The Moon and Sixpence
On a trip to research French artist Paul Gauguin, Maugham sailed into Tahiti's Papeet harbor, where he imagined an exotic tale of the ultimate outsider, one who rejects his entire way of life to pursue an obsession. The result of his efforts is a story of rebellion and escape from civilization...
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On a trip to research French artist Paul Gauguin, Maugham sailed into Tahiti's Papeet harbor, where he imagined an exotic tale of the ultimate outsider, one who rejects his entire way of life to pursue an obsession. The result of his efforts is a story of rebellion and escape from civilization which continues to attract and captivate readers to this day. Introduction by Perry Meisel.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780375724565 (0375724567)
Publish date: May 9th 2000
Publisher: Vintage
Pages no: 288
Edition language: English
Category:
Classics,
Novels,
Literature,
European Literature,
British Literature,
Book Club,
Historical Fiction,
Classic Literature,
Literary Fiction,
Art,
English Literature
This book did not age well. The rampant racism and sexism that are a sign of the times Maugham lived in make this Künstlerroman unbearable in several places. Plus for a fairly short book, there's a surprising amount of filler.
Moon and Sixpence is a beautifully written novel about a very ugly person. I do not mean physically, but rather spiritually. The novel is loosely based on the life of the artist Paul Gaugin. The setting is a combination of London, Paris and Tahiti during the late 1800s and is told through the thi...
Other thoughts/reviews:Col Reads: http://colreads.blogspot.be/2012/07/book-review-moon-and-sixpence-by-w.html
I picked up 'The Moon and Sixpence' a few years ago at a library book sale thinking, purely from the cover image and my limited knowledge of when Maugham wrote, that it was a novel about the Pacific in World War II. It turns out I was way off. Which is fine by me since I wasn't eager to read a novel...
What it takes to be a real artist is debatable. A sudden urge to create, an invincible desire to stay away from anything that’s mundane (that includes your current job) and keeps you away from your true calling – I can take that. But leaving everything behind, i.e. spouse and children, and completel...
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