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Title: The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham ISBN: 0-14-018595-X Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 August, 1978 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.27 (11 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A literate page turner
Comment: Maugham's elegant prose, his mastery of dialog, and his uncanny ability to sketch living, breathing, three dimensional characters in a few sentences serve him well in this gripping tale of the life and crimes of the evil Oliver Haddo and the handful of unlucky naïfs who fall under his spell in Paris at the turn of the last century.
Unlike many of Maugham's other novels, the appeal of "The Magician" owes as much to the tight plotting as to the characterizations. In particular, the character of the deliciously wicked Oliver Haddo, based on the infamous Aleister Crowley, "the wickedest man alive," jumps off the page. However, like Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (a book that in structure "The Magician" resembles more than a little) the plot can sag slightly when the villain is off-stage. Luckily, this is never for more than a handful of pages.
Still surprisingly fresh and readable nearly a hundred years after its first publication, this book will appeal as much to the literate horror fan as to the typical "Twentieth Century Classics" reader.
Rating: 3
Summary: mysterious, interesting - but a bit too static characters
Comment: This is the story about a beautiful young girl named Margaret, her friend Susie and Arthur Burdon - Margareth's guardian and fiancée. They are in Paris, preparing the wedding of Arthur and Margaret, when they meet the strange Oliver Haddo. He is introduced to them by Dr Porhoët, a friend of Arthurs'. Haddo is an eccentric character who is deeply occupied with occult mysteries and perhaps has dark powers of his own (or is he joking?)
Arthur and Margaret take an instant dislike to Haddo, and when he and Arthur become enemies, strange things begin to happen...
Soon the sensible and rational Arthur finds himself in way over his head in mysteries, when he tries to save the woman he loves from a truly horrible fate!
The story is interesting and haunting, but the characters are a bit too rigid for my taste, and - except for Haddo - without much nuance. I'm aware that the themes they represent are the main focus of the novel, but I would have liked more "3 dimensional" characters (again except for Haddo).
The plot is well constructed and interesting, and the explorations of the dark arts and it's practises are fascinating!
I won't reveal too much of the story here, as it takes some interesting twists and turns along the way! A nice read for a rainy day, if you like suspense and mystery mixed with love and occultism!
Rating: 5
Summary: Complex and perceptive
Comment: This novel is based on a character whom Somerset Maugham met in Paris in 1897 called Aleistair Crowley. He was a liar, a boastful man and a voluminous writer of mediocre verse. He was also dabbing in Satanism, magic and occult. He inspired Somerset Maugham and served as a model for Oliver Haddo in "The Magician".
Arthur Burdon, surgeon of St Luke's in London, has just arrived in Paris to study the methods of the French operators. But he has also come there to see Margaret Dauncy with whom he is in love. It is Dr Porhoët, a lifetime friend of Arthur's, who introduces him to Oliver Haddo. This obese, fleshy-faced man with an imposing paunch claims to be a magician. At a dinner party, the guests can hardly believe the stories told by this charlatan. They wonder whether he is an impostor or a madman and how much he really believes what he says. Does he deceive himself or is he laughing up his sleeve at the madness of those who take him seriously? To Arthur's bewilderment, as he is about to marry Margaret, she falls under the spell of Oliver Haddo and flees with him. Yet Arthur can hardly picture into what abyss of horror and evil Margaret will be driven.
A complex and perceptive novel. The theme of evil is perfectly woven into a story stunning for its action and vivid characters.
I recommend the audio version from Audible.com. Listening to Frederick Davidson reading "The Magician" is a pure delight!
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Title: Mrs. Craddock (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by W. Somerset Maugham ISBN: 0140185941 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1979 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Liza of Lambeth (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by W. Somerset Maugham ISBN: 0140185933 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1992 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Razor's Edge by W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM ISBN: 1400034205 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 09 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Up at the Villa by W. Somerset Maugham, Somerset Maugham ISBN: 0375724621 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 04 April, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Moon and Sixpence (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by W. Somerset Maugham ISBN: 0140185976 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 1977 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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