On Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

Title: On Human Bondage/1915
Author: W. Somerset Maugham
ISBN: 055321392X
Publisher: Bantam Classics
Pages: 712

I have had it in my TBR pile for very long. I read it for the 24 hour read-a-thon. It is a big tome of a book and needs concentration to go through it. Philip Carey who is born club footed, is orphaned at the age of nine. His Uncle, a vicar brings him up. The couple are middle aged and do not have children. So they do not know how to deal with him. We see that Philip gets adjusted to his surroundings fast enough. Once he discovers reading, there is no stopping him.

He is sent to a school, where he does not finish the final year and leaves for Heidelberg and then Paris where he wishes to be an artist. He comes back to London and gets enrolled into medicines to be a doctor like his late father. Here he meets Mildred, a shop girl and is enslaved to her. His love for her is obssessive, without any rhyme or reason. She is not worth any of the anguish he goes through for her. She is exploitive and manipulative. He despite knowing the facts cannot escape his deep desire and passion for her.

This novel is about sexual obssession, a journey into self awareness and self discovery. Philip does realise his own self worth and finds true love. He is club footed. In no way it deters us from loving him. We are exasperated by his obssession for Mildred. We wish for him to get over it.

On Human Bondage is truly one of the greatest novel written in th 20th century, and is a work of genius. Any one who is in a self-discovery path can relate to this book instantly.