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Dewey Decimal. 813.54. The Razor's Edge is a 1944 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It tells the story of Larry Darrell, an American pilot traumatized by his experiences in World War I, who sets off in search of some transcendent meaning in his life. Maugham is the narrator whose narration takes the form of relating his conversations and reactions ...
- W. Somerset Maugham
- 1944
The Razor’s Edge, philosophical novel by W. Somerset Maugham, published in 1944. The novel is concerned in large part with the search for the meaning of life and with the dichotomy between materialism and spirituality. Set in Chicago, Paris, and India in the 1920s and ’30s, it involves characters.
(Book 570 From 1001 Books) - The Razor’s Edge – William Somerset Maugham The Razor's Edge is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. The book was first published in 1944. It tells the story of Larry Darrell, an American pilot traumatized by his experiences in World War I, who sets off in search of some transcendent meaning in his life.
- (50K)
- Paperback
- Introduction
- Author Biography
- Plot Summary
- Media Adaptations
- Characters
- Themes
- Topics For Further Study
- Style
- Compare & Contrast
- Historical Context
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 Edgewas an immediate success on both sides of the Atlantic. More than on...
Playwright, short story writer, and novelist William Somerset Maughamwas 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 Maug...
Chapter 1
The Razor's Edgebegins in 1919. The narrator, Somerset Maugham, is invited to a lunch in Chicago given by his friend Elliot Templeton. He meets Mrs. Louisa Bradley, her daughter Isabel and Isabel's fiancé Larry. The next day at a dinner party Maugham meets a friend of Larry's, Gray Maturin, who is also in love with Isabel. Gray's rich father has offered Larry, who does not have a job, a promising position in his company. But Larry is still suffering from the shock of seeing his best friend ki...
Chapter 2
In the fall of the following year, Maugham meets Larry in Paris, and Elliot, Mrs. Bradley and Isabel meet him in the spring. Larry shows no interest in returning to Chicago. He tells Isabel he spends his days reading. He reads French and Latin literature, and is teaching himself Greek. He loves acquiring knowledge. He asks Isabel to marry him straightaway, but she refuses because he does not have enough money. They break off the engagement but remain friends, and Isabel remains in love with h...
Chapter 3
Larry goes to work in a coal mine near Lens, in northern France, where he gets to know his coworker, a Pole named Kosti. Kosti is an uncouth man, but he is educated and knows a lot about mystical religion, and this arouses Larry's interest. In the spring, Kosti and Larry leave the mine and wander across Belgium and into Germany, where they find work on a farm. They stay there through the summer, but Larry decides to leaves after Becker's daughter-in-law Ellie, whom he does not even like, craw...
The Razor's Edgewas made into a movie by Twentieth Century Fox in 1946, directed by Edmund Goulding, with Tyrone Power playing Larry.Another film version of The Razor's Edgewas made by Columbia/Tristar Studios in 1984, with Bill Murray as Larry.Paul Barton
Paul Barton is a young American whom Elliot Templeton helped make his way in the world. But when Barton became successful he snubbed Elliot, and Elliot hates him for it.
Becker
Becker is the German farmer who offers Larry and Kosti employment.
Ellie Becker
Ellie Becker is the daughter-in-law of Becker. She is a widow; her husband was killed during World War I. She initiates a bizarre nighttime sexual encounter with Larry, in which Larry thinks she is Frau Becker.
Materialism versus Spirituality
The main character, Larry, is an embodiment of the spiritual approach to life as it is found in the Hindu religion. He is contrasted with the characters who embody American materialism. From the beginning, Larry is more interested in pursuing intellectual and spiritual knowledge for its own sake than in becoming part of the great American industrial money making machine. He turns down a job with Henry Maturin's company, choosing instead to go to Paris, where he spends most of his time reading...
The Problem of Evil
In chapter 6, when Maugham reports his conversation with Larry in a Parisian café, Larry tells him that it was the question of why evil exits in the world that propelled him on his long spiritual quest. This was after he had experienced the carnage of World War I, in which his friend had been killed saving Larry's life. Larry's Polish friend Kosti believes that "evil is as direct a manifestation of the divine as good," an idea that horrifies Larry. The Christian explanation he receives from t...
Larry Darrell is changed by his experiences during World War I. Today, psychological trauma caused by war is called post-traumatic stress disorder. Research the history of this term. What are the c...When Larry stays for several months at a monastery, what does he find unsatisfactory about Christianity, and why does he eventually prefer Vedanta?What role does Suzanne Rouvier play in the novel? Is she an essential character, or would the novel be just as effective without her? How does she compare with Isabel and Sophie?Write a short storyin which the central character is changed by some important, possibly traumatic, event. How does the incident change the way the character sees the world, or make him think deepl...Structure and Narrative Technique
The structure of the novel is quite complex. It covers a period of twenty-four years, from 1919 to 1943, and is set in a number of different locations, mainly Chicago, Paris and the French Riviera, but with some action set in Alsace and Toulon, France; London, England; Seville, Spain; India, and Germany. The thread that holds the structure together is the meetings that Maugham the narrator has with the characters over the years, in which they tell him their stories. This means that the action...
1919: In the aftermath of World War I, the Treaty of Versailles is signed. Austria and Hungary are separated; Yugoslavia is created out of Serbia and neighboring states; Poland and Czechoslovakia b...1919: The United States, which suffered less economically than the major European powers during World War I, is poised for a period of huge economic expansion, known as the Roaring Twenties. 1944:...1919: India is ruled by Britain but there is restlessness in the country and a desire for independence. Britain promises full self-government in stages. 1944: World War II stalls the negotiations f...Stock Market Crash of 1929
In the 1920s, America was increasingly prosperous. Spurred by the massive growth in the automobile industry, the Gross National Product in creased by 59 percent. Personal income rose by an average of 38 percent. Consumer goods such as washing machines, refrigerators and radios became commonplace. The rapid development of industrialization and technology, and the rise in wages, made many people (like Henry and Gray Maturin in the novel) believe there was no limit to the production of wealth, a...
The path is difficult to cross like the sharpened edge of the razor." The story has been adapted for film twice, once in 1946 starring Tyrone Power and again in 1984 with Bill Murray. When World War I air corps pilot Larry Darrell returns home at the end of the war, he finds himself tormented with questions: why evil exists, whether God is good, and the purpose of life.
Introduction. In "The Razor's Edge," author W. Somerset Maugham takes readers on a captivating journey through the lives of a group of characters as they search for meaning and purpose in the aftermath of World War I. Published in 1944, the novel explores themes of self-discovery, spirituality, and the pursuit of happiness in the face of societal expectations.
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The Razor's Edge was adapted into a film by Twentieth Century Fox in 1946. Directed by Edmund Goulding, the movie starred Tyrone Power as Larry. In 1984, Columbia/Tristar Studios produced another ...
