-
Of Human Bondage
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 25 hrs and 53 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $34.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Razor's Edge
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great War changed everything and everyone, and Larry Darrell is no exception. Though his physical wounds from the war heal, his spirit is changed almost beyond recognition. He leaves his betrothed, the beautiful and devoted Isabel; studies philosophy and religion in Paris; lives as a monk, and witnesses the exotic hardships of Spanish life. All of life that he can find - from an Indian Ashrama to labor in a coal mine - becomes Larry's spiritual experiment as he spurns the comfort and privilege of the Roaring 20s.
-
-
An Classic of Love and the Desire for Meaning
- By Eric on 01-06-17
-
The Painted Veil
- In an American Voice
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Deaver Brown
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A breathtaking story of a woman marrying, growing up, bravely persevering, and seeing what traditionally was a man's point of view with the insights of a woman growing up in the same way. An insightful novel in so many ways.Â
-
The Moon And Sixpence
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Robert Hardy
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Strickland, a conventional stockbroker, abandons his wife and children for Paris and Tahiti, to live his life as a painter. While his betrayal of family, duty and honour gives him the freedom to achieve greatness, his decision leads to an obsession which carries severe implications.
-
-
Roman a clef-abominable french artist Paul Gauguin
- By W Perry Hall on 01-22-14
-
The Complete Short Stories, Volume One
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There have been few masters of the short story as popular as W. S. Maugham. His dry wit, worldweary loftiness, pungent cynicism, and penetrating powers of observation have contributed to the creation of some of the greatest short stories ever written.
-
-
A masterful production of Maugham's short stories.
- By J. J. Kuzma on 09-07-13
-
Cakes and Ale
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: James Saxon
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Cakes and Ale was first published in 1930 it roused a storm of controversy, since many people imagined they recognised portraits of literary figures now no more. It is the novel for which Maugham wished to be remembered.
-
-
Delightful
- By RueRue on 04-22-16
-
Far Eastern Tales
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Robert Powell
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Far eastern Tales is a collection of Maugham's short stories, all born of his experiences in Malaysia, Singapore, and other outposts of the former British Empire. The stories included on this recording are Footprints in the Jungle, Mabel, P & O, The Door of Oportunity, The Buried Talent, Before the Party, Mr. Know-all, Neil MacAdam, The End of the Flight and The Force of Circumstance.
-
-
As perfect a reading as I've ever heard
- By Ted on 05-30-16
-
The Razor's Edge
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great War changed everything and everyone, and Larry Darrell is no exception. Though his physical wounds from the war heal, his spirit is changed almost beyond recognition. He leaves his betrothed, the beautiful and devoted Isabel; studies philosophy and religion in Paris; lives as a monk, and witnesses the exotic hardships of Spanish life. All of life that he can find - from an Indian Ashrama to labor in a coal mine - becomes Larry's spiritual experiment as he spurns the comfort and privilege of the Roaring 20s.
-
-
An Classic of Love and the Desire for Meaning
- By Eric on 01-06-17
-
The Painted Veil
- In an American Voice
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Deaver Brown
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A breathtaking story of a woman marrying, growing up, bravely persevering, and seeing what traditionally was a man's point of view with the insights of a woman growing up in the same way. An insightful novel in so many ways.Â
-
The Moon And Sixpence
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Robert Hardy
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charles Strickland, a conventional stockbroker, abandons his wife and children for Paris and Tahiti, to live his life as a painter. While his betrayal of family, duty and honour gives him the freedom to achieve greatness, his decision leads to an obsession which carries severe implications.
-
-
Roman a clef-abominable french artist Paul Gauguin
- By W Perry Hall on 01-22-14
-
The Complete Short Stories, Volume One
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There have been few masters of the short story as popular as W. S. Maugham. His dry wit, worldweary loftiness, pungent cynicism, and penetrating powers of observation have contributed to the creation of some of the greatest short stories ever written.
-
-
A masterful production of Maugham's short stories.
