I am not as far as that yet - maybe a quarter of the way. I agree with you about Philip - he is so very flawed and believable as a child and a very young man. I feel that Maugham was drawing a portrait of his own youthful attitudes and behaviour, and did not try to improve or romanticise himself at all.
I love the way Maugham brings his characters to life, especially the self-centredness of the Vicar: the fire was lit if he had a cold, but not if his wife had one for instance. And this:
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... after tea they played backgammon. Mrs Carey arranged that her husband should win, because he did not like losing.
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Another comment which made me smile, concerned a particularly inefficient teacher:
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In due course they were moved up, having learned little but a cheerful effrontery in the distortion of truth, which was possibly of greater service to them in after life than an ability to read Latin at sight.
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