The 1984 film "The Razor's Edge" was a remake of an earlier classic
film and based on the Somerset Maugham novel. In the '84 version, Bill
Murray's character Larry Darrell is given a book called "The
Upanishads." This is a major turning point for him, as he soon
journeys to India based on what he has read in this book.

My question is this: Is this a real book or was it made up? If it is
real, who wrote it and where can I obtain a copy?

Dear merubin75-ga 

It certainly is real. The Upanishads are ancient Indian mystical and
philosophical treatises in prose and verse inquiring into the nature
of the Divine Principle and means of salvation. They are the essence
of Hindi philosophy.  They have also played an important part of
Western thought. Nothing is known about the authors but they may date
from about 700B.C.,  although several sites give different dates.

There are numerous sites dealing with the subject. These are two from
which you download the translated text:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/upan/upinvol1.htm
http://sanatan.intnet.mu/ (click on the Upanishads link at the bottom
after reading the introduction)

Or you could visit amazon.co.uk where there are 5 pages of books on
the subject including translations.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/12517/ref%3Dbr%5Fdp%5F/104-0254478-2145565

Other useful sources include:
http://www.digiserve.com/mystic/Hindu/Upanishads/
http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/avhp/upanishad.html
Remaining sites can be found using the link below in the search
strategy.

Please for clarification of any part of the answer or if the links do
not work.
 
answerfinder-ga

Search strategy
Upanishads
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Upanishads
Upanishads amazon
://www.google.com/search?q=Upanishads+amazon&btnG=Google+Search&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

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Clarification of Answer by answerfinder-ga on 28 Oct 2002 09:55 PST

Dear merubin75-ga,
Thank you for your rating and the tip.
Glad I could be of help.
answerfinder-ga

Excellent! This is quite complete and thorough. Thank you!