dearbhlanoonan's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- 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? It's complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Classism, and Sexual content
enoemo's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
Honestly, this was such a fun classic read. It took me a couple pages to fully get into it, but the author did a great job at introducing the characters and reminding the reader of them if they didn't appear for a while - essential for me as someone who tends to forget side characters easily if they're not always in the picture, especially in a book that spans multiple years like this one. This was entertaining, the characters were well developed and I felt for each one of them in a strange way. I also like how the content foreshadows some of the fascinations that were then again picked up by the beat generation. Beware though, as a lot of books from this era, you will find some -isms here and there.
Content Warnings
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
Content Warnings
Minor: Racial slurs and Sexism
katecuthbert's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs and Sexism
kejan's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- 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 book overall is quite challenging to read but allows the reader to be introspective. The characters are significant to the time period and very realistic with both flaws and redeeming features. There are slow parts to the book that sometimes discourage the read, but the final chapter is in a surprising way worth the entire read.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Antisemitism
Minor: Addiction
wordsaremything's review against another edition
medium-paced
- 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
My grandfather, born in 1930, has said to me that Maugham is his favorite author. I had never even heard of him, but one day while out at lunch, I noticed a girl reading this. intrigued by the cover and the title, I looked it up on goodreads. What do you know -- it's Maugham. Kismet. It is such that I began reading this book without the faintest notion of what it was about. I would say that I enjoyed it even more because of it.
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."
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."
Content Warnings
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.
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