- By J. J. Kuzma on 09-07-13
-
Cakes and Ale
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: James Saxon
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Cakes and Ale was first published in 1930 it roused a storm of controversy, since many people imagined they recognised portraits of literary figures now no more. It is the novel for which Maugham wished to be remembered.
-
-
Delightful
- By RueRue on 04-22-16
-
Far Eastern Tales
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Robert Powell
- Length: 9 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Far eastern Tales is a collection of Maugham's short stories, all born of his experiences in Malaysia, Singapore, and other outposts of the former British Empire. The stories included on this recording are Footprints in the Jungle, Mabel, P & O, The Door of Oportunity, The Buried Talent, Before the Party, Mr. Know-all, Neil MacAdam, The End of the Flight and The Force of Circumstance.
-
-
As perfect a reading as I've ever heard
- By Ted on 05-30-16
-
East of Eden
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 25 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
-
-
Why have I avoided this Beautiful Book???
- By Kelly on 03-25-17
By: John Steinbeck
-
Lord Jim
- By: Joseph Conrad
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From his many years on the high seas as a mariner, mate, and captain, Joseph Conrad created unique works, including Heart of Darkness, that have left an indelible mark on world literature. First published in 1899, his haunting novel Lord Jim is both a riveting sea adventure and a fascinating portrait of a unique outcast from civilization.
-
-
One of my all time favourites
- By Elisa on 05-03-16
By: Joseph Conrad
-
An American Tragedy
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An American Tragedy is the story of Clyde Griffiths, who spends his life in the desperate pursuit of success. On a deeper, more profound level, it is the masterful portrayal of the society whose values both shape Clyde's ambitions and seal his fate; it is an unsurpassed depiction of the harsh realities of American life and of the dark side of the American dream.
-
-
Creeping, Creepy Ambition
- By W Perry Hall on 03-05-17
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
Howards End
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Howards End is a beautifully subtle tale of two very different families brought together by an unusual event. The Schlegels are intellectuals, devotees of art and literature. The Wilcoxes are practical and materialistic, leading lives of "telegrams and anger". When the elder Mrs. Wilcox dies and her family discovers she has left their country home - Howards End - to one of the Schlegel sisters, a crisis between the two families is precipitated that takes years to resolve.
-
-
Fantastic Narration in Delightful Story
- By Wren on 05-05-18
By: E. M. Forster
-
Anna Karenina
- By: Leo Tolstoy
- Narrated by: Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Length: 35 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leo Tolstoy's classic story of doomed love is one of the most admired novels in world literature. Generations of readers have been enthralled by his magnificent heroine, the unhappily married Anna Karenina, and her tragic affair with dashing Count Vronsky.
-
-
Maggie Gyllenhaal is exquisite perfection
- By K. Johnson on 08-11-18
By: Leo Tolstoy
-
Buddenbrooks
- The Decline of a Family
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 26 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.
-
-
Where Have You Been All My Life, Thomas Mann?
- By Virginia Waldron on 03-30-17
By: Thomas Mann
-
The Portrait of a Lady
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: John Wood
- Length: 23 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American, is brought to Europe by her wealthy aunt Touchett, it is expected that she will soon marry. But Isabel, resolved to enjoy the freedom that her fortune has opened up and to determine her own fate, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors, declaring that she will never marry. It is only when she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the cultivated but worthless Gilbert Osmond that she discovers that wealth is a two-edged sword.
-
-
Highly recommended
- By David on 06-26-10
By: Henry James
-
Vanity Fair
- By: William Makepeace Thackeray
- Narrated by: John Castle
- Length: 31 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set during the time of the Napoleonic Wars, this classic gives a satirical picture of a worldly society. The novel revolves around the exploits of the impoverished but beautiful and devious Becky Sharp who craves wealth and a position in society. Calculating and determined to succeed, she charms, deceives and manipulates everyone she meets. A novel of early 19th-century English society, it takes its title from the place designated as the centre of human corruption in John Bunyan's 17th-century allegory.
