Theatre- Sommerset Maugham

Why did I pick it up: Well, it was a Maugham I had missed when I was in high school and I’m on a Maugham reading spree.
And: okay, let me just say it and get it out of the way. Nobody can do character, the subtler emotions, petty motivations and gray areas of the mind like Maugham can. And the endings always twist the heart. In such elegant prose too. All of that is here too.

But- Not Vintage Maugham. For that read his short stories or his plays. His other novels never quite captured the magic Moon and Sixpence created.



Read- fully aware that you are reading a below-par Maugham.



©Maya

The Razor's Edge- W. Somerset Maugham

Why did I pick it up- Especially since it's a reread? Well, this is what my reading group is reading this month.

Interests zones- It is Maugham, after all. Great character insights- how gently he damns them with faint praise!, wonderful turn of phrases, tongue-in-cheek humor, wry wit.

I had forgotten about Kosti. No one does this better than Maugham. Paint a character, lull you into a mental picture and then turn the image on its head; only to make you slap your forehead and say- "of course. That is exactly who he /she ought to be. Miner Kosti is one of those. Even after 20 odd years, I find Maugham's one of the best when it comes to peeling off layers to reveal character. Yet he does it so skillfully that everybody, even Sophie and Isabel seems to fulfill their destiny. Even after the sword turns in your chest. You are rubbing away your pain long after you have closed the book.

But- There isn’t any. Even in the re-read. Except that Maugham has done it better in other places. But then, it's still Maugham.



© Maya