The Razor's Edge - Somerset Maugham

Reading The Razor’s Edge was an unparalleled experience.

It’s amazing how insightful and intelligent his writing is. There’s an underlying layer of deep clarity which seemed to so naturally have so many answers. I was almost envious at the ease with which he seemed to be able to see right into people; understand them, understand what makes different kind of people tick..... what works for each and what doesn't,....and then, seek out what he connects with, support what he likes even if he cannot connect with it, and stay away from what he doesn't connect with. 

It’s a story of a mans’ search for meaning, the protagonist,  who refuses to fall in line with what is expected of him, his courage to give up all things that matter to people, his journey and search, and how he ultimately reaches India, finds a guru...and then has an experience of awakening on a mountain ....on his birthday ( apparently Ramana Maharishi who Maughum himself spent a good deal of time with) .

While the underlying theme is the search for meaning, it's set in aristocratic Paris and England of the early 1900s  through the first and second world wars. It gives you an insight into the lives and times of the British Aristocracy as also the economic crash of America in the twenties.....it's all about money and status and society and image.  An unusual backdrop, but it so well brings out the contrasts of what gives meaning to different lives.

Maugham himself says of his book:

"The man I am writing about is not famous. It may be that he never will be. It may be that when his life at last comes to an end he will leave no more trace of his sojourn on earth than a stone thrown into a river leaves on the surface of the water. But it may be that the way of life that he has chosen for himself and the peculiar strength and sweetness of his character may have an ever-growing influence over his fellow men so that, long after his death perhaps, it may be realized that there lived in this age a very remarkable creature."

While being insightful and honest to an extreme, his writing is far from simple...it's in fact almost lyrical, especially in its use of analogy; 

A line I really really liked where the protagonist is telling of his experience reading Spinoza…’I don’t suppose I understood very much of it yet, but it fills me with exultation. It’s like landing from your plane on a great plateau in the mountains. Solitude and an air so pure that it goes to your head like wine and you feel like a million dollars’. 

I'd say I felt just that reading Maughum.  

While I’ve always had difficulty when people ask me questions on favourite books and favourite movies, I’d without hesitation put this into my favorite books. In fact half way through the book, I wanted to start reading all over again just to enjoy the beauty of the experience, as I was letting it seep through my soul, which is what it actually did.

While Herman Hesse and Paulo Coelho are more abstract and philosophical, I found a lot more depth in Maugham. 

Swaroop, I'm so glad for that day when we walked into that store of old books, and you bought me this parchment looking book. Huge Thanks !!