airheadgallery's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
I will say as much as I liked Maugham’s writing style and flow, I am glad I will never have a chance to meet him. I can only imagine his scalding review of my appearance and behaviour.
I really enjoyed the discussion of the US, France, and England throughout this book. Of course more heavily on Americans and American work ethic and attitudes.
Elliot, despite his snobbery, I did enjoy. Maugham, while cruel at times, did a very good job painting a picture of Elliot and his tastes and mannerisms in relation to what was going on in the world around him. His clinging to the past as he grows old and the trend cycle inevitably moves forward without him. The bitter competition of being in the “in-group.” He also serves as a contrast to Larry (or vice versa really).
Isabel was possibly the character I had a lot of hope for character development wise. With every inch the story moved forward the more hope I had that she would become a better person and subsequently I was let down each time. I also absolutely hated the long descriptions of how “shapely” her legs were or just other weird, annoying comments about her appearance.
Larry is for sure an interesting character that you can sort of admire with his openness, go-with-the-flow attitude, and his eagerness to learn. It inspires me to read more, especially with all the references to religious hindu texts and, while unrelated to the book, Oppenheimer coming out this month (July 2023) with his infamous quote of the Bhagavad Gita.*
Spoiler
*I mean this is a way that I want to become more well-readBack to the Larry and Elliot contrast thing, it was very interesting the way they end off. Elliot dies with the people around him rejecting him with seemingly only his family and Maugham there to support him. Maugham makes the decision to lie to the man on his deathbed so he wouldn’t have to die in shame for that after all the work he’s put in to stay relevant, was in vain. Larry on the other hand, decides to forgo his fortune and spend his life doing manual labour. He is always coming and going out of people’s lives with more eagerness to help the receive anything in return other than enlightenment. Their spiritual journeys are also interesting in the way that Elliot devoted himself to the church while Larry decided to look to other religions for enlightenment. One thing I do respect Maugham for mentioning Larry’s privilege to do this sort of exploration. “Well, it’s your own money. You’re free, white, and twenty-one.”
Larry is a rich kid who could fall back on money if he so willed it. As Maugham describes “You see, you’ve always had it and I haven’t. It’s given me what I value almost more than anything else in life—independence.”
Of course, Maugham isn’t a stranger to orientalism. He wrote about his travels in southeast asia in The Gentleman and in the Parlour. The Painted Veil on China. There are countless articles on how his “apolitical” travel books still reinforce colonialism. While this book is about Larry, it does lean into these sort of attitudes.
I have so much more to say about this book. I am, however, tired because this is a long review for StoryGraph and I’ve put more thought in this than I was planning to.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Racial slurs
murakamimami's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Racial slurs
enoemo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Misogyny, Infidelity, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexism, Racism, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, and Classism
chloekwiecien's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Minor: Racial slurs and Sexism
katecuthbert's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Racial slurs and Sexism
kejan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The writing does have tones of sexism, racism and anti-semitism that are sometimes difficult to ignore even when considering the time this book was written in. That is also the reason I deducted a point from my score.
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Antisemitism
Minor: Addiction
lapetiteprincesse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
didn't care about any of the characters at all
Graphic: Racial slurs
maevebeck's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Murder, Addiction, Chronic illness, and Racial slurs
wordsaremything's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
When the book starts, one might think that the main character is Elliott, but you'd be mistaken. You might think it's Isabel, but still you'd be mistaken. Maugham himself is not the main character, though he the narrator. Though the story would be bereft without each of them — I found myself amused with Elliott's comment of "Burn it" when asked what to do with a portrait of Louisa, and laughing out loud when Isabel would have a tantrum, in one instance throwing bread at Maugham — the main character, and by Maugham's own admittance, the reason the book was written, is Larry.
Curiously enough, we really only see Larry on his own. The other characters we learn about through their conversations with Maugham, but Larry is a man of soliloquy, a sleeper character, if you will. That Maugham suggests one could skip the chapter of Larry's adventures is curious, and strikes me as faked humility.
Even now, if someone were to ask me what this book was about, I'm not sure what I would answer. Maybe "A story from the early 1900s about a few vapid characters from Chicago, cavorting about in Europe." I don't know if I would say it's fiction or nonfiction, though it feels like fiction. I wish I could read Larry's book — though Maugham has hidden his character so thoroughly that I am sure he is a nobody today.
For men and women are not only themselves; they are also the region in which they were born, the city apartment or the farm in which they learnt to talk, the games they played as children, the old wives' tales they overheard, the food they ate, the schools they attended, the sports they followed, the poets they read, and the zGod they believed in.
"Isn't all that awfully morbid? One has to take the world as it comes. If we're here, it's surely to make the most of life."
"If the rose at noon has lost the beauty it had at dawn, the beauty it had then was real. Nothing in the world is permanent, and we're foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we're still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it."
Minor: Sexism, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs
This was written in the 40s about the 10s/20s. It's a little sexist and racist, because everyone was a little sexist and racist back then. It is not overt and not the main point of the book.laurenw's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Death of parent, Death, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, Child death, Infidelity, War, and Murder
Minor: Antisemitism