I spent the last few weeks in the company of Philip Carey, the affable, conflicted, introspective protagonist of W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage. What an incredible time I had with him. I journeyed with him as he past from boyhood to teenager to young man. He took me to Heidelberg, Paris, the Norfolk coast, and London. I had a great time and when 600 pages later I had say good-bye I felt sad. Philip had become a dear friend and parting from him left a void in my life. I miss him.
Last night I met up with my book group and we discussed Of Human Bondage, among other things (get a group of like-minded women together and you know what happens ..!!). We met at Jen's place where she served us refreshing margaritas made with tequila, cointreau, and lemon juice, blended with ice. For dinner we had superb Mexican - freshly made tortillas (from a neighborhood restaurant), beans, an assortment of chopped, fresh greens, and an excellent salsa. We were all in high spirits, and bursting with enthusiasm for our book. Everyone, except Jen, found the book a most satisfying read. I've always been a great fan of Maughm, and never could understand why the literary critics had given him short shrift. Reading the book with a writer's eye now, I could see the weaknesses.
Maugham is a fantastic storyteller and his protagonists are compelling, complex, and very likeable. What I find most endearing about his protagonists is their humanness, their fallibilities, and the constant internal conflict they go through. I immediately identify with them. Last night we all shared how we were like Phillip Carey in Of Human Bondage.
I enjoyed seeing London in the late 19th century through Philip's experiences. What I found striking was the state of poverty in which the majority of Londoners lived.
The major weakness of the book is that it is overwritten. It needed some good editing, and that would've pared the book down to about 400 pages. Maugham didn't have the finesse with words that other highly respected English writers had like Thomas Hardy and DH Lawrence. His sentences don't have a lyrical or poetic quality. He tends to both show and tell - and he does an awful lot of telling. Philip was constantly telling us how he was feeling - sad, happy, nervous, shy, you name it. And one other weakness I found was when he went into detail about something that did nothing for the plot. For example when he took art classes in Paris he went into great detail describing the classes. He did the same when he was in medical school. Not necessary!!
But, these weaknesses are minor. They didn't bother me or take away from my enjoyment. I am so glad we chose this book which I had to get out of a dusty old shelf. The pages were yellow and smelled musty. I want to reread Cakes and Ale now.
1 comment:
I Love maughm , too. he fell out of favor when i was in college and a sort of snobbery toward him was popular. But I still remember the excitement of opening each new book I found. One I especially remember was a book of his picks for desert island reading. I wish I remembered the title. He introduced me to Arnold Bennett and "The Old Wives tale" which stood the test of time. I loved the way he talked about other writers. You could easily see he loved to read as much as he loved to write and travel.
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