What can you say about a book that not only points the way to God, but gives the reader an appetite to begin the journey? That's what "My Angel Named Herman" does. And as a reader I can't help but stand in amazement that in the midst of this little gem is a science lesson, a math lesson, and something that prompts the child to want to "connect up" with their heavenly Father. In its pages the child gains a respect for God's creation, and a hunger for the Creator. What a wonderful book! It will be read and reread, and passed on from generation to generation.

An amazing fictional account of Maugham's real life adventures as a spy for Great Britain during WW I. Written in Maughm's usual concise and elogant prose, these stories make the reader root for Ashenden who is nothing short of a literary James Bond. This account, written as a collection of short independent stories, shows that, when in the hands of an author with a command of the English language, suspense and intrigue can be create in a book in other ways besides stringing together one action scene after another. Simply Maugham at his best

The story set in Spain at the time of the Inquisition reveals the not so holy motives of the religious and their effects on the powerless. The basic premise, that sometimes the best laid plans go awry, is unusual in a religious context. I think it makes us re-examine our motives and come to a better understanding of divine purpose. A classic

Somerset Maugham was one of the world's most famous and widely-read writers of the early 20th Century. Now that 100 years have passed, he is hardly read at all, except for OF HUMAN BONDAGE and maybe THE MOON AND SIXPENCE. This is a major loss for booklovers, because Maugham wrote with an incomparable dignity, clarity, and insight. In THE GENTLEMAN IN THE PARLOUR, he takes his gifts to the Far East -- into a colonial world that no longer exists on the face of the earth. He experiences a way of life that we will never see again. As a small, stammering homosexual, Maugham was far from the stereotypical conquering Englishman, yet he observed all the perquisites of class and station, traveling in style as one of the first truly rich (from his writing) authors. At all times he wrote frankly and unflinchingly, before "telling it like it is" became a catchphrase. As a self-made writer who labored to achieve and maintain his craft, he also wrote with unerring elegance. His great novels are soemwhat strained, if you will, by the dictates of fiction and his publishers. GENTLEMAN IN THE PARLOUR, however, is a purer Maugham, something closer to a remarkable human personality who should be celebrated with his contemporaries D.H. Lawrence, Joseph Conrad, Henry James, and even James Joyce. Maugham saw inside the human heart as clearly as any of them, but perhaps modern audiences are not as pleased with what he saw.

Maugham got the idea for this book when he was asked by the editors of a prominent magazine to list what were, in his opinion, the ten best novels available in English. After stating that it was nonsensical to even think in terms of the ten best novels in the world, Maugham did come up with a reluctant list that became the basis for the essays in this book, one essay for each author and his novel that appeared on his final list. Today's reader is left to decide for himself or herself if this fifty year old list would be much different had it been compiled today.

In what I believe to be a moment of insight, Maugham outlined those things that he believed a novelist had a right to expect from his readers, and, conversely, what a reader had every right to expect from a novel. These insights certainly hold true today.

A novelist has the right to expect that his readers will have the ability and willingness to read and comprehend a novel of three or four hundred pages. Further, the reader should bring to the table enough imagination to be able to visualize the scenes and portraits that the novelist creates. Finally, the novelist has the right to expect his readers to have enough of what he calls sympathy, and I call empathy, to enter into the lives and emotions of his characters.

In return, a good novel should provide a widely interesting theme and a coherent and persuasive plot with a conclusion that is consistent with the beginning and middle. The individual episodes in the novel should have logical probability and should advance the main theme. The characters in a novel should be fully developed characters, and their actions and speech should be consistent with their characters.

With this in mind, Maugham proceeds to show why, since every author is an individual, flawed human being, it is impossible for a novelist or his novel to attain perfection.

Each of his essays consists of a biographical outline of the subject novelist, frequently concentrating on that novelist's weaknesses and character flaws and showing how, in spite of (or because of) these flaws, a great novel came to be written.

The biographical material, which seems to have been well researched, contains a great amount of material with which I was not familiar. This information alone makes the book well worth reading even for those readers (most of us?) who don't necessarily agree with Maugham's choices.

