Rating: 
Summary: The Skull Beneath the Skin
Review: What Buddhist burst of contemplation led to this great novel written by that "technician," W Somerset Maugham? Of all the great books of the 20th century, which one could compare with its raw nerve and sinew? Here are no word games, no playing with the chronology, no obfuscation. With the limpid prose that had become his trademark, Maugham took us by the most direct route into his own private inferno. What in his hero Philip Carey was a clubfoot was for Maugham a painful stammer. What was Carey's public school at "Tercanbury" was Maugham's Canterbury. And, what is most interesting, what were Carey's tortured amours with the opposite sex were Maugham's tortured amours with the same sex. Yet with all the "translation" going on, the intensity of the feelings was transferred intact. The pain of Philip's on-again off-again relationship with Mildred has few equals in the literature of self-torture and self-delusion, ranking with Swann's pursuit of Odette de Crecy. OF HUMAN BONDAGE is a big book. There are hundreds of characters; and many of the lesser characters are memorable. The ineffectual dilettante Hayward, the skeptical poet Cronshaw, the icily bland Mildred, the despairing artist Fanny Price, the treacherous Griffiths -- even the walk-on role of grumpy old Dr. South comes alive in the last few pages of the novel. The settings are equally diffuse: London, the English countryside, Heidelberg, Paris, a Channel fishing village, and -- an amusing canard -- Toledo in Spain. (Carey is always dreaming of going there, but he never does.) When one is young, life looks like a triumphant progress through love, fame, and wealth. There appears, however, to be an inherent weakness in the organism; and it tends to go astray more than it does forward. We give ourselves to uncaring people; we constantly meet with reverses; we see our childhood dreams trampled by money-grubbing and the quiet desperation of which Thoreau wrote. And yet there is a spring that runs through us all. Even when it is dammed up, as Philip Carey's so often is, it can break out and rush forward, carrying everything in its path. When it happens deus-ex-machina style in BONDAGE, we are exhilarated (if not convinced). Maugham lets us down easily. He is too great and generous a writer to leave us in despair. Maugham's own story turned out well: he died rich, at an advanced age, and full of honors. His books are still in print and read by millions. What is more, Maugham, particularly in OF HUMAN BONDAGE, showed us what lay beneath the unperturbable veneer: We saw the skull beneath the skin.
Rating:
Summary: A Nearly Flawless Novel
Review: ... This is a book. The characters are alive in a way somehow Maugham seems to accomplish effortlessly. Reading this book is easier than watching a film: the prose glides from the page into your mind, flawlessly, effortlessly and unforgettably. Why you might be reading this I cannot imagine--but if you want to read a superlative book, from the days when the color of your suit of the gender of your sex partners was unimportant, get this.
Rating:
Summary: Life Altering
Review: There are few words I can use to express how profound this novel is. I have related to Phillip in such a way that is has affected me...deeply. I have taken to heart Maugham's honest and brilliant story of Carey's coming to age. His want to experience life...not prepare for it ... it's like the words were plucked from my soul. This novel is a necessary read along with The Razor's Edge which not only matches Bondage's profound strength but deals with yet another side of the human spirit.
Rating:
Summary: Good story
Review: Good story of a person who doesnot thing of consequences . Who does whatoverhe wants to without thinking that it can ruin his whole career. Any way it has a nice ending. Well connected story but I didn't find a literary masterpiece
Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best book I have read
Review: This book has everything - a fascinating main character, interesting minor characters and exploits the theme of human suffering at an emotional and physical level. Maugham is masterful in the way he carries the reader on Philip Carey's journey so that you are almost pleading with the character not to follow the road he is taking. Possibly the best description is when he falls to his lowest point as a shop assistant and the indignities he is forced to endure in order to survive. Although there is a tendency sometimes to criticize him for his foolhardiness, as a reader you are ultimately drawn into sympathising with the plight of this relatively inexperienced young man. I am hard put to think of any modern novel that has it all as this book does. Although I have read his other novels, I believe Maugham really surpassed himself when writing this fantastic book which I re-read every few years and always enjoy. Only Thomas Hardy comes close in terms of examining man's emotional suffering at the hands of a woman - something that he strongly experienced in his married life.
Rating:
Summary: Simply The Best......Ever.
Review: This Somerset Maugham classic is a must-read. Of the hundreds of novels I have read in my years, THIS is the best. Period. While Maugham has been placed near the bottom of reading lists in literature classrooms, this enduring masterpiece shows why that is a travesty. How many critics does it take to say, "Maugham may have been the greatest storyteller ever," before people actually begin to READ him again? "Of Human Bondage" is the story of Philip Carey up until Carey is thirty. You LIVE the life of Philip right along with him. The writing is so riveting that as you conclude, you close the book and ask yourself, "what am I going to do now"? It is easy to experience "Philip withdrawal" after finishing "Of Human Bondage." Don't let it last long though - catch more writing from the master, the great William Somerset Maugham.
Rating: 
Summary: Very difficult, depressing, hard to read...
Review: I know, I know, everyone speaks of what a classic this book is. And I must admit, when my book club decided to read this book I was initially pleased, as I really liked Razor's Edge. But of all ten of us in the club, only one finished the book! I got as far as page 394, so I really did try. But I kept wanting to give Philip a shake, tell him to "get over it" and get on with his life already. Mildred was a perfect pill, and I was quite annoyed with how she abused his faith and love. The other characters were, for the most part, either one-dimensional, or unlikeable. I know I'll most likely get slammed for daring to say this, but I just didn't like this book, and I was not the only one. It was just too depressing and full of despair. Avoid this unless you like a hard slog through the muck of sadness.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful
Review: This book is one of the most insightful that I've read in conveying the emotions and personal introspection that followed each of the trials and tribulations that Philip Carey encountered in living his daily life (as do all of us). The depth and breadth in which Philip searches for the meaning of his life and then the simplistic and somewhat trite answer he finds at the end make this book a true classic.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Maugham has a talent for bringing you into his world and making you experience every single emotion which coursed throughout his body. This novel is no exception. As he develops through life, you grow along with him. Every stumble he takes, you fall with him. It's an outstanding novel in that every emotion is so personal yet universal. You feel his pain along with your own. Philip Carey, representing not only Maugham but the everyday person, makes you feel as if there's never a moment to give in to the dark corners of the room, that there is always hope in the unexpected.
Rating:
Summary: One of my new favorites!
Review: I read this novel for a classics reading group this month and am so thankful to the club. I adored Phillip and missed his tales for days after finishing the book. I think what's wonderful about this novel is that it appeals to many different types of readers. The relationships between Phillip and his family, friends and romantic interests are timeless.
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