During World War I, pilot Larry met an Irish comrade who died trying to protect him. Facing the cold corpses of his comrades, Larry had doubts about life for the first time: "When people die, they really die completely."
After the war, Larry did not go to college to complete his studies, find a decent job after graduation, get married and have children, as everyone expected. The ultimate search for life made him leave everything behind, starting from Paris, traveling around the world, and walking on the path of self-cultivation following the thoughts of selflessness and renunciation.
He has no ambitions and no desire for fame and wealth; no matter what kind of social celebrity he becomes, he is disgusted; therefore, he may be very satisfied with the life he has chosen, and it is enough to just be himself.
Reader comments
The collision between ideal and reality can be seen everywhere in this book, but the master's precise writing style makes pursuing ideals no longer seem childish and ridiculous, and being content with reality is no longer full of vulgarity.
Both are inevitable concepts of real existence, just like the entanglement of good and evil, verifying their own existence because of the existence of the other. They are one and the same, inseparable.
Everyone has something they have to stick to. Even though they both pursue spiritual satisfaction, Larry and Sophie have taken completely different paths. After the idealist's spiritual world is shattered, can they rebuild it again with their own strength?
Larry can do it, but Sophie can't. She can only die as a martyr in pursuit of the stability of destruction.
The realities of Isa and Susanna are also subtly different. Perhaps Susanna has a gentleness that Isa does not have, but she can still be stupid and blessed.
When God closes a door, he always opens a window.
So no matter how you want to live, you have to ask your own heart.
Because no matter what kind of life you choose, it will be accompanied by its own unique pain and suffering.
Instead of being discouraged by the pain of fantasy, it is better to be brave once. Even if you fail, you will die and return to the eternal universe.
The content is profound. The protagonist Larry has been baptized by war, witnessed death, and has become confused and pondered about the meaning of life. In order to explore the truth of life, Larry breaks the secular meaning of success, does what he likes, experiences different life experiences, and gains his own experience of life. Reading Larry opened my mind to life. Life can still be lived this way. If you want to be free, don't be bound. Life can't have both. If you want to be free and do whatever you want, you need to give up success in the traditional sense, such as pursuing career, wealth, love, social interaction, etc. To return to peace of mind and happiness, you have to look inward.
Everyone has two sides, and throughout his life, he has to confront and reconcile with his other self.
Maugham transformed this self into Larry, and through his mouth, he uttered a series of soul-searching dialogues, opening up the rich and deep inner world for readers.
What does the title of the book "The Blade" mean?
In my humble opinion, the so-called blade is exactly the way Larry walks in troubled times——
With her pure and sharp kindness, she cuts through the indifference and numbness around her,
It set off a series of silent but profound echoes in the world.
The process of finding true knowledge and saving oneself is difficult, just like walking on a sharp blade, so it is difficult for a wise man to speak the truth.
In 8 days and 12 hours, I watched Maugham's "The Knife" and I watched his famous "The Moon and Sixpence". Of course it was shocking, but the two gave me completely different shocks.
Also with a male protagonist, Blade has more and fuller characters, and the storyline is more fascinating (Isabel, Gray, Sophie, etc. Represent different values); the philosophical thinking is deeper, and Maugham's mood in his later years is more peaceful and tolerant; it has real character prototypes.
"Moon": After Strickland's death, the murals were burned according to his will, leaving behind artistic legends and human controversies; emphasizing that the purity of ideals can be costly.
• "The Blade": Larry does not seek fame or fortune, lives a peaceful life, and helps others silently; to convey spiritual awakening, one does not have to stay away from the world, and reconciliation is more difficult and more powerful than confrontation.
I read the original work from "fan fiction" and used the "fan fiction" character filter to support me in reading this 200,000-word high-scoring novel, and read it as a romance novel. In addition to the protagonist Larry, other characters in the novel have also been pursuing something, and each of them has also written what is ultimately said at the end of the text "an out-and-out story about success." Although this is a relatively clichéd story, Maugham's few strokes do have the ability to convince you that this is a fateful choice made entirely based on the logic of the character's own behavior.
This book is very interesting! I like Larry's search for the meaning of life. He gave up his conventional life to find his inner truth. There is no ups and downs in the book, but the thinking about human nature and philosophy fascinated me. However, I don't really like a certain character in it, I think he is a bit hypocritical. Overall, this is a thought-provoking book and well worth reading.
