The existential side of inner seeking, which appealed to another part of me as an adolescent. The war-traumatized pilot Larry Darrell was my first encounter with a character who walks away from conventional social life to find inner meaning. I suppose you could say that Maugham waves a sparkler at the start of the spiritual journey. Materialism and money-grubbing get a bashing, which is worth thinking about today.

This book is set between the world wars and is the honest telling of how someone gains maturity. The main character, Larry Darrell, is on a search for the absolute—he wants things to be black and white—while his fiancée has to figure out if she wants money or if she wants his love. I couldn't imagine making her choice, but she would crash and burn if she didn't choose what she did. I was in my early 20s at the time I read this. I was with the wrong guy and could have used that same self-awareness. I actually have this book on my Kindle. I've been rereading books that have meant something to me, trying to figure out if they still resonate and why. There's something very luxurious about going back to things you've read before, and I'm interested to see what I find in The Razor's Edge this time around.