Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham - 1936

This book is in very good condition. There is practically no wear on the front, back, spine and edges of the cover. The corners are not bumped. The pages are yellowed and tanned, but they are clear of all markings.

"In Aspects of the Novel, EM Forster wrote: "The final test of a novel will be our affection for it, as it is the test of our friends, of anything else that we cannot define." He might have been writing about W Somerset Maugham's masterpiece, Of Human Bondage. For English readers, this is a Bildungsroman we mostly first encounter as adolescents. It earns its place in this list for the edgy economy of its dark, often cruel narrative more than its style (prosaic) or its humanity (tormented). Maugham's unforgettable portrait of Philip Carey is one that teenagers, typically, will ingest like junkies, not least because Maugham poured so much of himself into the plot of the novel and its strangely sympathetic protagonist. Perhaps not since David Copperfield, an obvious inspiration, had an English writer mined his own life so explicitly or so ruthlessly...." - The Guardian, U.S. Edition, July 21st, 2014