Maugham's works always make people feel comfortable when reading them, and it is easy to sympathize with the characters in the books. My current idea is to read it a second time.
Classic is classic
Mark. Finished reading.
When I first started reading, I felt it was too delicate.
After reading it, I let go of my so-called arrogance of wanting to save face. Be truly tolerant. In this world, what people pursue is different.
The collision between ideal and reality can be seen everywhere in this book, but the master's precise writing style makes pursuing ideals no longer seem childish and ridiculous, and being content with reality is no longer full of vulgarity. Both are inevitable concepts of real existence, just like the entanglement of good and evil, verifying their own existence because of the existence of the other. They are one and the same, inseparable. Everyone has something they have to stick to. Even though they both pursue spiritual satisfaction, Larry and Sophie have taken completely different paths. After the idealist's spiritual world is shattered, can they rebuild it again with their own strength? Larry can do it, but Sophie can't. She can only die as a martyr in pursuit of the stability of destruction. The realities of Isa and Susanna are also subtly different. Perhaps Susanna has a gentleness that Isa does not have, but she can still be stupid and blessed. When God closes a door, he always opens a window. So no matter how you want to live, you have to ask your own heart. Because no matter what kind of life you choose, it will be accompanied by its own unique pain and suffering. Instead of being discouraged by the pain of fantasy, it is better to be brave once. Even if you fail, you will die and return to the eternal universe.
The content is profound. The protagonist Larry has been baptized by war, witnessed death, and has become confused and pondered about the meaning of life. In order to explore the truth of life, Larry breaks the secular meaning of success, does what he likes, experiences different life experiences, and gains his own experience of life. Reading Larry opened my mind to life. Life can still be lived this way. If you want to be free, don't be bound. Life can't have both. If you want to be free and do whatever you want, you need to give up success in the traditional sense, such as pursuing career, wealth, love, social interaction, etc. To return to peace of mind and happiness, you have to look inward.
Everyone has two sides, and throughout his life, he has to confront and reconcile with his other self. Maugham transformed this self into Larry, and through his mouth, he uttered a series of soul-searching dialogues, opening up the rich and deep inner world for readers. What does the title of the book "The Blade" mean? In my humble opinion, the so-called blade is exactly the way Larry walks in troubled times—— With her pure and sharp kindness, she cuts through the indifference and numbness around her, It set off a series of silent but profound echoes in the world. The process of finding true knowledge and saving oneself is difficult, just like walking on a sharp blade, so it is difficult for a wise man to speak the truth.
In 8 days and 12 hours, I watched Maugham's "The Knife" and I watched his famous "The Moon and Sixpence". Of course it was shocking, but the two gave me completely different shocks. Also with a male protagonist, Blade has more and fuller characters, and the storyline is more fascinating (Isabel, Gray, Sophie, etc. Represent different values); the philosophical thinking is deeper, and Maugham's mood in his later years is more peaceful and tolerant; it has real character prototypes. "Moon": After Strickland's death, the murals were burned according to his will, leaving behind artistic legends and human controversies; emphasizing that the purity of ideals can be costly. • "The Blade": Larry does not seek fame or fortune, lives a peaceful life, and helps others silently; to convey spiritual awakening, one does not have to stay away from the world, and reconciliation is more difficult and more powerful than confrontation.
I read the original work from "fan fiction" and used the "fan fiction" character filter to support me in reading this 200,000-word high-scoring novel, and read it as a romance novel. In addition to the protagonist Larry, other characters in the novel have also been pursuing something, and each of them has also written what is ultimately said at the end of the text "an out-and-out story about success." Although this is a relatively clichéd story, Maugham's few strokes do have the ability to convince you that this is a fateful choice made entirely based on the logic of the character's own behavior.
This book is very interesting! I like Larry's search for the meaning of life. He gave up his conventional life to find his inner truth. There is no ups and downs in the book, but the thinking about human nature and philosophy fascinated me. However, I don't really like a certain character in it, I think he is a bit hypocritical. Overall, this is a thought-provoking book and well worth reading.
Maugham's works always make people feel comfortable when reading them, and it is easy to sympathize with the characters in the books. My current idea is to read it a second time.
Classic is classic
Mark. Finished reading.
When I first started reading, I felt it was too delicate.
After reading it, I let go of my so-called arrogance of wanting to save face. Be truly tolerant. In this world, what people pursue is different.
The level of detail is well handled, a great book