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    Of Human Bondage
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    Of Human Bondage
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    Of Human Bondage
    Ebook1,008 pages19 hours

    Of Human Bondage

    By W. Somerset Maugham

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    About this ebook

    Of Human Bondage is W. Somerset Maugham's 1915 masterpiece featuring the young Philip Carey. The work is considered autobiographical, though Maugham claims that most was "pure invention." The novel is set during the end of the 19th century, and Philip, an orphan, has to maneuver a life as a young apprentice in art and medicine. Philip moves on to Paris to live in a commune of sorts with other artists, which is contrasted with squalor of London. Philip becomes entangled in a love affair so viscous and compulsive it threatens to do him in. 


    Of Human Bondage is a long work, but it allows Maugham to build up an incredible array of memorable characters. You won't forget Mildred Rogers, the torrid love interest, though she is shallow and unfaithful. You'll find that their twisted relationship is the almost a character itself, as Maugham demonstrates that love is itself a form of bondage.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSheba Blake Publishing
    Release dateMay 19, 2015
    ISBN9781304400970
    Author

    W. Somerset Maugham

    W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. Born in Paris, he was orphaned as a boy and sent to live with an emotionally distant uncle. He struggled to fit in as a student at The King’s School in Canterbury and demanded his uncle send him to Heidelberg University, where he studied philosophy and literature. In Germany, he had his first affair with an older man and embarked on a career as a professional writer. After completing his degree, Maugham moved to London to begin medical school. There, he published Liza of Lambeth (1897), his debut novel. Emboldened by its popular and critical success, he dropped his pursuit of medicine to devote himself entirely to literature. Over his 65-year career, he experimented in form and genre with such works as Lady Frederick (1907), a play, The Magician (1908), an occult novel, and Of Human Bondage (1915). The latter, an autobiographical novel, earned Maugham a reputation as one of the twentieth century’s leading authors, and continues to be recognized as his masterpiece. Although married to Syrie Wellcome, Maugham considered himself both bisexual and homosexual at different points in his life. During and after the First World War, he worked for the British Secret Intelligence Service as a spy in Switzerland and Russia, writing of his experiences in Ashenden: Or the British Agent (1927), a novel that would inspire Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. At one point the highest-paid author in the world, Maugham led a remarkably eventful life without sacrificing his literary talent.

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    Reviews for Of Human Bondage

