Of Human Bondage

After knocking through four or five short books, I was anxious to tackle something a little longer. I hadn't read any of W. Somerset Maugham's work and decided to try Of Human Bondage, if for no other reason than the classic sounding title.

700 pages later, I have to say it was worth the effort. Sometimes this novel annoyed the hell out of me. I wanted to knock the protaganist upside the head a few times as he walked into the same predicament over and over. Then I realized that Maugham had sucked me into caring about what was happening- annoyance with a character can show as large an emotional investment as admiration or hatred.

The novel tells the story of Philip Carey, a young man who is orphaned at an early age and goes to live with his Uncle and Aunt. The Uncle is a small town Vicar and life in the household is strict and joyless for young Philip. Born with a club foot, his awkwardness and shyness follows him to the school he attends with the intention of taking religious orders. While at the school, Philip goes through all manner of emotions regarding jealousy and self-loathing. Each time he seems to find a little confidence, something happens to set him back.

Disaffected by school, he opts to move to Germany against his Uncle's wishes in order to study at Heidleberg. From there he moves on to Paris to study art and ultimately ends up back in England to study medicine, his dead father's field. Through these years, Philip is heavily influenced by the thoughts and philosophies of his motley collection of friends and casts about searching for his own guiding credo.

Once he is back in London, he embarks on a disastrous and one-sided affair with Mildred, a woman who returns to Philip time and again when she is in dire straits. Philip welcomes her back time after time, spending what little money he has on her comforts and needs. This is where my annoyance with Philip threatened to override my affection for the novel. Still, the story of Philip's eventual release and experience with poverty is so well written that I was able to get past it.

Of Human Bondage is evidently somewhat autobiographical; Maugham substitutes his own stuttering problem for Philip's club foot, but otherwise the early part of his history is the same. There are long expository passages on art, philosophy, natural beauty, and jealousy, but they are scattered enough so as not to interfere with the forward drive of the narrative. Although this book appeared only 40 or 50 years after Dickens, and the sweeping nature of the novel is similar to those of the former, Philip Carey's ennui, fatalism, and existential musings are far from any protaganist in the Dickens oeuvre. Here was a modern man who existed outside of caricature.

Great book, leave yourself some time to read.