'Theatre' - William Somerset Maugham 1937

I am a huge fan of  William Somerset Maugham (he is the only author I have reviewed here more than twice) and 'Theatre' did not disappoint. My favourite part about his writing, as I frequently mentioned when talking about 'Cakes and Ale' as well as 'The Painted Veil' is the interesting female characters he brings to life.


Theatre is a brilliant story about a complicated actress who lives her life as though it is one huge play. Her son believes that she only truly exists when she is performing for someone, and he is perhaps closest to the truth. The book charts her rise from a struggling country actress to one of the biggest stars of her era.


Along the way there are so many wonderful characters; from her frigid husband to her toy-boy lover, lesbian sponsor and other eccentric people who populate the London that Maugham has brought to life. 


Though Julia Lambert is an entertaining character she is not very likeable due to the sheer weight of her self obsession. 


This is one of my favourite passages which shows the 'thought patterns' which bring her to life:
"And his love of art filled her with a faint derision; after all she was a creator, when all was said and done he was only the public." 


Maugham is not a particularly famous author, and if 'Vintage' had not published all 3 of these novels I might never have come across him. But I am glad I did, and perhaps you might like to discover his work too.


Love it, Read it,
LR

'The Painted Veil' - William Somerset Maugham 1925

'The Painted Veil' is both a critical social commentary and deeply personal tale of self realisation. Somerset Maugham's novel was deeply controversial at the time of publication, at the last minute the setting was altered from 'Hong Kong' to a fictional colony of 'Tching-Yen' to avoid accusations of slander.

The plot centres around beautiful Englishwoman Kitty and her marriage to a bacteriologist in Colonial Hong Kong, Walter Fane. Underpinning the entire plot is Kitty's manipulative, social-climbing mother, who is essential despite occupying relatively little of the novel. Kitty marries Walter, who she does not love, but who is in love with her, in order to escape England, her mother's meddling, and to avoid the shame of attending her younger sister's more 'prestigious' wedding.

To escape her unsatisfying marriage Kitty begins an affair with the suave Charles Townsend who she falls deeply in love with. When the affair is discovered she finds he does not feel the same, though her own denial and his manipulation make this realisation a long time in coming.

My favourite element of 'The Painted Veil' was the wonderful female characters, particularly the shallow, selfish protagonist Kitty. I was first introduced to W. Somerset Maugham's complex women in 'Cakes and Ale' and although Kitty shares few characteristics with the vivacious Rosie I came to like her just as much. Throughout the novel Kitty was developed significantly and she experienced a 'spiritual awakening' (to quote the blurb) of-sorts without the novel feeling forced or clichéd. 

On the whole I found this novel very rewarding, despite some of the social conventions and technicalities around divorce being quite confusing.

In the introduction Somerset Maugham mentions that the idea for the novel came from some lines of poetry by Dante, and the interpretation of them told to him by an Italian woman while he was on vacation as a young man: "...she told me that Pia was a gentlewoman of Siena whose husband, suspecting her of adultery and afraid on account of her family to put her to death, took her down to his castle in the Maremma the noxious vapour of which he was confident would do the trick; but she took so long to die that he grew impatient and had her thrown out of a window". While the specifics of 'The Painted Veil' are different, the themes are clearly present. In this way the novel is driven by the story, the unfolding dynamic between husband and wife, rather than by particular characters. This makes for a fascinating and, as I already mentioned, very rewarding read.

Love it, Read it,
LR

'Cakes and Ale' - William Somerset Maugham 1930.

Cakes and Ale is a rather biting satire of the life of various notable British writers, including Thomas Hardy, who were prolific in William Somerset Maugham's time. Though he vehemently denied that there were any links between his characters and real life figures, which I suppose makes the definition of it as a 'satire' a little presumptuous. But at the time it was published Virginia Woolfe saw one of Maugham's friends in tears, as he saw that one of the characters presented as an unscrupulous literary social climber who churned out books of low quality, was actually himself.  


My favourite character in this book was Rosie, around whom most of the novel winds itself. She is vivacious and flippant, the muse for many of the central characters, and ultimately somewhat enigmatic in her motivations and desires. You can see an artists impression of her on the cover of my copy, from the first scene in which the protagonist meets her. Aside from her strength and sense of fun, her ability to ignore with ease the social conventions of the times are what made her so much fun to read about.


There are many memorable quotes throughout this book, however my favourites are those relating to 'Americans' such as: 


Alroy Kear: "You don't know America as well as I do. . . .They always prefer a live mouse to a dead lion"


William Ashenden: "The Americans, who are the most efficient people on the earth, have carried this device [the use of "ready-made phrases"] to such a height of perfection and have invented so wide a range of pithy and hackneyed phrases that they can carry on an amusing and animated conversation without giving a moment's reflection to what they are saying and so leave their minds free to consider the more important matters of big business and fornication."


You can find more quotes from the book on wikipedia and other places around the internet, but if you find these entertaining or interesting I suggest you buy and read the whole book. It is quite short, and as it is now published by 'Vintage' it is also quite inexpensive. 


Love it, Read it,
LR