-
-
Fun Book, Incredible Narrator
- By Lauriesland on 02-12-12
-
The Magic Mountain
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 37 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hans Castorp is, on the face of it, an ordinary man in his early 20s, on course to start a career in ship engineering in his home town of Hamburg, when he decides to travel to the Berghof Santatorium in Davos. The year is 1912 and an oblivious world is on the brink of war. Castorp’s friend Joachim Ziemssen is taking the cure and a three-week visit seems a perfect break before work begins. But when Castorp arrives he is surprised to find an established community of patients, and little by little, he gets drawn into the closeted life and the individual personalities of the residents.
-
-
worth the wait
- By L. Kerr on 06-01-20
By: Thomas Mann
-
Great Expectations
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most revered works in English literature, Great Expectations traces the coming of age of a young orphan, Pip, from a boy of shallow aspirations into a man of maturity. From the chilling opening confrontation with an escaped convict to the grand but eerily disheveled estate of bitter old Miss Havisham, all is not what it seems in Dickens’ dark tale of false illusions and thwarted desire.
-
-
Great Performance of a classic!
- By Steven on 08-18-13
By: Charles Dickens
-
Madame Bovary
- By: Gustave Flaubert
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Madame Bovary, one of the great novels of 19th-century France, Flaubert draws a deeply felt and sympathetic portrait of a woman who, having married a country doctor and found herself unhappy with a rural, genteel existence, longs for love and excitement. However, her aspirations and her desires to escape only bring her further disappointment and eventually lead to unexpected, painful consequences. Flaubert’s critical portrait of bourgeois provincial life remains as powerful as ever
-
-
Fantastic Narration
- By Andrew on 10-27-16
By: Gustave Flaubert
-
Razor's Edge
- Star Wars: Empire and Rebellion, Book 1
- By: Martha Wells
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Times are desperate for the Rebel Alliance. Harassment by the Empire and a shortage of vital supplies are hindering completion of a new secret base on the ice planet Hoth. So when Mid Rim merchants offer much-needed materials for sale, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo lead an Alliance delegation to negotiate a deal. But when treachery forces the rebel ship to flee into territory controlled by pirates, Leia makes a shocking discovery: The fierce marauders come from Leia's homeworld of Alderaan, recently destroyed by the Death Star.
-
-
Great Book, Adequate Narrator.
- By Pamela on 09-29-13
By: Martha Wells
Publisher's Summary
One of the most widely read novels of the 20th century, W. Somerset Maugham's masterpiece, Of Human Bondage, gives a harrowing depiction of unrequited love. Philip Carey, a sensitive orphan born with a clubfoot, finds himself in desperate need of passion and inspiration. He abandons his studies to travel, first to Heidelberg and then to Paris, where he nurses ambitions of becoming a great artist.
Philip's youthful idealism erodes, however, as he comes face-to-face with his own mediocrity and lack of impact on the world. After returning to London to study medicine, he becomes wildly infatuated with Mildred, a vulgar, tawdry waitress, and begins a doomed love affair that will change the course of his life.
First published in 1915, the semi-autobiographical Of Human Bondage combines the values left over from the Victorian era with the prevailing irony and despair of the early 20th century. Unsentimental yet bursting with deep feeling, Of Human Bondage remains Maugham's most complete statement of the importance of physical and spiritual liberty, a theme that resounds more loudly than ever today.
More from the same
What listeners say about Of Human Bondage
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Rbjurnee
- 04-18-11
You won't want it to end!
Simple in writing but it draws you in and makes you relate and remember experiences, feelings and situations in yourself and friends that are similar to the best and worst characters in the story. It wraps up a little quicker then I expected after such a long audio but it's probably the best book I've heard to date and has had me thinking and rethinking situations, events in my own life. It was a fantastic listen!
24 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mr D
- 03-07-16
Frustrating
Main character provokes very little sympathy, and narration is not suited to audiobooks (as other have commented, narrator faded off dramatically at the end of sentences).
