by W. Somerset Maugham
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...
I make no secret of my liking of the W. Somerset Maugham ouevre and this, dear friends did not disappoint. My cover:The novel inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin.
The main character of this book, Charles Strickland, was a thoroughly unlikeable fellow. His departure from home left his first wife in despair. He took up with a woman in Paris and destroyed her life. It was only when he went to Tahiti that he found a haven for his art and lifestyle. That Stricklan...
This wasn't the absolute perfection that was The Razor's Edge, and yet it was still better than 99.9% of the books out there. It is a testament to Maugham's talents that although I have never given a damn about Paul Gauguin, I loved this book.
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