Finally finished reading ‘of human bondage’, and what a huge volume it is! I quite enjoyed it in the middle, especially the parts in which Philip was leading a wretched life as an aspiring painter and his relationship with Mildred. My heart went out to him. It became monotonous towards the end though. I could almost predict its end (he finally settled down with Sally, which was the only diversion). Of course it has depicted the human psychology very well. It is very realistic, but of late I don’t care much for realism. We’ve got too much of that in our lives in any case. It was not poetic as a Shakespearean tragedy (I don’t like happy endings), nor was it fantastic like a Wilde or a Kafka. But I must also confess that I agree with Maugham’s philosophy in general, in most of the cases. All said and done, it has all the ingredients of a
ps: i had posted a quote by oscar wilde a while ago. it's queer that maugham should mention him in this book and also agree with that particular quote of his. the quote's still there if you look for it
2 comments:
Wow! I have to say I'd much rather see realism, everywhere in fact. Also, I can never bring myself to read Kafka.
I loved that book Puneet. I hated its pessimism though i've felt it myself, I've agreed with it but I think it's way too depressing. True but negative.
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