In 1915, W. Somerset Maugham released a book titled "Of Human Bondage." It follows Philip Carey's growth as his sadomasochistic fixation takes over his life. Although he declared, "This is a novel, not an autobiography; though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure imagination," the novel is widely regarded as Maugham's finest and to be heavily autobiographical. The title of Maugham's book, which he had first intended to entitle Beauty from Ashes, was ultimately chosen from a passage in Spinoza's Ethics. Of Human Bondage was selected No. 66 by The Modern Library among the top 100 English-language books of the 20th century. In the novel, Philip Carey develops into an impressionable young man with a ravenous hunger for knowledge and adventure from a tormented orphan with a clubfoot. At the age of 18, his cravings lead him to Paris to try his hand at art before returning to London to pursue a career in medicine. But even so, nothing can quench his persistent thirst for knowledge. Then he experiences an obsessional love affair and starts a catastrophic relationship that will alter his life for the worst. He gives up looking for happiness and chooses to accept his lot.
An English author best renowned for his plays, novels, and short stories was William Somerset Maugham. After completing his studies in England, Maugham enrolled in a university in Germany. He spent his first ten years of life in Paris, where he was born. He enrolled at a medical school in London, where he graduated with a medical degree in 1897. He stopped being a doctor and started working as a writer full-time. His first work, Liza of Lambeth (1897), a study of life in the slums, attracted attention, although he first achieved national notoriety as a playwright. He had four plays running simultaneously in London's West End by 1908. In 1933, he finished writing his 32nd and final play. Thereafter, he gave up writing plays and focused on writing novels and short tales. Of Human Bondage (1915), The Moon and Sixpence (1919), The Painted Veil (1925), Cakes and Ale (1930), and The Razor's Edge are among Maugham's books that came following Liza of Lambeth (1944). His short stories have been published in collections like The Casuarina Tree (1926) and The Mixture as Before (1940). Highbrow critics had negative reactions to his enormous popularity and sales, and many of them tried to denigrate him by calling him.
