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Loading... The Painted Veil (original 1925; edition 2006)by W. Somerset Maugham
Work InformationThe Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (1925)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I love Somerset Maugham and I have no idea why I have waited so many years to revisit this work. I have long been of the opinion that he is vastly underrated, the equal (at least) of Fitzgerald who had the good sense to share the stories of artsy expats who fetishize the charm of the locals rather than crusty old colonials living abroad out of perceived duty to the crown who treat the locals as subhuman. Dilettantes are far more modern than self-important diplomatic functionaries. Years ago I talked about this with a friend who is an English prof and he said that Maugham's work was dated. If flat-out good storytelling is dated perhaps that is true otherwise, I disagree. It has been just shy of 100 years since this was published, and for better or worse I found it entirely relatable. This is a glorious story of personal growth. We meet Kitty Fane when she is the flightiest of English misses, as conceited and silly a girl that has ever lived. Kitty though, was exactly who she was raised to be, and when life turns and she reaps the consequences of her actions she becomes a woman. Maugham saw the lot of women in his social milieu, forced to be silly or the competent power, invisible behind mediocre white men. All that and a wildly fun read. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inCakes and Ale / The Painted Veil / Liza of Lambeth / The Razor's Edge / Theatre / The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham The Selected Novels Of W. Somerset Maugham Vol II: The Moon and Sixpence; The Narrow Corner; The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham The Selected Novels - Volumes I, II, III by W. Somerset Maugham (indirect) Has the adaptationAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, The Painted Veil is the story of the beautiful but love-starved Kitty Fane. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. Stripped of the British society of her youth and the small but effective society she fought so hard to attain in Hong Kong, she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love.The Painted Veil is a beautifully written affirmation of the human capacity to grow, to change, and to forgive. No library descriptions found. |
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Lift not the painted veil which those who live
Call Life: though unreal shapes be pictured there,
And it but mimic all we would believe
With colours idly spread,—behind, lurk Fear
And Hope, twin Destinies...
For me it was a sepia coloured novel and although barely mentioned (as best I recall), I could hear the ceiling fans, taste the whisky and sodas and feel the rhythms of louvered afternoon light in this British Colonial outpost. But the setting is not the subject of this remarkable story. It is (as per Shelly) about Life and lifting the veil. Emotions are laid bare and we are reminded of our humanity (except for the grinding poverty of the coolies).
The veil of expectation is lifted over and over again: the discovery of the affair, Walter's reaction, Kitty's disenchantment and surrender to fate, Wallington's real life, Walter's death (the dog it was who died), confronting Townsend, parent's boredom with their children, Kitty's father's sacrifice.
A wonderful book by a great male writer. ( )