Title: The Razor's Edge
Author: W. Somerset Maugham
Series: ---
Genre: Classics
Publication & Year: Vintage Books • 2003
Page Number: 314 (Paperback)
Synopsis From Goodreads:
"Intimate acquaintances but less than friends, they meet and part in postwar London and Paris: Elliot, the arch-snob but also the kindest of men; Isabel, considered to be entertaining, gracious, and tactful; Gray, the quintessence of the Regular Guy; Suzanne, shrewd, roving, and friendly; Sophie, lost, wanton, with a vicious attractiveness about her; and finally Larry, so hard and so trustful, lost in the world's confusion. Their story, one of Somerset Maugham's best, encompasses the pain, passion, and poignancy of life itself."
My Rating: ★★. 5
Quotes I Like
"Death ends all things and so is the comprehensive conclusion of a story, but marriage finishes it very properly too and the sophisticated are ill-advised to sneer at what is by convention termed a happy ending." - W. Somerset Maugham
"Unfortunately sometimes one can't do what one thinks is right without making someone else unhappy." - Larry
My Thoughts
I honestly did not like this book at all! I had to force myself to read through and finish this novel without giving up. This book did have its high points, like the quotes mentioned above, but overall this was a slow paced read and really dragged out for me. I love the way the W. Somerset Maugham wrote the novel from his point of view and included himself as a character. Definitely was a different style for me to read, but the slow pace and time gaps in this novel did not really grasp my attention. I would not recommend this book to anyone that is used to a fast paced novel or someone not into classics (as I'm not).
Have you read this novel? What are your thoughts?