Review: Of Human Bondage

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book always appears on those "Top 100 Books Ever" lists and so I decided its time had come.

It was fine. The central character, Philip, is not very likable, and, to my mind, not very interesting. He's an anti-hero sad sack, in fact. Maybe this is why it continually felt like a chore to finish the book.

It is a Bildungsroman and Maugham is a masterful storyteller. He had a real knack for cringe-worthy failures, I'll give him that. I kept looking for relief of some kind from the trail of misfortunes. Not there.

Reading has become my go-to escape from all things Covid and all things political. I guess I did not realize that I also require these reading-rescues to stay upbeat and hopeful.

Not a bad book, of course. It is a case of bad timing only.

View all my reviews