Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

I just finished Of Human Bondage, by Maugham.

Like I wrote before, I borrowed the book from the library last week on the recommendation of another short story I studied which was by the same author. Last week, I have read this book almost feverishly, spending every free moment trying to finish the book. This book is classified as a classic, the most timeless of Maugham's writings, and supposedly his finest work as an author. Here's my verdict of the book:

I thought it was a fairly good book.

The book covers the life of Philip, a young orphaned boy with the additional physical deformity of a club-foot, and follows his story from the day he goes to live with his uncle to the day he marries - almost twenty five years in seven hundred pages. This book describes his various struggles, in school and at work, with his family and with his love, and most particularly his deep obsession with a shop girl Mildred, who fascinates him and repels him and forces him to degrade himself and humiliate himself again and again.

As such, I think of this as a book about the various ways in which human beings love, about the complicated nature of human relationships, and about how, in a way, humans 'bind' themselves to each other. From Philip's Aunt Louisa, who loves both him and his uncle despite their selfishness and their callous behaviour towards the poor lady, to Philip's relationship with Ms. Wilkinson, a woman much older to him with whom he shares a love/hate relationship, to Ms. Price, who repels him, falls in love with him, and considers to find a place in his thoughts long after she has faded from his life, to Nora, who never loved him (and was never loved by him), but always liked him (and whom he liked), to Sally, who shares an almost maternal relationshp with him, to Mildred, with whom he shares an extremely convulted, complex relationship.

I think this novel is a study in human behaviour, in the strange and complex way in which we attach ourselves to each other, and the way our actions can be influenced by our loves - be it of a person, of an object, or even of money. In fact, in this story one can find important insights into human behaviour (and even into the psyche of the author, for those thus inclined) and if not an answer then at least a fresh look at some of the questions that have troubled humans since time immemorial - like what the meaning of life is. In this sense, this book is a piece of art, and a classic.

Other parts of this book pose a problem. The book moves at only a medium-pace at best, and parts of it, especially towards the end and sometimes in the time Philip spends at Paris, can get terribly slow. Too many details in the book don't make too much sense. The writing, while not hard to understand, does not follow the basic rules that writers nowadays follow - like showing instead of telling, and thus the book lags in the technical aspects. Philip, too, can sometimes be a problem. Though he is likeable for most of the book, at times he can be an idiot, selfish, lying, and confused in ways which really make you detest him, and which detract from the book.

Final thoughts: I think it was an interesting book, worth reading once, and certainly timeless for its interpretation of the human psychology, but can be very troublesome to complete and harder to thoroughly enjoy.

Other news: Marr's Ink Exchange has still failed to provide me with adequate words to write a review. However, I'm thinking of going to the library and borrowing some old classics which I've enjoyed a lot, like The Little Princess and Daddy Long-legs and doing a re-read along with a review of both.