The Magician (Large Print Edition) (Paperback)(Large Print)

from uvula_fr_b4

The Magician is apparently an exception that proves the rule to Somerset Maugham's usual oeuvre: a sensational, proto-pulp (or a neo-gothic) thriller that, after a deliberate build-up, actually delivers in its hellzapoppin payoff. Stuffy and unimaginative English surgeon Arthur Burdon travels to ...

from CarltonC

I enjoyed this rather melodramatic and contrived novel, written in 1908 about magic and the occult in Edwardian England/Paris. It does have some dated prose and it tends to heap on the detail in rather list like form at times. Margaret is rather contrived and the author never convinces us why sh...

from la2bkk

I was a bit disappointed in this short work. Perhaps it was inevitable given my expectations after reading Of Human Bondage. In any case, while the story was interesting and read well (as do most of Maugham's efforts), the work lacked any real depth and read more like a dime store novel than a se...

from fig2

An unsettling contrast of sweet ordinariness and unhinged evil. Creepy.

from CarltonC

I enjoyed this rather melodramatic and contrived novel, written in 1908 about magic and the occult in Edwardian England/Paris. It does have some dated prose and it tends to heap on the detail in rather list like form at times. Margaret is rather contrived and the author never convinces us why she...