After I've read Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham, I didn't think he was a great writer. Well, at least in writing this book, he wasn't. I expected something similar to the movie adaptation, only to find that Kitty was unlikeable, and unimaginable character and Walter is…. Well. He's prose was nice, I think. Should I read The Moom and Sixpense after this huge disappointment?
by Victoria9273
1 Comment
It’s worth a try. The Moon and Sixpence is not directly about Paul Gauguin, but rather about a man with a similar ‘artistic genius’ who despises money, or so it seems, and reveres art for the sake of art, as a means of self-justification for his erratic life and relationships. It’s a brilliantly written book, with just enough detail to allow you to use your imagination to ‘fill in the gaps’, which is what good writing should be about, of course. The description of Tahitian life was so vivid and a trip down memory lane for me, as I also remember an ‘unspoiled island’ from years ago, before it had an ‘airstrip’! The book is so easy to pick up and re-read, taking in each ‘scene’ with the peculiarly unpleasant Strickland, whose desire to be free of all life’s burdens takes him to Tahiti, where he lives like the Bohemian he has always been keen to associate with.