W.Somerset Maughan - Worth it?

The_Minister

I just found a book containing 5 of Maughans books in it, and, given his fame, I was going to let him skip my book queue (am currently reading every single Arthur C. Clarke short story, next in line is Conan Doyle's).
Should I?
Is he a must-read?

randomguy

Of Human Bondage is well worth the time and effort. It's one of those books that everyone should read, but especially people in their late teens and early twenties (semi-autobiographical novel, similar to Portrait of the Artist, the Way of All Flesh etc).

He also wrote a huge amount of short stories set in the last years of British colonialism in the far east, which I remember as being fairly interesting but without the impact of "Of Human Bondage". Worth dipping into - there are always collections in print.

Not sure about the novels.

The_Minister

The books in the collection are:

Cakes and Ale
The Painted Veil
Liza of Lambeth
The Razor's Edge
Theatre
The Moon and Sixpence