I read Somerset Maugham when I was young but probably never got around to "The Razor's Edge." At least I don't remember reading it. It's more sophisticated than I recall Maugham being: a novel disguised as a memoir. But the topic is what drew me.
It centers around a man, Larry Darrell, who goes to India to find peace after being traumatized in World War I. Here's a passage from the novel -- a conversation between Larry and the narrator after Larry has returned from India:
"He listened to me with his eyes fixed on my face in a meditative, unblinking gaze that suggested to me, I don't know why, that he was listening to me not with his ears, but with some inner more sensitive organ of hearing. It was queer and not very comfortable."
The Gaze.
This passage occurs about half-way through. I'll have more to say when I've finished.
