Reviews

An older english style novel that sucks you in and never quite let's you go. Leaving you with a certain heart break and yearning that never leaves you.

angelreadsthings's review against another edition

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3.0

3 1/2 Stars. Maugham has once again created a story that has carved a firm place in my heart. His comprehension of human duality and of the distance between different people groups is shown so brilliantly through Charley's exploits in Paris that one cannot but consider how these facts affect their own world. The word choice was superbly fitted to the novel, and each chapter ending filled me with a sense of contemplative satisfaction. Although there were moments when his zealous use of summary piqued my impatience, his ability to infuse even the most tedious recollections with distinct voices made the bridges between scenes worthwhile and even the minor characters more realistic. With its questions of human relations, desire, understanding of others, and understanding of self, this was the perfect novel with which to start my Christmas holiday.

sophiaeck's review against another edition

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3.0

interesting take on class disparity and how the upper class can parade around with lower class people in lower class establishments but they will never truly understand the difference and the struggle and are only ever merely visitors in these situations. charley sees these people as characters in his story and sees their suffering as character building for himself almost, and then leaves them to this suffering, going back to his upper class family and lifestyle, somewhat unchanged from the experience, while these people he had dalliances continue to live in their complicated and tragic lives, an ignorance of the upper class and merely fodder for their stories. i mean ? interesting story and good writing, my first maugham, not sure if this was the best place to start but the title deemed it a seasonal read (it’s not really.) my thoughts for the most part come down to this; why read about charley and simon when i could listen to carley simon? period

caseykoester39's review against another edition

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4.0

I have a vintage hardback copy of this book that I bought years ago in an antique shop. I picked it up to read over the holidays since the title is Christmas-themed. But wow... what a moving story and definitely not the fluffy Christmas story I was expecting.

It introduces a middle class young British man (Charley) in the 1930s by illustrating the myriad of quiet luxuries he enjoys. As a person of privilege myself, it was at first not apparent why Maugham took such pains to lay out this man's life with exacting detail. While on holiday in Paris, Charley reconnects with an old school friend (Simon) who takes him to some of the more questionable areas in Paris. He finds his friend much changed - hard, unemotional, manipulating people just to see what will happen.

At a disreputable brothel, Simon introduces Charley to a mysterious young Russian woman (Lydia). Through a series of situations where Charley's innate kindness takes charge, he invites the young woman to stay in his hotel room for the the duration of his stay - platonically. During the course of the days spent together, Lydia unashamedly shares the hardships of her life with Charley in a matter-of-fact way which shakes him to his core.

In the end, he is forever changed by the experiences in Paris because he was forced to confront his privilege on a profound level never before considered.

The story just blew me away. We are the products of our environments, but that doesn't mean we can't change or should judge one another because of it. This highlighted for me how much more work I have to do on myself to understand those around me.

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