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人性枷鎖 下
他還不知道，一個旅人在跨入現實的國度之前，要越過多大一片乾旱險惡的荒原。
說年輕就是幸福，這是一種幻想，一種不再年輕的人才有的幻想。
只有年輕人知道自己有多悲慘，因為他們腦子裡被灌滿了不切實際的理想，每次接觸現實，總要撞得頭破血流。
他們看起來就像一場陰謀下的犧牲品，他們讀的書和長輩的談話，
都為他們備好了一個不真實的生活。
他們必須自己發現，所有讀過的書與所有的教誨，都是謊言、謊言、謊言；
而每一次發現，都是在那具已經釘在生活十字架上的身軀再釘進一根釘子。
說年輕就是幸福，這是一種幻想，一種不再年輕的人才有的幻想。
只有年輕人知道自己有多悲慘，因為他們腦子裡被灌滿了不切實際的理想，每次接觸現實，總要撞得頭破血流。
他們看起來就像一場陰謀下的犧牲品，他們讀的書和長輩的談話，
都為他們備好了一個不真實的生活。
他們必須自己發現，所有讀過的書與所有的教誨，都是謊言、謊言、謊言；
而每一次發現，都是在那具已經釘在生活十字架上的身軀再釘進一根釘子。
- GenresClassicsLiterature
392 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1915
About the author
W. Somerset Maugham
1,820 books6,219 followersWilliam 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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January 8, 2021Enjoyed Maugham's incisive writing and understanding of the human condition.
February 28, 2009
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.
November 11, 2008
Don't remember the story because I read it so long ago but I remember loving the writing.
January 18, 2013
One of those books never forgotten. See lots of Philips and Mildreds in life. Helps answer what's important in life for yourself.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews