Reviews
** spoiler alert ** Boring narrator. Makes it all about himself. W. Somerset Maugham's foray into this type of writing is very different. It's very dry and very self absorbed. The oh so subtle implication is that he, Maugham, is a fan of Gaugin. Rather than reveal just how stalkery his inclinations are, he has instead lovely written a novel that highlights the artist's rise to greatness. It's stoic and staid, and oh so very literary. It's also self absorbed and boring. http://pussreboots.com/blog/2023/comm...
Recall enjoying it, might want to reread.
Maugham's voice tends to be a tad acerbic when he explores the topic of women, and in particular, love. But all that takes a seat behind the life and times of Charlie Strickland, whose incorrigible desires, whims and an apathy of other's opinions take us along with him on his pursuit of beauty and artistic catharsis. What a read!
The misogyny was rather disturbing but the book was splendid in every other way. A beautifully romanticised depiction of the life of Paul Gauguin.
Maugham is one of my favourite writers and I absolutely love his style but I just didn't enjoy The Moon and Six Pence. Things started off badly as I was a bit put off by the first few pages which didn't feel like Maugham at all. The writing got better after the first ten pages or so but I had a very hard time liking any of the characters which made the book a tedious read. Maugham is one of the greatest portrayers of characters but I found the ones in The Moon and Sixpence so unlikeable that I just didn't care what happened to any of them. A disappointing read.
