W. Somerset Maugham

W. Somerset Maugham’s Followers (6,224)

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W. Somerset Maugham


Born
in British Embassy, Paris, The United Kingdom
January 25, 1874

Died
December 16, 1965

Genre

Influences


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 almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays.

Maugham wrote at a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as 'such a tissue of clichés' that one
...more

Average rating: 4.06 · 305,213 ratings · 27,478 reviews · 1,829 distinct worksSimilar authors
Of Human Bondage

4.16 avg rating — 62,474 ratings — published 1915 — 1132 editions
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The Razor’s Edge

4.19 avg rating — 55,104 ratings — published 1944 — 441 editions
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The Painted Veil

3.98 avg rating — 52,821 ratings — published 1925 — 473 editions
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The Moon and Sixpence

4.12 avg rating — 27,785 ratings — published 1919 — 1657 editions
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Theatre

4.18 avg rating — 9,909 ratings — published 1937 — 153 editions
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Up at the Villa

3.74 avg rating — 8,819 ratings — published 1941 — 118 editions
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Cakes and Ale

3.78 avg rating — 8,115 ratings — published 1930 — 285 editions
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The Magician

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3.58 avg rating — 5,538 ratings — published 1908 — 1291 editions
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Ashenden

3.87 avg rating — 4,182 ratings — published 1927 — 244 editions
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Christmas Holiday

3.73 avg rating — 3,314 ratings — published 1939 — 6 editions
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More books by W. Somerset Maugham…

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Quotes by W. Somerset Maugham  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”
W. Somerset Maugham

“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.”
W. Somerset Maugham, Books and You

“The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that they cease to love.”
W. Somerset Maugham

Polls

July 2016 New School Classic Group Read

1954, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, 182 pages
 
  48 votes, 21.6%

1945, Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, 351 pages
 
  28 votes, 12.6%

1951, My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier, 352 pages
 
  21 votes, 9.5%

1957, Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger, 201 pages
 
  19 votes, 8.6%

 
  19 votes, 8.6%

1997, American Pastoral by Philip Roth, 432 pages
 
  14 votes, 6.3%

1944, Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges, 174 pages
 
  13 votes, 5.9%

 
  13 votes, 5.9%

1968, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, 294 pages
 
  13 votes, 5.9%

1995, The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, 216 pages
 
  13 votes, 5.9%

1992, The Shipping News by Annie Proulx, 352 pages
 
  12 votes, 5.4%

1938, Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, 269 pages
 
  8 votes, 3.6%

1986, The Whirlpool by Jane Urquhart, 80 pages
 
  1 vote, 0.5%

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
75 Books...More o...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Authors you love 17 2314 Jan 27, 2009 04:14AM  
Listomania: Somerset Maugham's Top Ten 1 232 Aug 14, 2009 07:51AM  
The Next Best Boo...: January's Group Reads Are..... 91 503 Jan 12, 2010 07:43AM  
The Next Best Boo...: February's WINNERS ARE..... 102 509 Feb 01, 2010 01:13PM  
The Seasonal Read...: This topic has been closed to new comments. 5.10 ("The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them.") 29 174 Apr 19, 2010 12:20PM  
Book Buying Addic...: Titles A-Z Game 684 823 Apr 21, 2010 07:20PM  
The Seasonal Read...: This topic has been closed to new comments. Spring Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks 2717 2518 May 31, 2010 09:00PM  
Cover to Cover Ch...: Read-A-Thon Progress and Discussion -- June 41 44 Jun 25, 2010 10:34AM