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- stacey a. wright
- 04-24-18
Wonderfully Absorbing and Thought Provoking
Of Human Bondage is nothing short of magnificent and Steven Crossley is the perfect narrator. Highly entertaining; highly recommended.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brian Abel Ragen
- 04-04-15
Good Story of a Wounded Man
This is an excellent Bildungsroman, if you don't mind a central figure who is more buffeted by the ideas and actions of others that the active agent in his own life.
The reading is good, except for the voice adopted for the Mildred character. That was like something out of a much more comic performance.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- TJK
- 02-18-17
Classic
This is one of those classic books I could never read but enjoyed listening to it. It was work to stay with it at times but I am glad I did. Never an exciting listen but a deep look into a empty lonesome life.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- nancy udell
- 10-15-15
Reader is terrible
Would you try another book from W. Somerset Maugham and/or Steven Crossley?
I loved the Razor's Edge and the reader there was wonderful but I will NEVER read another book narrated by Crossley. He varies his volume extremely and drops very low and soft at the end of some words, so much so that I cannot follow his rendition. I had to ask for a credit and get the other reader.
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- W Perry Hall
- 03-15-17
Misogyne Bonded
First Work Out of Maugham's Self-Loathing, Chauvinistic Closet
This superb 1915 novel which nearly earns 5 stars. Reading it was a strain until the protagonist Philip Carey went to Paris to study art, after which I found it fascinating, then infuriating and ultimately affirming. That is to say, I loved the parts about art and Paris and his relationship with Fanny Price, the poor and talentless soul who committed suicide; I detested his main love interest (a unilateral infatuation of the first degree) in Mildred Rogers, the Cockney waitress who used and abused him without pity, and his pathetic lapses into co-dependency on her. Thus, I was heartened by Philip's ability to finally escape the chains of fear and self-hatred caused by losing his parents young, having a clubfoot and being attached by "love" to an awful leach.
Now, to my title Misogyne Bondage:
The enterprise of comparing this novel with his other three major novels, The Painted Veil, The Moon and Sixpence and The Razor's Edge, as well as his most acclaimed short story, "Rain," has been terribly illuminating. As I contemplated, I saw a peculiar pattern in Maugham's female leads (in these works, at least) and was reminded of an essay by Christopher Hitchens that I read in his brilliant collection Arguably: Selected Essays, in which Hitchens reviewed the Maugham biography Somerset Maugham: A Life, by Jeffrey Meyers. See C. Hitchens, "W. Somerset Maugham: Poor Old Willie," The Atlantic, May 2004. After re-reading this essay and traveling back through my memory of the four novels and short story, I am convinced that Maugham was a misogynist sparked by his self-loathing as a closeted homosexual.
Consider first,
“Maugham worked assiduously to create a persona for himself in life. And the life was, according to this admirable biography, a good deal more exquisite, dramatic, torrid, and tragic than any of the works. Born and brought up in France, Maugham lost his parents when quite young and from then on was farmed out to mean relatives and cruel, monastic boarding schools. The traditional ration of bullying, beating, and buggery seems to have been unusually effective in his case, leaving him with a frightful lifelong speech impediment and a staunch commitment to homosexuality.”
***
“An ideal way to “lock in” homosexual disposition is probably to spend time as a gynecologist in a slum district of London—which, astonishingly enough, is what the fastidious young man did. Though he would ultimately abandon medicine, he passed considerable time delivering babies in the abysmal squalor of Lambeth, on the south bank of the River Thames. As part of his training he witnessed cesarean births in the hospital, where death was not uncommon.”
C. Hitchens, "Poor Old Willie," supra.
Reviewing each of his four major novels and his most renowned short story, one is struck by the common thread: the females are all weak, wanton and/or wicked. These women are the type of which George Bernard Shaw so mordantly quipped in his play, "Mrs. Warren's Profession": "She may be a good sort but she is a bad lot."
