Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maughm

SPOILERS.

You know that kid in school with the clubfoot who you always picked on even though his mother had died and his caretakers were old and incapable of showing much emotion? Remember how he eventually rejected all religion because of its restrictions only to fall in love with a waitress who was green skinned and treated him horribly? Also, you may recall how he traveled the world seeking satisfaction and found it at his own back doorstep. This book is more less about him. His name was Philip, by the way.

The preceding paragraph will only seem familiar to you if you attended school with W. Somerset Maughm, author of Of Human Bondage, a book with Maughm himself claims is partillay autobiographical but more largely fiction. However, reading the book, one gets a strong impression that, rather than the events being entirely fictitious, they are more symbolic. The introduction for this edition says that the club foot was representative of Maughm's bisexuality, which is an interesting idea since Philip's club foot keeps him from feeling secure in several of his relationships.

Of course, the centerpiece of Of Human Bondage is the love story, such as it is, between Philip and Mildred, a worldly, selfish woman that treats him horribly, even going so far as to sleep with his friends. Philip is a doormat for most of their relationship, and it made him a slightly less sympathetic character. Of course, it's debatable whether Philip is entirely sympathetic anyway. For the bulk of the book, he's spineless and swayed by whaever company he is in. Whenever the situation is bad, he just goes someplace else, falls in with a different group of people who are going nowhere, and starts over. He's capable of extreme selfishness himself, such as when he briefly entertains the idea of “mercy killing” his uncle to get his inheritance. The truth is, I doubt I'd like Philip if I met him on the street.

That said, Of Human Bondage is essentially a coming-of-age story with a more or less happy ending, and, while I don't agree with all the conclusions Philip eventually reaches, his journey is worthwhile and relatable, even when things are a bit extreme. And, I guess that's all I have to say.