The Razor's Edge
58. W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor's Edge
Maugham turns himself into a character and narrates this novel set in the 1920s and ‘30s. Maugham-as-character introduces the reader to various people he’s known throughout his travels in America and Europe: young idealist Larry Darrell, his fun-loving fiancée Isabel, and Elliott Templeton, a consummate snob and socialite. As these characters move into and out of Maugham’s life, he observes how their relationships change and how their different worldviews affect their lives.
This novel is quite light on plot, but something about Maugham’s writing style grabs you and doesn’t let go. Or at least it grabbed me. :) I enjoyed reading the conversations between Larry and Maugham-as-character, which covered (among other things) philosophy, religion, and literature. One interesting aspect of the novel’s structure is that Maugham is both author and narrator; I was immediately curious about why, and I couldn’t help being a bit skeptical of everything that came later. Which of course only makes the novel more interesting. Although I didn’t have the strong emotional reaction that I had to The Painted Veil, I definitely found this to be a thought-provoking read.