The Burden of Human Passions

The largely autobiographical novel "The Burden of Human Passions" (1915) has made it to the list of the 100 best English-language works of the 20th century, was translated into almost all languages of the world, and was adapted for film three times. After reading it, Theodore Dreiser called Maugham a "great artist," and the book itself a "creation of genius." "The Burden of Human Passions" can be termed a "novel of education," where the author traces the life of the main character Philip Carey from childhood to adolescence, from youth to maturity. He faces numerous trials: the early death of his parents, desperate searches for his calling, doomed relationships with a frivolous woman. After undergoing several disappointments and changing his views from submission to his own passions to self-denial, Philip tries to weave the pattern of his own life thread by thread...