    4/5

    1,549 ratings64 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Loved this intimate portrait of the formation of the character of Philip Carey.
    • 4/5
      Although quasi-interminable, I really enjoyed this novel. With a strong tea and lots of time, I was able to dive into Carey's life: his passions, mistakes, character faults and qualities. Maugham warns us that his book is too long and could have been shortened but I rather enjoyed being able to immerse myself into this classic.
    • 3/5
      This book follows the life of Philip Carey as he tries to find his way in life. The take home message seems to be that God doesn't exist and that life has no set purpose so take things as they come and don't worry about it too much; you probably won't be able to change where your natural abilities and impulses push you anyways. I found Philip's behavior infuriating at times partly because of his stupidity and partly because I see some of my own past mistakes in it. The narrative itself is well written and enjoyable. Even at ~800 pages, the flow seems well paced. I agree with another reviewer that I would have gotten more out of the book if I read it at a younger age.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed an excellent audio version of this title. I have to say it was amazing. I loved this book. Maugham addresses the central issue of life - why are we here - and does a magnificent job illustrating his answer through the life of Philip Carey. Just an ordinary man with a physical challenge, Philip encounters the good and bad in life and reckons with it. The end is uplifting. I particularly enjoyed the sections with Philip in art school and the many scenes during the time of his uncle's death. Maugham has a gift in making Philip so perfectly human in his desires and dreams. A wonderful book!!
    • 3/5
      I have to give fair warning - this story is incredibly sad and slow. It is the story of club-footed orphan Philip Carey (whom you won't like very much) from the time of his birth until he becomes a married man. All of his life he he has been hindered by his deformity and maybe this is what makes him so nasty. You pity him at first and as a result probably one of the saddest scenes in the entire book is before Philip turns sour, when he is just a teenager. Philip is praying to God for a normal foot. He wants to run and play like all the other boys in preparatory school. He just wants to be normal. At school he had read passage in the Bible that led him to believe that if he just prayed long enough and honestly believed in God's work he would be healed of his deformity. Of course that doesn't come to fruition and he is bitterly devastated. Things turn from bad to worse when a so-called friend seeks the company of other boys. Philip's plight (like the plot) plods along painfully. Philip eventually leaves school to live in Germany for a time. He then goes to Paris to study art. By this time we are used to his callous ways. I personally started to tire of his selfishness and indifference to the people around him. I ended up not caring what happened to him.
    • 3/5
      But for the unnecessary length, I would have given this work 4 stars. The book is replete with interesting characters and experiences encountered by Philip, the protagonist, throughout his youth and early adulthood. It is a wonderful insight into the human condition, and particularly the perspective of the poor. Nonetheless, Maugham often digresses into amounts of detail that unfortunately lessen the impact of his work.
    • 4/5
      I reread this book recently and still found it a good book. One of the messages of the book is that you cannot know what poverty does with people until you have experienced it yourself. And you enjoy life so much more after that. I hope that I can enjoy life even more after rereading this book.
    • 4/5
      An excellent steady revelation of the human condition through the life of one, unextraordinary, young man. The pace is somewhat slow, but weaves a thorough picture that draws you in.
    • 4/5
      Very well written, very interesting subject (the struggle of the artistic protagonist against all sorts of harshness - not least, poverty) and very human.
    • 5/5
      An engrossing bildungsroman that I found hard to put down. I didn't think I'd enjoy a Somerset Maugham novel, so I was surprised by how good it was.It follows the life of Philip Carey from birth until he's around thirty. It's a long and sprawling story, which follows Philip through many careers and relationships.Apart from Philip's journey through life, there are a couple of deeper points: firstly that love can be something that keeps people in bondage, and secondly the big "what's the meaning of life". While I don't totally agree with Maugham's answers, these are interesting observations.
    • 5/5
      Far be it for me to expound on the great literature of these seven hundred sixty pages.
    • 4/5
      I'm not sure I agree with it being the greatest novel of our time, but it WAS very good. Phillip is a boy who grows into a young man who seems to be spoiled & easily bored, & can't stick to one thing. Everything he does try, he fails at. Along the way, he has 2 very unhappy relationships, one with Norah, who loves him, but he doesn't love in return, & one with Mildred, who he loves, like a disease of the blood he can't shake, but who detests him but finds herself needing him. Along the way, he finally turns his hand to the long years of a doctor's training, but who has to quit in the middle of it for 2 years & take a job in a shop in order to keep himself together until his uncle, the Vicar, passes away & leaves him enough to go back & take up in his training where he left off. His friendship over the years with a character named Athelny & his family provides Phillip with the stability he needs in the worst part of his life. The ending was predictable, but still very sweet.Altogether, a very good read
    • 5/5
      This is a real thinking person's book. The journey of self discovery, questioning ideologies, the influence of others in our lives and the lessons learned from mistakes are all explored beautifully in this book. I would love to go "hopping".
    • 5/5
      A good, solid book. Phillip is a very genuine character who lives and loves, exults and suffers, learns and grows. He has talents and faults and his life is nothing extraordinary, except that he is so compelling to read about.
    • 5/5
      I'm usually pretty stingy about giving 5-star ratings, but I just really enjoyed this book. The end wasn't quite as excellent as I wanted it to be, but it's hard to complain. After reading this, I want to read more of Maugham's work. His style appeals to me.
    • 4/5
      A brutal story softened not by some sense of mercy, but by the author's clever lines.
    • 4/5
      Like life at its best, this book is long and sprawling, combining themes that inspired in me delight, curiosity, insight, frustration, melancholy, and revelation.Philip's tale, which mirrors Maugham's own life, is a journey I feel privileged to have shared. This is a long book and so something of an undertaking however I felt joy and satisfaction having just completed this book. There were parts of the book that I was bored and frustrated by however I am very pleased I stuck with it. This is the third book I have read by W Somerset Maugham, and follows Ashenden and Christmas Holiday which were both excellent. I am now intent on reading all his works. Unlike many of his contemporaries he wrote in a simple and accessible style, eschewing Modernist experimentation, and his books are all the better for it. I would not recommend this as a starting point for someone new to Maugham, however I now fully appreciate why many describe it as his masterpiece as it's touching, profound, and beautiful.
    • 5/5
      Of human bondage touched my heart more than it tickled my brain. It is so marvellously written that I can see it as a movie in my mind.

