For ten years before his first success, he almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays. His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in Of Human Bondage, Maugham became a qualified physician. He spoke French even before he spoke a word of English, a fact to which some critics attribute the purity of his style. For ten years before his first success, he almost l William Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874.
William Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874. I have yet to rate any book 5 out of 5, but this one came very close to earning my first!.
I rated it 4 out of 5 stars, which for me indicates it is excellent. I’m looking forward to reading more of Maugham’s work. The best author I have read to date is Steinbeck, and the standard of Maugham’s work in this collection is comparable - no wonder Maugham is widely celebrated. This is very much at odds with contemporary views, which must be allowed for when reading these stories, otherwise it would be too easy not to enjoy them. The stories also provide an interesting perspective of the culture, values, and attitudes of westerners during the last periods of the British Empire, particularly towards the nations and peoples that had been colonised. All achieved in just a couple of dozen pages or so per story. Each story took me in, with absorbing plots and interesting characters. This is very much at odds with contempo I thoroughly enjoyed this book - Maugham’s writing is superb and I found it effortless and a joy to read. I thoroughly enjoyed this book - Maugham’s writing is superb and I found it effortless and a joy to read. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.".
#Somerset maugham short stories movies series
Somerset Maugham's Best Short Stories features an afterword by writer and journalist Ned Halley.ĭesigned to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. This Macmillan Collector’s Library selection features ten of his finest and most vivid stories: 'The Letter', 'The Verger', 'The Vessel of Wrath', 'The Book-Bag', 'The Facts of Life', 'Lord Mountdrago', 'The Colonel's Lady', 'The Treasure', 'Rain' and 'P&O'. You turn the pages and enter a magical world of fabulous characters, are transported to the very place, the villa, the street, the bar, of which he writes. This Macmillan Collector’s Library selection features ten of h "Reading the stories of Somerset Maugham is rather like curling up and up listening to the delicious, risqué tales of an old, dear and rather wicked friend. Maugham viewed himself as basically unlikely in love."Reading the stories of Somerset Maugham is rather like curling up and up listening to the delicious, risqué tales of an old, dear and rather wicked friend. His previous partner was a more cultured but a drunk. He was married once to someone who invented the "white room" school of interior decorating and had a daughter whom he disinherited, although this was attributed to his being a bit gaga in his later years and being manipulated by his last bf/secretary who had been something of a lifelong hustler. His travel writing is really first rate ("The Gentleman in the Parlor captures Asia in ways still recognizable). His plots were straightforward and his characters were fairly interesting. He also used his own life-he trained as a doctor and "Of Human Bondage" drew on that.
His characters often were based on people he knew, which isn't that unusual, but his rich friends must have been deluded enough to think they'd be exempt from this.
He wasn't literary in the sense of having a particular style or experimenting with much. He considered himself a good second-tier writer. Maugham came from a wealthy Anglo-Irish family and grew-up mostly in Paris.
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