'Of Human Bondage' is a largely autobiographical novel by Somerset Maugham. It has been translated into nearly every language and adapted for film three times, and was included in the list of the 100 best English-language works of the 20th century. After reading this novel, Theodore Dreiser called Maugham 'a great artist' and his book 'a work of genius.'

'Of Human Bondage' can be called a 'novel of educating,' in which the author follows the life of the protagonist Philip Carey from childhood to adolescence, from youth to maturity.
He faces many trials: the early death of his parents, a desperate search for his calling in the world, a doomed relationship with a frivolous woman. Having endured many disappointments, changing his views, from submission to his own passions to self-denial, Philip tries to weave the pattern of his own life thread by thread...