      Philip's aunt made a permanent impression on me because her portrayal was real when she didn't know what to do with Philip or how to love him.

      I especially remember Philip roaming in Paris with lawson and others where I can see the colour and smell of Paris.

      I felt pity for Mildred because she could not help being indifferent to Philip just like he could not help loving her. Both Mildred and Philip got my sympathy because both were helpless due to their own limitations. Also, there was no deception in both of them. In the end both of them learned lessons of life.

      I liked Philip because he was he. Being loved by children is the symbol of one's openness. Philip was certainly loved by Athenly's children. He was not pretentious. He was not a weakling. He was ambitious and had the guts to follow what he thought although he was an orphan and poor and deformed. There was no one to guide him yet he made his own path and at last reached a stable position, probably wiser than his friends.

      Of human bondage is not a story of an orphan seeking freedom. It is a story of an orphan trying to find what is right for him by himself and finally succeeding in it. He started with his imaginations of freedom and all but when tackled with reality he was bruised. But he recovered through his intellect and judgement and at last he was good in every sense of the word.
    • 4/5
      Having seen both movie versions, I was surprised by the fact that almost a third of the novel involves Philip's childhood and young adulthood. In some aspects, I liked this part best especially the parts in Europe. Having the details of his background made his actions after he starts medical school more understandable and being raised by in a vicarage by his aunt and uncle explains the amount of religious musings. Personally I could have done without those religious musings but I suspect that having a major character who decides that he doesn't believe in God was still shocking in 1915.

