• W. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge, part 1: Nobody loafs like Larry

  • May 8 2024
  • Length: 39 mins
  • Podcast

W. Somerset Maugham's The Razor's Edge, part 1: Nobody loafs like Larry

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  • Summary

  • Cracking into the first three chapters of Maugham's 1944 spiritual odyssey.

    Why do we love Larry so much? Rich talks about his own years of loafing around. Is Larry's decision to take a step off the beaten path less admirable given his 'trifling' $54,000 inflation-adjusted stipend?

    Talking about the spergy drive to collect All the Knowledge, and how to think about which problems to work on. Is the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake a noble activity, or should we actually be building stuff in the world?

    CHAPTERS

    • (00:00:00) Synopsis
    • (00:02:18) Everyone loves Larry
    • (00:06:26) The perils of stepping off the beaten path
    • (00:09:30) Larry the trust fund kid
    • (00:12:34) Pursuit of knowledge vs building stuff
    • (00:20:00) How to choose which problems to work on?
    • (00:26:00) Larry as mythic Siddhartha figure
    • (00:28:00) Sex as a brief respite from 10 hours of reading
    • (00:33:04) Maugham’s style and Herman Hesse comparison
    • (00:37:01) Predictions for how Larry’s journey plays out
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