his journey is quite wonderful and the meaning he finds is a meaning I happen to share. His arrival at this meaning is beautiful and poignant and it is in the last 100 pages of the book that I truly came to care deeply about Philip. Before then, I found him quite insufferable yet I was deeply invested in his life. His relationships with other people and his ludicrous behavior towards some of them left me nearly shouting at the pages, begging the other characters to club Philip over his head with his own club foot. Harsh and insulting, perhaps, but Philip should have been served what he dished.

I say that reluctantly, actually, because there was that one ill-mannered slut, Mildred, who did not deserve one one-hundreth of what Philip offered her. While I hated Mildred passionately, I was so disgusted by Philip's continual love for her that I came to no longer care what pain he suffered on her behalf. I was in Philip's corner the whole time (except for when he acted like a stalking creep), I just gave up on him. His final two experiences with Mildred left me fuming!

I was only slightly disappointed by the end of the novel. Considering the book was nearly 700 pages, it's sort of strange to say that I thought it ended too abruptly, but none-the-less, I think it sort of ended rapidly! That said, the ending did do a brilliant job highlighting the overlaying message of the story, the inanity and absurdity of life, and Philip's intense transformation.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I thought Philip was gay. I expected him at any minute to shed his heterosexuality (admit it, Phil, it was all a deception!) just like he shed his fear of God! But alas, he never did. I also swore that Sally was a lesbian, but I was apparently wrong there, too.

And for anyone who thinks "old" books are harder to read, think again! This book is incredibly readable. Maugham takes pride in his succinctness, and reasonably so. Wonderful, simple, and beautiful prose that begs to be read.
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Aug 25, 2008

Anthony rated it

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Shelves: lazy-summer-reading

About a third of the way into this book i happened to read the blurb on the back cover which describes it as a book about a love affair, which surprised me because the affair hadn't started yet. Which underscores the major flaw of this book: it's too long and as a result is about everything and nothing. For example, there's much more discussion of Kant in this book than i expected. Granted, i didn't expect any discussion of Kant in a bildungsroman, but there's actually quite a bit of it. These d...more

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May 21, 2008

anne rated it

Having plowed through The Razor's Edge the week before, I found the first several chapters of Maugham's most famous/best reviewed work a little disappointing. The story is extremely autobiographical, so the plot follows a tedious poor bullied english orphan schoolboy trajectory and it's hard to see how this defensive, angry little boy is going to grow up into an interesting adult. Phillip as both a boy and a man is a frustrating character, and very unlike the colorful strong-willed menagerie of ...more

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Mar 10, 2008

Venessa rated it

Of human bondage: life and all of its hardships. I feel that there is something in here that everyone can relate to. Main lesson learned: if you persevere, you will prevail. At times I got so annoyed and frustrated with Phillip, yet he pushes onward and upward and ultimately redeems himself. This is a tale of one man's struggle for himself, in the midst of all the curve balls life will always throw you. Something my QT always tells me: if you think it, it will happen, so therefore, be careful ab...more

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Oct 31, 2008

Coy rated it

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Recommends it for: People who love reading

Recommended to Coy by: Dave

This is the third Maugham book that I have read and I have loved them all. I would agree that this is his masterpiece. The amount of introspection and inner struggle in this book is amazing. My emotions sort of followed the phases of Phillip's life and his struggles are very real. If you are a person that has all the answers, then I wouldn't read this book because its highly critical of people who have it all figured out.

At first, I wasn't sure about the ending but then I starte...more

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Jun 27, 2008

Jeffrey rated it

W. Somerset Maugham is an author's favorite author. Graham Greene and Gore Vidal certainly tip their hats to him. Maybe it's because this turn-of-the century (the Victorian one, not the latest) author makes storytelling seem so easy. With Of Human Bondage, the reader is introduced to a very believable and unsettling and irritating protagonist, Philip Carey. His childhood is typical heart-wrenching literature in which he is the boy with the clubbed foot who is orphaned and raised by a religious a...more

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Jun 05, 2007

Nora rated it

Shelves: 20th-century-fiction

Maugham's story of a young man who finds himself and his philosophy in travel, poverty, art and work, is not the best of this kind of story, but it isn't the worst. As sort of a history of a young man's mind - a man revolting against the mores and manners of post-Victorian England - it's less a revelation than a work of nostalgia for those who've already formed their own philosophies at odds with the wider world.

Maugham slowly and steadily follows his character's thoughts, deeds and ...more

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Mar 17, 2007

Heather rated it

Recommends it for: matt

i just read this book and it is absolutely incredble--one of the best books i have ever read. the fact that the author is such a fantastic storyteller makes the book accessible to anyone really, even those who have little patience for long novels.
the unrequited love in this story is fabulously told and the character of phillip carey is at once pathetic and tender. it isn't quite as philosophical as i'd like it to be but thats because it is mostly a story with interludes of philosophy and ...more

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From Wikipedia: William Somerset Maugham, CH, was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era, and reputedly, the highest paid author during the 1930s.
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