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Zusatztext "The modern writer who has influenced me the most." - George Orwell "One of my favourite writers." - Gabriel Garcia Marquez "A writer of great dedication." - Graham Greene Informationen zum Autor William Somerset Maugham, famous as novelist, playwright and short-story writer, was born in 1874, and lived in Paris until he was ten. He was educated at King's School, Canterbury, and at Heidelberg University. He spent some time at St. Thomas' Hospital with a view to practising medicine, but the success of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth , published in 1897, won him over to letters. Of Human Bondage , the first of his masterpieces, came out in 1915, and with the publication in 1919 of The Moon and Sixpence his reputation as a novelist was established. His position as a successful playwright was being consolidated at the same time. His first play, A Man of Honour , was followed by a series of successes just before and after World War I, and his career in the theatre did not end until 1933 with Sheppey . His fame as a short story writer began with The Trembling of a Leaf , subtitled Little Stories of the South Sea Islands , in 1921, after which he published more than ten collections. His other works include travel books such as On a Chinese Screen , and Don Fernando , essays, criticism, and the autobiographical The Summing Up and A Writer's Notebook . In 1927, he settled in the south of France, and lived there until his death in 1965. Klappentext Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time "It is very difficult for a writer of my generation, if he is honest, to pretend indifference to the work of Somerset Maugham," wrote Gore Vidal. "He was always so entirely there." Originally published in 1915, Of Human Bondage is a potent expression of the power of sexual obsession and of modern man's yearning for freedom. This classic bildungsroman tells the story of Philip Carey, a sensitive boy born with a clubfoot who is orphaned and raised by a religious aunt and uncle. Philip yearns for adventure, and at eighteen leaves home, eventually pursuing a career as an artist in Paris. When he returns to London to study medicine, he meets the androgynous but alluring Mildred and begins a doomed love affair that will change the course of his life. There is no more powerful story of sexual infatuation, of human longing for connection and freedom. "Here is a novel of the utmost importance," wrote Theodore Dreiser on publication. "It is a beacon of light by which the wanderer may be guided. . . . One feels as though one were sitting before a splendid Shiraz of priceless texture and intricate weave, admiring, feeling, responding sensually to its colors and tones." With an Introduction by Gore Vidal Commentary by Theodore Dreiser and Graham GreeneI THE DAY broke grey and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow. A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the curtains. She glanced mechanically at the house opposite, a stucco house with a portico, and went to the child's bed. 'Wake up, Philip,' she said. She pulled down the bed-clothes, took him in her arms, and carried him downstairs. He was only half awake. 'Your mother wants you,' she said. She opened the door of a room on the floor below and took the child over to a bed in which a woman was lying. It was his mother. She stretched out her arms, and the child nestled by her side. He did not ask why he had been awakened. The woman kissed his eyes, and with thin, small hands felt the warm body through his white flannel nightgown. She pressed him closer to herself. 'Are you sleepy, darling?' she said. Her voice was so weak that it seemed to come already from a great distance. The chi...