    • 5/5
      A must read book, should be mandatory in school(well, being a Maugham lover, I am a little biased...)
    • 5/5
      Have I mentioned how much I love Somerset Maugham? Yeah, I thought so. Regardless, this book went above and beyond what I expected. Maugham never disappoints. I railed against the main character every time he went back to the terrible Mildred and I rejoiced when I felt he was making the right decisions. A glorious novel that feels much shorter than its 600 pages.
    • 4/5
      Sometimes tedious, usually fascinating. I don't think I'll ever reread it, but I'm glad I read it the first time—Philip Carey is one of the more memorable characters in English literature.
    • 4/5
      It took me a longer time to read this book than usual because there wasn't as much dialog as there was a lot of descriptive introspection.Philip Carey is a club-footed orphan who is sent to live with his cold uncle. He grows up under his uncle's control but dreams of the day he is free. Like a lot of people, he doesn't know what he wants to do with his life and he goes from accountant, to art student, to medical student, to salesman and back to medical student and eventually to doctor. His career changes takes him from Germany to Paris and back and forth to London. In London he meets Mildred. A trashy waitress with whom he becomes obsessed. She treats him horribly, uses him, then runs off to marry someone else. Later, she comes back abandoned and pregnant and Philip is quick to support her and take care of the baby, using money he really doesn't have.She eventually takes up with Philip's friend and he tries to forget about Mildred and go on with his life.One day he finds Mildred selling herself on the street, looking ill and malnourished. He takes her and her baby in and offers them a place to live in exchange for Mildred keeping his house and cooking his meals.Philip is no longer in love with her but feels protective of her. When Mildred realizes she doesn't have that hold over him anymore and he doesn't beg for her attentions anymore, she becomes enraged and destroys all of his belongings and disappears.He is forced to move and eventually loses all his money in the stock market crash and becomes homeless.This is when he quits medical school and gets a job in a shop.After his uncle dies and leaves him an inheritance, he returns to medical school and things begin to look up.I was frustrated with the character of Philip for being such an idiot. How could he allow this woman to treat him in such a way? It was like he had no pride.Philip felt like he had no control over himself. He said that "life lived itself" and humans were just puppets in the universe being pulled this way and that.He felt like a slave to his passions. I found him to be ridiculous but at the end, I realized that we all go through those things. We trust the wrong people, we think we want one thing out of life but realize it is something else all together we want. Our ideas and dreams change as we get older and learn more about the world and the people in it. Of Human Bondage was supposed to be about Philip Carey being bound to his physical passions but it seems to me that it was more about different types of bondage; bonds to religion and faith, to class and money, to responsibilities and ones own insecurities and limitations.
    • 4/5
      What Maugham does in this book is something every author who has ever lived has striven to do. He has created a character in Philip Carey that is so vivid a reader cannot help but become attached to his every move. There was not a page (out of all 700 and some) where I did not care about Philip, or became bored with his life. As he tries to find his place in life, traveling around Europe in a variety of occupations and stations of life, all one can do is root him on, and hope for the best. The story is nearly flawless. Some of the secondary characters can become a bit trying on one's patience, but the vivacity of the story itself makes up for any shortcoming. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to lose them self in Edwardian England. You're in for a wonderful time!
    • 5/5
      A beautifully paced, magnificently written, and deeply nuanced story of Philip Carey's transition from selfish boyhood to the acceptance the mundane beauty of being a adult. Of Human Bondage is full of moments of self realization that create one of those rare books in which you learn about yourself through the character. Although the title itself refers to the inexplicable infactuation that serves as the centre of the story (and frankly I found distracting...), the joys of the book are found in his moments of transition - from his realization of the meaning of his aunt's love, through his youthful discovery of the magic of art and literature, to the embrace of his father's career and a simple life. One of the few books I feel compelled to read again.
    • 3/5
      Philip Carey is an orphan, reared by his aunt and uncle, handicapped by his club foot. When he reaches the age of eighteen, he sets out in the world--first to study at Heidelberg, then to try an accounting job, then trying to launch an artistic career. Finally he returns to London to train as a doctor, and meets Mildred, a young woman with whom he becomes obsessed. He finally gets his M.D. degree and considers traveling the world as a ship's doctor, but falls in love with Sally Athelney and settles down happily to practice medicine in a small fishing village. Maugham said of this highly autobiographical novel, "Turning my wishes into fiction, I drew a picture of the marriage I should like to make." "Of Human Bondage" is considered his masterpiece.
    • 5/5
      This is one of my top five favorite books. I can’t really tell you why—I didn’t read it in an English class, so I’ve not analyzed any symbolism or anything like that, and it’s not exactly a mesmerizing page-turner either. The story and the protagonist just really resonated with me. The story starts in London in the early 20th century when Philip Carey, the main character, is a young, club-footed boy and his mother is about to die. It follows him throughout his life as he becomes a man and faces the challenges of daily life. It is a classic, and widely considered to be Maugham’s masterpiece.
    • 4/5
      Ok, you have to really, really like slow-paced novels which give far too much detail.
    • 5/5
      This is an excellent novel. Maugham not only understood the conflicts that men encounter as they age, but possessed the ability to express these trials beautifully.We meet Philip Carey as a young orphan and follow him from his schooling through his attempts to find a woman and a profession. Central to the novel is Philip's reluctance to choose the set path (in which a man marries, works, has children, and dies), and his yearning for new experiences.Aside from the plot being interesting, Maugham is an exceptional writer. His abilities to put human thought patterns into words is wonderful. For example, I loved the passages where Philip first questions his belief in God. You can feel the gears turning in Philip's head--I almost felt like I was reliving internal conversations I'd had years ago.Many times I had to put the book down for a moment to reflect, and sometimes even to laugh, feeling giddy at the beauty of his words.
    • 5/5
      A magnificent tale of love, life, sexual frustration, and a search for a sense of identity. Maugham's turn of the century London comes to life in a brilliantly told novel. I had no idea what to expect having not read Maugham before, but this is instantly one of my favorite books.