Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Study Guide for W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge"
    A Study Guide for W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge"
    A Study Guide for W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge"
    Ebook35 pages36 minutes

    A Study Guide for W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge"

    By Gale and Cengage

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJun 14, 2016
    ISBN9781535839174
    A Study Guide for W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge"

    Read more from Gale

    Related to A Study Guide for W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge"

    Related ebooks

    Literary Criticism For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Quiet on the Set: William Boyd on His Latest Novel

      Nov 18, 2020

      I think of a novelist as a magpie rather than a scholar. Anything bright that catches your eye can be brought into the work. The post Quiet on the Set: William Boyd on His Latest Novel appeared first on The Millions.

      4 min read

    • Article

      In Summary

      Jul 1, 2021

      There’s some good writing here. This short extract has covered a lot of ground and established that Edwina is a recently widowed woman thanks to the sinking of the Titanic. Her interior voice is skilfully rendered and there are some subtle touches su

      1 min read

    • Article

      FROM THE WD EDITORS: Our favourite Beginnings and Endings

      Jul 31, 2019

      The best beginnings toss readers into the whirlwind that is going to be your story right as the action begins, giving them no choice but to read further. The best endings stick with readers for years after they’ve closed the book. WD editors got toge

      1 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Kevin Barry

      Dec 21, 2017

      The book I’ve read the most this year is Antwerp by Roberto Bolaño. I read a few pages from it every morning before I crawl across the floor to my desk. It’s Bolaño distilled. It’s a crime story, a death story, a sex story, a love story, but always i

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Memory Police

      Aug 14, 2019

      The Memory Police
      1 min read

    • Article

      10 Literary Diss Tracks

      Apr 9, 2018

      10 Literary Diss Tracks
      11 min read

    • Article

      'Beneath A Ruthless Sun' Is A Wrenching Story Of Bigotry – And An Inspiring Tale Of Heroes

      Apr 26, 2018

      This kind of narrative is familiar territory for Gilbert King, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his remarkable 2012 bestseller "Devil in the Grove," another look at violence, injustice, and heroic opposition.

      3 min read

    • Article

      'I Have A Lot Of Time': Oakland Poet-novelist Phenom Leila Mottley, 19, Has Just Begun

      Jun 8, 2022

      Some people are shocked when they learn that Leila Mottley is still a teenager. Their shock comes as no surprise to her: "I expect it at this point." Mottley was 16 when she served as Oakland's youth poet laureate and wrote the first chapter of her d

      5 min read

    • Article

      Iris Murdoch’s Gayest Novel

      Jul 3, 2019

      Iris Murdoch’s Gayest Novel
      10 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Thorpe, Gaige, Sligar, and More

      Apr 28, 2020

      Our own Thomas Beckwith previews new titles from the likes of Rufi Thorpe, Amity Gaige, Sarah Sligar, Ishmael Beah, and Julio Cortázar—that are publishing this week. The post Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Thorpe, Gaige, Sligar, and More appeared

      6 min read

    • Article

      Wilbur Smith obituary

      Nov 14, 2021

      At the age of eight, Wilbur Smith was given his grandfather’s Remington rifle, which had 122 notches on the butt. He shot his first lion when he was 14. Such a boy seemed destined to become a hunter, but it was on paper that Smith realised his dreams

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Man That Time Forgot

      Apr 8, 2023

      1880s portrait, fromIn 1926, the poet Hugh MacDiarmid described Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham (1852-1936) as ‘potentially the greatest Scotsman of his generation’, and a year later, the Sunday Post commented: ‘There are few men nowadays so well k

      13 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Study Guide for W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge"

    5/5

    2 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Study Guide for W. Somerset Maugham's "The Razor's Edge" - Gale

      1

      The Razor's Edge

      W. Somerset Maugham

      1944

      Introduction

      The Razor's Edge, by British novelist W. Somerset Maugham, was published in London and New York in 1944. Maugham was seventy years old when the book was published, and it was to be the last of his major novels. He was one of the most popular writers of the day, and The Razor's Edge was an immediate success on both sides of the Atlantic. More than one million copies were sold within a few years.

      The novel spans a period of twenty-four years, from 1919 to 1943, and takes place in many different locations, including Chicago, Paris, London and India. It is a novel of ideas and of character. The main characters are upper-middle-class Americans, although Maugham, in his own person as the writer Somerset Maugham, is the narrator. The principal character is Larry Darrell, a former World War I aviator who is haunted by the fact that his friend was killed in the war saving Larry's life. Seeking an answer to the question of why evil exists in the world, Larry sets out on a quest that takes him to India, where he studies with a guru and gains mystical illumination. Larry's spiritual approach to life is contrasted with the materialism of the other characters, such as Gray Maturin, who becomes a wealthy stockbroker, and Elliot Templeton, a worldly, superficial man who spends most of his time socializing at upper-class parties.

      In his depiction of a young man who rejects the dominant values of American culture and looks to the East for spiritual inspiration, Maugham anticipated the work of the Beat writers of the 1950s and the values of the counterculture of the 1960s.

      Author Biography

      Playwright, short story writer, and novelist William Somerset Maugham was one of Britain's finest twentieth-century writers. He was born in the British Embassy in Paris on January 25, 1874. His father, a lawyer who was serving in the British Embassy, died when Maugham was ten; his mother, who had a keen interest in art and literature, died when Maugham was eight. After his father's death, Maugham was sent

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1