This book again earns Mangham's default 5 star rating. While not as significant as "Razors Edge" or The Moon and Sixpence", it is far better then "Catalina" or "Up the Villa." In this period piece set in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century Maugham borrow plots from "Cakes and Ale," "Sanitarium" and Lisa of Lambeth" in telling the story of an incestuous cabal of bourgeoisie English; exposing their spiritual hypocrisy, irrelavant internecine conflicts, and narrow minded classicism.

The numerous characters involved and developed is more reminiscent of Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" or then the authors previous works with the exception of "Cakes and Ale." However Maugham never gets overly involved with the irrelevant details, rather as master of mood he sets each character up in the first half of the book for a harsh realization of reality in the second half of the book (ala the Merry Go Round). This book demonstrates plausibly the vicissitudes of life. Readers with concrete notions of the way things should be may be shook. The virtuous sin, the dogmatic get a reality check, and the mighty fall. Classic Maugham. This book is delightful in its revelation of the scope and ambit of frail human beliefs and values.

If you like Maugham books you will like the Merry-Go-Round. There is nothing new here for the Muagham reader as far as themes and characters but it is another wonderful read and another telling statement on the human condition.

The work of British author Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), this is a supremely interesting book which explores the intricacies of the human mind through the story of man's sudden and improbable obsession with art. Based on the life of post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin and set in locations as diverse as seedier sections of Paris and the tropical splendor of Tahiti, it deals with the inexplicable urge which seemingly at random strikes some of us and leads them to leave everything and everyone they know in order to dedicate their lives to a purpose, be it religion, the love of another, art or infinite other things, which those around them little understand and often disdain. Maugham's masterfully crafted prose is an added treat. This is a must-read which will spiritually enrich anyone who peruses it.

This book was a pure joy to read. Even though it's meant for children, I received it as a gift and intend to read it to my daughter when she's old enough to understand. The person who gave the book to me knew that I, like you, would appreciate the dreamlike environment in which the book is set. It makes for a golden-threaded background for another lesson based on the golden rule--with a twist. Instead of "Do Unto Others As You Would Be Treated", it's more of a "Do As They Want to Be Treated."

The words used and the way the story is told keeps the tale alive and interesting for both adults and children. (Adults in particular would enjoy the "knowing way" in which certain descriptions are slipped in.)

The current polar explorer Ann Bancroft said she was first inspired to visit Antarctica after the breathtaking pictures and reports of Shackleton's attempts to cross that continent. As she attempts to become part of the first women's team to traverse Antarctica she is passing by Shackleton's Glacier and must be remembering his team and their efforts. The actual photographs of Shackleton's ship in the book Spirit of Endurance and the reproduction paintings of each adventure and challenge they faced draw the reader into the tale. Students are fascinated by the hardships the men encountered and endured. The decision regarding the fate of their sled dogs was as heartbreaking to the reader as it must have been to the men of Endurance. The remarkable heroism and perseverence of Shackleton and his crew is an inspiration to the adventurers in all of us.

His short stories whetted my appetite for good reading as I was learning the subtle nuances of English language as an adolescent in 1970s. Like healthy food healthy books also need some effort at resisting junk while cultivation of a taste is ongoing in one's reading adolescence. English was only a second language for me after Oriya those days. One of my favorites is "Bookbag", where a British Colonial Civil Servant survives his outpost reading books and late delivery periodicals in chronological order.(Like watching a video tape of a soap opera in right order) I sought out all his books as well as books about him. One of them called "Somerset and all the Maughams" is written by his nephew Robin Maugham. In that he also mentions about a maternal uncle of Somerset Maugham, a black sheep named Charles Snell, who died an untimely death in Cuttack,a town in eastern India where I happened to spend a good part of my youth. I found his tomb stone in a cemetary known to locals as white mans' burial ground. Each epitaph in that cemetary may as well be spun into a Maugham story. Hope his books start to sell at Airports or train station bookstalls again. I think he is one of the most under-rated literary prodigies of last century. Do any English Professors teach his books in a undergraduate class ? Unfortunately the period and locales described by Maugham are rapidly being dismembered by the tramplings of human civilization. Hope reprints of his short stories like this; will keep them alive in the imagination of generations to come, at the least.