Carlos Alberto Alberto من عند Semenkovo, Moskovskaya oblast', روسيا، 141893
I finished “The Razor’s Edge” last evening. I found the only huge difference between the book and the movies to be the in-depth, all-night discussion Maugham and Larry had in a restaurant. That helped to answer some of the questions about Larry that the movies barely touch on. The discussion reminded me of “My Dinner with Andre” and, in fact, it seemed to end similarly, i.e., neither seemed to change the other’s perspective, which, I’m sure, wasn’t the primary intent anyway. But it was interesting to see that although both Andre and Larry each had their own sort of epiphany through the years, neither proved strong enough to sway the world view of each one’s respective listener. I found myself not swayed as well, and in that sense, the book was a bit of a letdown. I’m glad I read it as it is well-written and describes an interesting time in history, but my death anxiety remains challenged and I still agree with the assertion life is absurd. I would question whether Larry really found happiness or not. To my point of view, he’s no different than the rest of us, forced to live among people, some of which can be quite annoying or nasty. There’s nothing like running into someone from the other end of the spectrum to make one ask, “Do I really have life figured out or not?”