The Razor's Edge
by William Somerset Maugham · first published 1944
80% recommend20% neutral
This novel, supposedly based on the life of an acquaintance of Maugham, follows the fortunes of an American pilot who, traumatized by war, rejects his former conventional life to search for a more meaningful existence. After studying in Paris for two years he decides to travel, taking various menial jobs. Although being influenced by some of the people he meets it is not until he reaches India that he begins to find peace.
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I would add The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham to this list as well. The problem with 'living up to your expectations' is that too often it's about material goods that are unbelievably fleeting and temporary. This book, followed…
on “I thought I’d have accomplished a lot more today and also before I was 35 (2020)” ↗…for my mental health and well-being. If you feel like you are compensated appropriately for what you're doing, don't worry about gaming the system. Just be happy with your life. Have you ever read The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham?
on “Employees who stay in companies longer than two years get paid 50% less (2014)” ↗…Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street, by William Poundstone. Ties together the common quests of pioneers of information theory, investors, and degenerate gamblers and mobsters. Fiction The Razor's Edge, Somerset Maugham. A case study of ways in which different types of motivation can dominate different people in constructive and destructive ways. The Jewel in the Crown, by Paul Scott. In each chapter,…
on “Ask HN: Good books?” ↗…Bible/Quran, The Republic (Plato), The Social Contract (Rousseau), Tao Te Ching (Laozi), Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky), History of the Peloponnesian War (Thucydides) Newer Stuff: Nine Stories (Salinger), The Razor's Edge (Maugham), Nausea (Sartre), Siddartha (Hesse), Road to Serfdom (Hayek), The Book (Watts), Design of Everyday Things (Norman), Atlas Shrugged (Rand), Invisible Man (Ellison), Debunking Economics (Keen),…
on “Ask HN: What books do you wish your manager would read?” ↗The Razor's Edge by Somerset Maugham is in this category.
on “Single psilocybin dose may make lasting personality change” ↗…give me ten million dollars so I can stop coming to work. People who have specific, 'work-ish' goals in their personal lives sort of weird me out. I don't know why. Something, something Maugham's The Razor's Edge.
on “How to say no, for the people pleaser who always says yes” ↗If you liked Razor's Edge I would highly recommend Maugham's magnus opus, Of Human Bondage. That book blew me away.
on “The greatest role of Bill Murray’s life has been playing Bill Murray” ↗