Rain and Other South Sea Stories

By W. Somerset Maugham

While most of W. Somerset Maugham's novels achieved high commercial sales and critical acclaim at the turn of the 20th century, Maugham was also an accomplished short story writer. His stories compiled in Rain and Other South Sea Stories describe the beauty and feelings of the South Pacific. The most popular short story, "Rain", describes the futile attempts of an English missionary to convert a certain prostitute on the Pacific isles. The prostitute's immorality bothers the missionary, but Maugham refused to "punish" his more depraved characters. He was less concerned about satisfying the principles of his time period and more interested in allowing his characters to live their lives free of judgment. Maugham's prose style in the stories varies; as he was writing during the conversion to modernism, Maugham tried his hand at both the typical prose style and the more avant-garde style. "Rain" falls under the first category, while the stories "Honolulu" and "Mackintosh" are more experimental in nature. Regardless, Maugham's works are a welcome addition to the early 20th century literature canon because of their inclusive nature, strong female characters, and well-rounded plots. The tales combined within Rain and Other South Sea Stories tell the story of the changing world views of the time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Reading Essentials
• Release date: Jul 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781774640210

W. Somerset Maugham

W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. Born in Paris, he was orphaned as a boy and sent to live with an emotionally distant uncle. He struggled to fit in as a student at The King’s School in Canterbury and demanded his uncle send him to Heidelberg University, where he studied philosophy and literature. In Germany, he had his first affair with an older man and embarked on a career as a professional writer. After completing his degree, Maugham moved to London to begin medical school. There, he published Liza of Lambeth (1897), his debut novel. Emboldened by its popular and critical success, he dropped his pursuit of medicine to devote himself entirely to literature. Over his 65-year career, he experimented in form and genre with such works as Lady Frederick (1907), a play, The Magician (1908), an occult novel, and Of Human Bondage (1915). The latter, an autobiographical novel, earned Maugham a reputation as one of the twentieth century’s leading authors, and continues to be recognized as his masterpiece. Although married to Syrie Wellcome, Maugham considered himself both bisexual and homosexual at different points in his life. During and after the First World War, he worked for the British Secret Intelligence Service as a spy in Switzerland and Russia, writing of his experiences in Ashenden: Or the British Agent (1927), a novel that would inspire Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. At one point the highest-paid author in the world, Maugham led a remarkably eventful life without sacrificing his literary talent.