Comparison of the books Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry and Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham. Contains spoilers. I read Jane Eyre and Anna Karenina back-to-back with the purpose of comparing them. Ironically, I did not plan on comparing the next two books I read, nor did I expect them to be so uncannily similar. Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry is the story of a boy becoming a man and how he immortalizes his suffering. It is a story of community lost due to progressive thought and industrialism, and of the lonely man. It is written to stir the senses toward empathy, perhaps somewhat toward apathy, but the light is tinted. Jayber Crow's story is not happy story, although he falsely believes himself to be happy. Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham follows the life of Philip Carey, of his search to find meaning and focus, and how he repeatedly succumbs to man's nature to the desire of treasuring suffering above goodness. I shared most o...