Of Human Bondage

Very beautifully written. Genuinely enjoyed every page of it.

I liked The Razor’s Edge quite a bit, so I was excited to read this. But this turned out to be one of the most tedious, aggravating books I’ve experienced. I have neither sympathy for, nor interest in, the main character; it was grating to spend time with him. And none of the other characters is given any development beyond his tiresome viewpoints. Nor is there any real plot, or anything else to distract you. (To be clear: I’m fine with character-based books that don’t have much plot, but they have to have interesting characters.) The tolerable mediocrity of the final few chapters came as a great relief, but certainly not a redemption. If I weren’t responsible for facilitating a book-club discussion on this, there is no chance I ever would have bothered finishing it. Highly, highly do not recommend.