the alchemy of writing | The Moon and Sixpence

Another Quality Piece of Work from the Heritage Press | The Moon and Sixpence | W. Somerset Maugham

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	• The Moon and Sixpence W. Somerset Maugham Heritage Press, 1941 - 282 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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Talented, but flawed

This story is set at some time around the turn of the twentieth century, before World War 1. The story opens in London, England. The unnamed narrator is a young man who has just written his first successful novel. Gingerly negotiating his way around the `literati' of England he attends a party at which he meets Mrs. Strickland. She is not herself an author but has a deep interest in meeting talented people. She gives parties at her house where food and drink is laid on, and where various members of the world of the arts and literature are invited. Eventually the narrator is invited to dinner at Mrs. Strickland's, though on arriving he finds that it is not a literary function, but a small private affair. It is here that the narrator meets for the first time Mr. Charles Strickland, who's life-story this book follows. Charles Strickland strikes the narrator as "... just a good, dull, honest, plain man." It is therefore with some surprise that the narrators later hears that Mr. Strickland has suddenly abandoned his wife and gone to Paris, apparently in the company of a young woman who worked at a tea-shop in the city. The narrator feels with some excitement that he has just entered the exciting, unseemly world of his own novel. The narrator's life-path crosses several time with that of Charles Strickland. Gradually as the story progresses we come to see Strickland as a markedly talented, yet severely flawed man.

This novel, first published in 1919, "... confirmed Maugham's reputation as a novelist and is probably his best-known book." This being said it should be noted that the book has moments of greatness, but is also partly flawed.

The plot is based on the life of the `post-impressionist' painter Paul Gauguin. It is, however, primarily a fiction and varies from that artist's real biography. Gauguin was for example French, not English. The points of similarity include:

An uneventful first half of life, with a career as a stockbroker,
A sudden break with his family,
Lack of recognition from the contemporary critics and general public,
Recognition of talent from some fellow painters,
Living in poverty,
A biting, sardonic personality,
Leaving Europe to live `close to nature' in Tahiti,
A non-representational art style in which, for example, color represented the emotions.

Rather interestingly Strickland physically resembles Vincent van Gogh, with his red hair and beard. Van Gogh was rather a different man to Strickland, though he too painted non-representationally, using color to express emotion. Strickland, like van Gogh spent a short time at an art academy where his efforts were viewed quite askance. Also like van Gogh, Strickland had an unseemly affair that resulted in the painting of a famous reclining nude.

The book is roughly divided into three even sections. The first section covers Strickland's unexpected departure to Paris. Here Maugham quite competently sets the scene, introducing us to Strickland's personality. The second section covers life in Paris, concentrating on the relationship with the Strove family. This part of the story is the most conventional segment and is rather uninteresting, at least plot wise. I was reminded of Emily Bronte's and her sister Charlotte Bronte's , though those books are much more successful than Maugham's. The third section revolves around the trip to Tahiti and it is here that the book truly shines. There seems to be something about the idea of `getting back to nature' that appeals to the psyche of modern man.

It should be noted that Maugham's narrator freely admits his own lack of knowledge of human nature and the motivations of the people he meets. The all-knowing narrator, so standard in many books, is gone, and instead we have am essentially modern device. The reader himself must decide what he believes about particular people. How much, we ask, can we know anyone other than ourselves?

Of course the novel has the theme of the genius. We are shows how unconscious forces drive such people, and how all else falls to the wayside on the road to the chosen goal. The novel also explores the theme of the artificiality of `civilized' society, and the retreat to a more `real' nature. This idea goes back at least as far as the Eighteenth Century Romantics, though it should be noted that Maugham has his own spin on the topic. Nature, for example, is not always the `pleasant mother' of the Romantics.

Strickland is adequately drawn as a terse, abrasive man with a monomania for his art. His name suggests the `strict land' he has chosen to dwell in, where everything is rejected except his calling. His name also perhaps suggests "strychnine' as he is poison to just about all who he meets. After his initial `conversion' to the path of art Strickland there is at first some humor arising from his candor about his rejection of social norms. Soon, however, a monomaniac becomes predictably dull, and Maugham has achieved the unusual task of writing about a central character by highlighting the people around him. The second section accents the Stroves, particularly Dirk, a good-natured man with perhaps more heart than sense. Interestingly Dirk may be Maugham's comment on the Romantics. The third section reveals to us a whole procession of characters, many of them eccentric, who encountered Strickland in various situations. These portraits greatly enhance the novel.

All in all this is certainly not a bad book, but not a great one either. The second section, as I have noted, mars the book to some degree. Maugham made a fact-finding trip to Tahiti and the details and highlights this journey seems to have given him greatly enriched that part of the book.

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the alchemy of writing

I have put this, not new, but still beautiful book, on the reading list for a class I am teaching, Into The Heart of Art. This book stirred a lot of controversy when it was first published, because it's a brazen and obvious portrayal of the life of the well known artist, Gauguin, borrowing so unmistakeably from his life and yet, not at all Gauguin, because the artist portrayed has a very same but different life. The beautiful old copy of this book, which I got from Amazon, has lovely prints of Gauguin's paintings within, and if you can get it, I heartily recommend this particular edition! Somerset Maugham is a wonderful writer. The book itself makes us all ponder the nature of the creative spirit that pushes a person to the extremes of giving up so much that is "comfortable" to pursue his or her art. The Gauguin portrayed in this book is not a sympathetic character, and yet, he is pursued by his Muse. There are beautiful, memorable quotes about art in this book. Purchase it. Find them. Enjoy!

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Another Quality Piece of Work from the Heritage Press

Heritage's The Moon and Sixpence features a brown slipcase and nubby beige cloth with brown print.

Parts One and Two of the novel are in contrasting illustrative styles and typefaces. F.D. Steele's pen drawings and Victorian decoration reflect the 19th style of the portions of the novel set in London and Paris. The remainder of the book, set in Tahiti, is illustrated with color reproductions of Gauguin and Polynesian decorative elements.

282 pp, cloth over hardback boards with a sewn binding.

A wartime reprint, with illustrations by Paul Gauguin and Frederic Dorr Steele.

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