Details

ISBN-10: 037575315X
ISBN-13: 9780375753152
Publisher: Modern Library
Publish Date: 03/02/1999
Dimensions: 8.02" L, 5.30" W, 1.40" H

Of Human Bondage

Introduction by: Gore Vidal

Paperback

Price: $15.00

Overview

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time

“It is very difficult for a writer of my generation, if he is honest, to pretend indifference to the work of Somerset Maugham,” wrote Gore Vidal. “He was always so entirely there.”
Originally published in 1915, Of Human Bondage is a potent expression of the power of sexual obsession and of modern man’s yearning for freedom. This classic bildungsroman tells the story of Philip Carey, a sensitive boy born with a clubfoot who is orphaned and raised by a religious aunt and uncle. Philip yearns for adventure, and at eighteen leaves home, eventually pursuing a career as an artist in Paris. When he returns to London to study medicine, he meets the androgynous but alluring Mildred and begins a doomed love affair that will change the course of his life. There is no more powerful story of sexual infatuation, of human longing for connection and freedom.
“Here is a novel of the utmost importance,” wrote Theodore Dreiser on publication. “It is a beacon of light by which the wanderer may be guided. . . . One feels as though one were sitting before a splendid Shiraz of priceless texture and intricate weave, admiring, feeling, responding sensually to its colors and tones.”

With an Introduction by Gore Vidal

Commentary by Theodore Dreiser and Graham Greene

Read More
Reviews
A superb storyteller - one of the very best in our language–Daily Mail

The modern writer who has influenced me most–George Orwell

Maugham has given infinite pleasure and left us a splendour of writing which will remain for as long as the written English word is permitted to exist–Daily Telegraph

This semi-autobiographical novel, set at the end of the 19th century, gripped me from the start with its tale of the life of Philip Carey. Its depiction of how a man can become enslaved by an unsuitable love is unsparing–Christopher Simon Sykes, The Week

More Reviews

Details

ISBN-10: 037575315X
ISBN-13: 9780375753152
Publisher: Modern Library
Publish Date: 03/02/1999
Dimensions: 8.02" L, 5.30" W, 1.40" H
Skip to content