W. Somerset Maugham Collection Series
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Titles in the series (4)
- Of Human Bondage: The Greatest Novel of our Time
1
W. Somerset Maugham’s masterwork is the coming-of-age story of Philip Carey, a sensitive young man consumed by an unrequited and self-destructive love. Born with a clubfoot, Philip is orphaned as a child and raised by unsympathetic relatives. Sent to a boarding school where he has difficulty fitting in, he grows up with an intense longing for love, art, and experience. After failing to become an artist in Paris, he begins medical studies in London, where he meets Mildred, a cold-hearted waitress with whom he falls into a powerful, tortured, life-altering love affair. This is the most autobiographical of Maugham’s works, with Philip’s malformed foot standing in for Maugham’s stutter, and the character’s painful romantic struggles inspired by the author’s own intense love affairs with both men and women. A brilliant and deeply moving portrayal of the price of passion and the universal desire for connection, Of Human Bondage stands as one of the most accomplished novels in English literature.
- Liza of Lambeth: A Novel
2
Down among the drab slums of Lambeth, eighteen-year-old Liza is the darling of Vere Street. Vibrant and bewitching, she is adored by the steady, loyal Tom. But then Liza meets Jim Blakeston, charming and worldy, new to the area, and married. Soon the streets are wise to their passionate affair and Liza's fall from grace is fast and fatal. Written while Maugham was a medical student, and his first published novel, Liza of Lambeth is a vividly realistic portrayal of working-class London life.
- The Moon and Sixpence: The Great Novel of Desire
3
Charles Strickland, a conventional stockbroker, abandons his wife and children for Paris and Tahiti, to live his life as a painter. Whilst his betrayal of family, duty and honour gives him the freedom to achieve greatness, his decision leads to an obsession which carries severe implications. Inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin, The Moon and Sixpence is at once a satiric caricature of Edwardian conventions and a vivid portrayal of the mentality of a genius.
- The Painted Veil: Romantic Fiction
4
Kitty Fane is the beautiful but shallow wife of Walter, a bacteriologist stationed in Hong Kong. Unsatisfied by her marriage, she starts an affair with charming, attractive and exciting Charles Townsend. But when Walter discovers her deception, he exacts a strange and terrible vengeance: Kitty must accompany him to his new posting in remote mainland China, where a cholera epidemic rages, The Painted Veil is a classic story of a woman's spiritual awakening.
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.
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The Painted Veil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The W. Somerset Maugham Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Moon and Sixpence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Casuarina Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Novels and Short Stories of Somerset Maugham Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Moon and Sixpence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Theatre Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nine books Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Moon and Sixpence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ashenden Or the British Agent Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Summing Up Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRain and Other South Sea Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Moon and Sixpence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Painted Veil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trembling of a Leaf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On a Chinese Screen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOf Human Bondage (Diversion Classics) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Explorer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Explorer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The W. Somerset Maugham Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiza of Lambeth Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
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