Mildred Rogers and Fanny Price (who only appeared briefly) from the instant novel are discussed above. In the short story, "Rain" (1921), the prostitute Sadie Thompson is violated by a missionary intent upon saving her soul and after finding the missionary dead from suicide, the narrator observes that Sadie has returned to "the flaunting quean" they had first known when coming to American Samoa. "Quean" means "a low woman; a wench; a slut."
In The Razor's Edge (1944), Sophie Macdonald, a childhood friend of the protagonist Larry Darrell, becomes an alcoholic, opium addicted "slut" after losing her husband and child to a tragic car accident. On the eve of the wedding of Larry and Sophie (whom he's trying to save from a life of debauchery), Larry's pre-war girlfriend, the wealthy, wicked Isabel (who wants Larry for herself), leads a sober, fragile Sophie back to the path of destruction by effectively handing her a bottle of expensive vodka.
In The Moon and Sixpence (1919), Blanche Stroeve, wife of a Dutch painter who is a friendly comrade of the Gaugin-based antihero, abandons her husband for "Gaugin," who quickly casts her aside once she's served her purpose as a model and short-term concubine, after which she kills herself.
Finally, in The Painted Veil (1925), Kitty Garstin Fane, the heroine, is a flighty and self-centered "low woman" who, shortly after marrying Dr. Fane, embarks upon a lurid, torrid affair lasting two years and only laughs when initially faced with Dr. Fane finding out. Notably, this is my favorite Maugham novel, probably because he gives Kitty redemption. While this may seem the exception to my thesis, I'd point out that Kitty is like the others in her sexual promiscuity, a trait that seems particularly deplorable to misogynists.
Does this take away from the brilliance of Maugham's works or mean that he doesn't remain on my list of favorite authors? No. But, I do believe that being forced by then-existing societal norms to hide his homosexuality significantly contributed to his self-loathing, in turn leading to his negative outlook toward women. Were our culture more advanced, as it is now progressing, maybe Maugham would not have felt compelled to conceal his sexual preference and would not have been so fundamentally adverse to females and, as a consequence, might have been more kind to the superior sex (IMHO) and penned novels with more positive female characters or at least given his seriously damaged female characters more redeeming arcs, such as he did in The Painted Veil.
I don't do this for a living so I cannot afford to spend any more time revising or cleaning up this review, so please forgive any errors or if I have offended anyone.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Changmin Sun
- 01-27-15
One of the best stories
I cannot believe that the novel was published in 1915. Humans haven't evolved very much in the last 100 years as i could relate so well to the emotions expressed in the book!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Virginia Sanden
- 11-07-19
Narrator terrible!
I actually couldn't listen to this book due to the narration. I should have paid attention to another review that I read which said that the narrators voice gravitates between a loud boom and a completely inaudible whisper. It was actually impossible to catch what he was saying for the majority of the time. I gave up after the first chapter - so I can't really speak to the story.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Harmony Hix
- 07-12-21
mostly bored
This book is very long and in parts my attention would wander and suddenly I wouldn't know who was talking. I read Maughams other works in the past for a paper and remember really enjoying them but in this book, the main character, is always acting like a fool and it is really irritating. Maybe that is the lesson.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Arrshie
- 03-27-17
Fantastic
Fabulous Narration. Some of the moments that struck a chord, was the eternal question, the purpose of it all...of life... brilliant.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Gillian
- 01-28-15
Interesting....
I really hated the first half of this book. And it's a long half. I got to Chapter 76 before anything really engaged my attention. The hero is hugely flawed and utterly infuriating, but somehow by the time I got to the end I was actually rooting for him. I'm going to have to reflect on the reference to 'bondage' - and probably read a bit more about what Maugham was referring to. I'm sure there's more to think about than just the story itself.
I found the language quaint, and it was nice to hear words I used in my childhood restored to their glory. I had to look up some terms that I think have gone out of use completely now.
The pace of the story was frustrating. Dwelling for a chapter or two on some minor deliberation, and then skipping 2 years in a sentence. This annoyed me, and was one of the reasons I struggled with the first half.
The narration was excellent - good strong characterisation and some lovely humour. I'd just finished another book narrated by him, and it struck me how different the style was here. Full marks.
