My saga of reading this book finally ended nearly 3 weeks after I began. I loved the book. I think it should straightaway go as one of the best I've read. I am partial to one particular book of Enid Blyton called 'The Enchanted Wood', and one of Wodehouse called 'Money in the Bank' which have remained favorites for years for sheer imagination and charming humour. This book has neither humour nor imagination...its about life. And it certainly beats anything I've read on that subject. Here are the broad phases I went through
1) First 300 pages - heartily cursed Somerset Maugham and every author who had anything positive to say about him. A writer/critic called Cyril Connelly writes on the back cover of the book "Here at last is a great writer". And Gabriel Garcia Marquez chips in saying "One of my favorite authors". Mental notes made that I need to steer clear of C. Connelly and GG Marquez if these are the kinds of authors they like. The first 300 pages meander. 'Gripping' is certainly not a word that would pass your mind when you think of those pages. Only sheer grit can get you past them.
2) Pages 300-400. The character has grown to around age 21. He tries his hand at various alternate careers ranging from art in Paris to chartered accountancy in London to medicine. Finally sticks to medicine. He also falls fatally in love with a woman who was never meant to make a companion. In this section and onwards Maugham is completely in his elements - he decribes the helplessness with which people chase things that just werent meant to be.
3) Pages 400-600: The character (in addition to his other continuing woes) invests unwisely in the stock market and loses all he has. Medical studies flounder and are put on hold and he becomes a shop attendant. He is still hopelessly in love knowing he's not doing himself any good. Its that typical phase where his head tells him pursuit is hopeless and must end in sorrow and yet he pursues because he cant get to listen to the voice of reason. And poverty is examined brutally and searchingly.
4) Pages 600-700: An amazing culmination. The character falls, stumbles, recovers, falls again and through all these pitfalls, LIFE is critically studied. The searching questions of why we live and the purpose behind it all is the central theme. And I think Maugham offers the most plausible answers. For years I loved the statement "The journey is the destination" and this book adds so many dimensions to that statement.
Its monday today and as a rule I post only on weekends or holidays but I think this book merits a break from set pattern. I haven't read a more sensible book. I would very very strongly recommend it to anyone who cares to ask (and those who dont ask too).
P.S. - were the first 300 pages needed? In that painstaking detail? In hindsight, yes. They add so much relevant background to pages 300-700 that you wouldnt appreciate the book otherwise. Like Maugham says, life is all a matter of design. You paint it. You use the colors you choose. The intricacies of the design are yours. And the finished product is yours...no one else cares a damn about it.
1) First 300 pages - heartily cursed Somerset Maugham and every author who had anything positive to say about him. A writer/critic called Cyril Connelly writes on the back cover of the book "Here at last is a great writer". And Gabriel Garcia Marquez chips in saying "One of my favorite authors". Mental notes made that I need to steer clear of C. Connelly and GG Marquez if these are the kinds of authors they like. The first 300 pages meander. 'Gripping' is certainly not a word that would pass your mind when you think of those pages. Only sheer grit can get you past them.
2) Pages 300-400. The character has grown to around age 21. He tries his hand at various alternate careers ranging from art in Paris to chartered accountancy in London to medicine. Finally sticks to medicine. He also falls fatally in love with a woman who was never meant to make a companion. In this section and onwards Maugham is completely in his elements - he decribes the helplessness with which people chase things that just werent meant to be.
3) Pages 400-600: The character (in addition to his other continuing woes) invests unwisely in the stock market and loses all he has. Medical studies flounder and are put on hold and he becomes a shop attendant. He is still hopelessly in love knowing he's not doing himself any good. Its that typical phase where his head tells him pursuit is hopeless and must end in sorrow and yet he pursues because he cant get to listen to the voice of reason. And poverty is examined brutally and searchingly.
4) Pages 600-700: An amazing culmination. The character falls, stumbles, recovers, falls again and through all these pitfalls, LIFE is critically studied. The searching questions of why we live and the purpose behind it all is the central theme. And I think Maugham offers the most plausible answers. For years I loved the statement "The journey is the destination" and this book adds so many dimensions to that statement.
Its monday today and as a rule I post only on weekends or holidays but I think this book merits a break from set pattern. I haven't read a more sensible book. I would very very strongly recommend it to anyone who cares to ask (and those who dont ask too).
P.S. - were the first 300 pages needed? In that painstaking detail? In hindsight, yes. They add so much relevant background to pages 300-700 that you wouldnt appreciate the book otherwise. Like Maugham says, life is all a matter of design. You paint it. You use the colors you choose. The intricacies of the design are yours. And the finished product is yours...no one else cares a damn about it.
10 comments:
i came here to get an update on the book and know if you are still at it :)
not bad at all, kudos to u for keeping up with it even after the first 300 dull pages (300!!)
but hey,thats a great review, and i am going to read it
( and i think i am the only one in this planet who has never read an Enid Blyton)
Wow! I'm glad you liked it. It can be frustrating to invest that kind of time and energy into a book and not like it.
And I loved the closing lines of your post.
And hey what is with posting only on weekends? And not that you are even regular at it!
Scribbler: Me too. Never read Enid Blyton.
Sribble - Yes, like I mentioned in the most, I would very strongly recommend it. Despite the first 300(!!) pages. Don't buy it..I will gift it to you if we meet during your India visit.
I cant believe you missed Enid Blyton...life would seem incomplete without having read her. I read em all...five findouters, famous five, secret seven, Malory Towers, the faraway tree series, Noddy... those are some of the bright spots of childhood. But all is not lost...when you have kids, make sure you read it to them. I could get lyrical about some EB books - notably The Enchanted Wood, The secret island and The adventurous four.
Et vous aussi, Mlle? What a tragedy, not having read Enid Blyton! But you couldn't step into a library of any note without running into her books so I wonder how you both managed it.
On the weekend posting thing...see, Posts take me some time to write up. I know my posts ultimately don't look like they took a lot in terms of effort, but they do take serious time. Another problem is that I'm not likely to do anything terribly exciting on a weekday other than grapple at my job (which is tremendously interesting to me and me alone) so its not worth shouting from rooftops about in a blog.
Fmous Five! Yes, I've read those. After reading your comment I actually looked up my old stack of books to find.. 'Five Goes to Demon's Rock'... Brings back memories of summer vacations during school.
YAY thankyou Aries:) i am adding the book to the list of things to get from delhi then
i might have read a couple of those books you mentioned but don't recall much of it, infact my bright spots of childhood memories have nothing to do with books:D
hey whats the progress on FB? i am still waiting for an invite.. and i promise i am not the stalker kind :)
Hey, I'm sorry. The invite is definitely coming. I kind of ditched facebook and went to Linked In when I found most of college buddies are out there in numbers. Its so absorbing to remember names you've almost forgotten of this senior or that class mate and find them today in Madrid or Sydney. Mumbai seems to be the place where the majority seem to have ended up - and to think I've been to Mumbai so many times in the last one year making a beeline to office and back to the airport.
This is a really good review of the book. I AM trying to get my hands on that book now! :-)
past-comment-leaver.would u be kind enough to give me some details on delhi- going to be there in a week. palette76@gmail
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