W. Somerset Maugham really did not like women, did he?

 

So far, all of the women we have been introduced to in this novel were either cruel, silly, jealous, full of intrigue, cold, or ugly. 

 

Mrs. Garstin is even described as the archetypal Lady Macbeth.

 

The men on the other hand, seem to be far more interesting, complex, well turned out, intelligent, and sensitive, and put-upon by the women in their lives.

 

I am not expecting to love this book, but I am intrigued enough to find out more about WSM's writing. I haven't read anything by him since high school and this particular book has been on my kindle for years. 

 

Btw, a quick note to my fellow Agathytes: 

 

The main character in this is Walter Fane. I wonder if Dame Agatha had read this and liked the name enough to use it again (in Sleeping Murder). 

“Dicono che recitare è soltanto finzione. Questa finzione è la sola realtà”

  

Suo padre è il più bell’uomo d’Inghilterra, sua madre la più brava attrice. L’unico desiderio di Roger si chiama “realtà”.

Non li rimprovera, tuttavia il loro modo di vivere gli ha tolto la possibilità di credere in qualsiasi cosa.

Il ragazzo ricorda un episodio alla madre:

«Una sera, da ragazzino, avrò avuto quattordici anni, stavo tra le quinte a vederti recitare. Doveva essere una bella scena, tu dicevi le tue battute con tanta sincerità e quello che dicevi era così commovente che mi venne da piangere. Ero tutto sovreccitato, mi sentivo, non so come dire, elevato. Partecipavo alla tua sofferenza, mi sentivo un piccolo eroe; mi pareva che mai più avrei fatto un’azione bassa, meschina. E poi tu sei venuta in fondo alla scena, vicino a dov’ero io, con le lacrime che ti colavano sul viso; e dando la schiena al pubblico hai detto al direttore di scena, con la tua voce normale: cosa diavolo combina l’elettricista? gli avevo detto di togliere la luce blu. E un istante dopo ti sei girata verso il pubblico con un grido di angoscia e hai continuato la scena».

Julia replica:

«Tesoro, ma era una recita. Se un’attrice sentisse davvero le emozioni che rappresenta andrebbe in pezzi. Ricordo bene quella scena. Faceva crollare il teatro. Non ho mai avuto tanti applausi in vita mia».

Roger invece s’è sentito deriso, imbrogliato da questa madre inesistente, da questa donna ch’è solo le innumerevoli parti che ha interpretato.

 

Recitare è arte, e l’arte si crea. Nasce dalle vite di uomini e donne, dalle loro più piccole emozioni che prendono forma e sostanza in una dimensione nuova, dove illusione è il pubblico, realtà gli attori. L’attore è emblema del “trambusto vano e confuso che chiamano vita”.

La realtà inizia là, dove termina la quinta e comincia la scena. Fino a quando cala il sipario, e un altro si leva. Ben più grande, con un cast immenso, in una commedia senza fine.

Ecco l’ultimo trillo: “Pronti per andare in scena!”

'Cakes and Ale' has our narrator, as usual, a thinly veiled Maugham, reflecting on his memories and experiences with a recently deceased elder-statesmen novelist and his first wife, Rosie. When a writer of popular historical romances assigns himself the role of biographer, with Driffield's second and more respectable wife's blessing, he asks our narrator for the details of the marriage, but he isn't interested in the full story. Rosie was an out-sized character and inspired many of her husband's early writing, but she doesn't leave an appropriate impression on her former husband's legacy.

The novel was as casually elegant as I should expect a work by Maugham to be. It was also more optimistic. The positive messages in the In the 'The Razor's Edge' and 'The Moon and Sixpence' were undercut by the unhappiness of those left behind by their protagonists. Here, our narrator seems more upset at the inconvenience Rosie and Driffield's relationship caused himself then anything else.

Not that this should be overlooked, Maugham uses the novel to meditate on the meaning of fame in literature, how it comes about and how legacy's are maintained. The hypocrisy of the guardians of respectability is given ample room to display itself. To be honest, I most enjoyed the lingering descriptions of interiors and the Edwardian perspective of Rosie's modern attitudes towards sex and love.

A short bonbon from Maugham. Maugham himself calls it a novelette, but it's really a novella, 30,364 words (I counted them).

Anyway, a young and fabulously beautiful widow, Mary Panton, has gotten away from London and memories of a bad marriage and is living in the Italian villa of some friends, in the hills above Florence. It's a relatively idle life, filled with reading, hanging out in the garden, and parties.

Sir Edgar Swift, an ambitions "Empire builder" who is 24 years her senior, is about to be shipped off to India. He asks Mary to marry him and come along. She requests a few days to think things over.

While she is thinking, she runs into Rowley Flint, a notorious bounder. She successfully repels Rowley's attentions, multiple times, but still, apparently, some kind of bond is formed.

On the way home one night, she finds an impoverished Austrian refugee, Karl Richter, an art student. She thinks to give him one great gift, an evening of wining, dining, and herself. When Richter understands that she did it only out of compassion, and not love, he kills himself. Mary calls on Rowley to help dispose of the body and clean up the mess in her sitting room.

Naturally, there are a few more complications involving Rowley and Sir Edgar. A cute, engaging story, well worth one's time.

This book chronicles the life of Phillip, from orphaned young boy to around thirty, set in the late 19th century and yet the story is so exquisitely told that a much longer period seemed to pass. Maugham tackles some weighty themes too, such as the meaning (or not) of life, class, death, gender, poverty, the relevance of 'moral' behaviour. There are very few books that I would consider starting again immediately, but with "Of Human Bondage", I could, safe in the knowledge that there would still be much to mull over within the text. Notwithstanding the beautiful use of language, at times the book seems quite profound and I found myself savouring some delightful passages. Certainly the themes retain a contemporary resonance and the tension between individual and wider social values continue to echo modern dilemmas. This was my first exposure to Maugham and yet this book has been elevated , on this one reading, to my personal shortlist of 'great' books. The plot appears simple and yet is intricate in the unfurling, the underlying issues are challenging and it is hard not to reflect on one's own capacity for rational behaviour. At the very least it is an interesting examination of aspects of the human condition, which everyone should have on their 'must read' list. I must read it again very soon! Simply a great read!