Of Human Bondage, Vol. 2

by W. Somerset Maugham

The first and most autobiographical of Maugham's masterpieces. It is the story of Philip Carey, an orphan eager for life, love and adventure. After a few months studying in Heidelberg, and a brief spell in Paris as a would-be artist, he settles in London to train as a doctor where he meets Mildred, the loud but irresistible waitress with whom he plunges into a tortured and masochistic affair

Genres: Classics, Literature

478 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1915

About the author

William Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874. He spoke French even before he spoke a word of English, a fact to which some critics attribute the purity of his style.

His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in Of Human Bondage, Maugham became a qualified physician. But writing was his true vocation. For ten years before his first success, he almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays.

Maugham wrote at a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as 'such a tissue of clichés' that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way.

During World War I, Maugham worked for the British Secret Service . He travelled all over the world, and made many visits to America. After World War II, Maugham made his home in south of France and continued to move between England and Nice till his death in 1965.

At the time of Maugham's birth, French law was such that all foreign boys born in France became liable for conscription. Thus, Maugham was born within the Embassy, legally recognized as UK territory.

Reviews

[Colleen Mavrocoleas]

Enjoyed Maugham's incisive writing and understanding of the human condition.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It isn't necessarily exciting, but it has its own sense of adventure. The realism of the character is remarkable, and had my emotions running the gamut from disturbed to despondent to hopeful. The main character has you hating him, and then rooting for him, thinking he got what he deserved, and then wondering at his bad luck. He is unapologetic, and both oblivious and introspective. He's human, and in the end, you cannot begrudge him that.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't remember the story because I read it so long ago but I remember loving the writing.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those books never forgotten. See lots of Philips and Mildreds in life. Helps answer what's important in life for yourself.