So now I'm going to go and think about this book... You will need stamina and determination to get through it, but on balance I'd say it would be worth it.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 04-25-20
The Jewel in the Crown of England's Glory
Is there a better book in the English language? Seriously? Maugham is the master, and this book is utterly timeless. It changed my life.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Seayeaitch
- 04-29-19
Read or listen to it now.
For the past 50 years this has been on my list to read, as you will see I don’t do things on impulse, but now I’ve completed it, and it really does stand up to it reputation, a modern classic that stands the test of time. A worldly experience that I would recommend for all late teenagers to read before they embark on life’s journey. The characters are brought to life by Steven Crossley whose skill as a reader is superb.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Franniep
- 07-21-11
Disappointing narration
I had looked forward to listening to this but found the narration so inappropriate that I had to give up after 6 hours. The book itself is, presumably, a subtle portrayal of the childhood and youth of an often unlikeable character. Since the story is unremittingly centered around this one character I imagine that it is quite a demanding read and requires some careful interpretation. Here it is read as though it is a "Billy Bunter" story; with an over-dramatised, whining, upper-class accent imposed on the main character and caricatured female 'voices' imposed on all the women characters. This makes it a ridiculous and pointless story. I am sorry to be critical of an actor but feel strongly that "buyers should be aware".
16 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- ANTHONY JAMES SHEPHARD
- 12-16-15
Classic
A story of emotional turmoil set in a forgotten age. Gloriously written and well told
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mark
- 08-16-21
Maugham's Masterpiece
If you are going to devote over 25 hours of your life listening to a book it had better be worth it and my conclusion, having just finished the novel, is that it was time very well spent. It was also brilliantly read by Steven Crossley which is another essential quality of any good listen. The search for happiness and meaning in life are universal themes and as a listener we follow Phillip Carey on his often painful journey towards an understanding that living in the here and now, rather than the future, can provide happiness and meaning. I liked the ending because I had been rooting for Phillip all along and who is to say he didn't get to Spain and the Far East. I rather hope he did.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Joey Dean
- 08-03-20
Riveting story beautifully written.
This is my favourite Somerset Maugham novel and I read and listened to it alternately. The listening experience was somewhat marred by the performers arch and irrepressible tone which seemed very much at odds with the story, so I gave up listening and just read the paperback edition. Brilliant book.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 04-05-22
Excellent
Good narration of a life. Excellent voice artist which certainly can make or break a good story. In this case makes it.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- comfy girl
- 05-07-21
Passion, emotion, motivation and dreams.
Wonderful writing. A deep dive into passion and emotions as well as dreams and motivations. The narration was generally good although the high pitched whining voices used for some of the female characters, particularly Mildred, bordered on a pastiche of Monty Python.
I listened to the "Moon and Sixpence" before this and Robert Hardy was certainly a much better narrator than Steven Crossley.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- robert a dannatt
- 01-22-21
A depressing story
The main character appears as a weak and troubled soul. his obsession with the prostitute is very depressing.
The narration was very annoying. the pitch and word emphasis of female characters was not realistic. narrator drops hs voice at the end of many sentences making it hard to follow.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Alison
- 01-06-19
So disappointing.
I love The Razor’s Edge but this novel leaves me cold. It seems very dated with stilted dialogue and predictable story lines. The reader’s wussy, whining characterisation of Philip hasn’t helped. The moment I get the offer of a swap, I’ll be jumping ship.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 03-19-22
Great story but annoying narrator
This is one of my favourite books but I cannot listen to this narrator any longer. Their impression of the voices of women and children is infuriating.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Douglas
- 01-16-21
True to its title
A well written tale of self realisation. Read well although one character was read in a truly irritating fashion. But then again she was a truly irritating character.
Related to this topic
-
The Razor's Edge
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great War changed everything and everyone, and Larry Darrell is no exception. Though his physical wounds from the war heal, his spirit is changed almost beyond recognition. He leaves his betrothed, the beautiful and devoted Isabel; studies philosophy and religion in Paris; lives as a monk, and witnesses the exotic hardships of Spanish life. All of life that he can find - from an Indian Ashrama to labor in a coal mine - becomes Larry's spiritual experiment as he spurns the comfort and privilege of the Roaring 20s.
-
-
An Classic of Love and the Desire for Meaning
- By Eric on 01-06-17
-
Cakes and Ale
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: James Saxon
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Cakes and Ale was first published in 1930 it roused a storm of controversy, since many people imagined they recognised portraits of literary figures now no more. It is the novel for which Maugham wished to be remembered.
-
-
Delightful
- By RueRue on 04-22-16
-
Anna of the Five Towns
- By: Arnold Bennett
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in stifled, industrial Staffordshire in the late 19th century, against a strong evangelical background, Anna of the Five Towns tells of the courting of hard businessman Ephraim Tellright's daughter by prosperous and accomplished Henry Mynors. As her father's fortune grows, so does Anna understanding. She realises her legacy and responsibility for the possible ruination of her father's tenants, Titus Price and his son, Willie, who also loves her.
By: Arnold Bennett
-
Oblomov
- By: Ivan Goncharov
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A member of the landed gentry, with a seemingly guaranteed income from his estate in the country, Oblomov lives in Petersburg, uninterested in the business that provides his living and barely aware that the revenue is diminishing. Not that he leads a dissolute life of extravagance, balls and entertainment. Instead he is a dreamer, a sybarite, content above all to spend most of the day supine, in bed. The novel opens with Oblomov thus ensconced, attended only by his dirty, grumbling, indolent servant Zahar, who has looked after him since childhood, catering to his every need.Â
-
-
funny and smart
- By Bennett Weiss on 07-29-20
By: Ivan Goncharov
-
A Room with a View
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Rebecca Hall
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this rich new audio production, acclaimed British American actress Rebecca Hall brings one of E. M. Forster's most admired works to life in this classic tale of human struggle. A charming young Englishwoman, Lucy Honeychurch, is wooed by both free-spirited George Emerson and wealthy Cecil Vyse while vacationing in Italy. Though attracted to George, Lucy becomes engaged to Cecil despite twice turning down his proposals. On hearing of the news, George confesses his love, leaving Lucy torn between marrying the more socially acceptable Cecil or George, the man she knows would bring her true happiness. Should Lucy choose social acceptance or true love?
-
-
A lovely performance, and a wonderful story
- By Robert on 01-19-19
By: E. M. Forster
-
Love
- By: Elizabeth von Arnim
- Narrated by: Eleanor Bron
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
gentle romance begins innocently enough in the stalls of a London theatre where Catherine is enjoying her ninth and Christopher his thirty-sixth visit to the same play. He is a magnificent young man with flame-coloured hair. She is the sweetest little thing in a hat. There is just one complication: Christopher is 25, while Catherine is just a little bit older. Flattered by the passionate attentions of youth, Catherine, with marriage and motherhood behind her, is at first circumspect, but finally succumbs to her lover's charms.
-
-
Sensible, touching and hilarious
- By Mitzi on 10-13-20
-
The Razor's Edge
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great War changed everything and everyone, and Larry Darrell is no exception. Though his physical wounds from the war heal, his spirit is changed almost beyond recognition. He leaves his betrothed, the beautiful and devoted Isabel; studies philosophy and religion in Paris; lives as a monk, and witnesses the exotic hardships of Spanish life. All of life that he can find - from an Indian Ashrama to labor in a coal mine - becomes Larry's spiritual experiment as he spurns the comfort and privilege of the Roaring 20s.
-
-
An Classic of Love and the Desire for Meaning
- By Eric on 01-06-17
-
Cakes and Ale
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: James Saxon
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Cakes and Ale was first published in 1930 it roused a storm of controversy, since many people imagined they recognised portraits of literary figures now no more. It is the novel for which Maugham wished to be remembered.
-
-
Delightful
- By RueRue on 04-22-16