Most viewed. He traveled in Spain and Italy and in 1908 achieved a theatrical triumphfour plays running in London at oncethat brought him financial security. William Somerset Maugham was an English author and playwright. Died. Alternate titles: William Somerset Maugham. [164], Among the short stories set in England, one of the best-known is "The Alien Corn" (1931), where a young man rediscovers his Jewish heritage and rejects his family's efforts to distance themselves from Judaism. His fluency in French and German was an advantage, and for a year he worked in Geneva at his own expense as an agent for the British Secret Service. 245246. [177] In the first screen version of Rain (1928) expurgations fundamentally altered the characters;[178] an adaptation of "The Facts of Life" in the 1948 omnibus film Quartet omitted the key plot point that the scheming young woman on whom the young hero turns the tables is a prostitute with whom he has just spent a night;[179] in "The Ant and the Grasshopper" a young adventurer marries not a rich old woman who dies soon afterwards but a rich young one who remains very much alive. His great popularity and prodigious sales provoked adverse reactions from highbrow critics, many of whom sought to belittle him as merely competent. Even before Haxton's mortal illness, Maugham had already chosen a replacement as secretary-companion, in anticipation that Haxton would not return to live at La Mauresque. What are synonyms for Somerset Maugham? Illustration by Edward Sorel. W. Somerset Maugham (1954). In addition, Carey has a. [73] There was hostile comment in the press that the central figure seemed to be a tasteless parody of Thomas Hardy, who had died in 1928. [120] Morgan observes: Although most of Maugham's early successes were as a dramatist, it is for his novels and short stories that he has been best known since the 1930s. William Somerset Maugham [n 2] CH ( / mm / MAWM; 25 January 1874 - 16 December 1965) [n 1] was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Maugham wrote of Haxton: After the South Seas trip Maugham visited the US and was joined by Syrie. [152], Cakes and Ale combines humorous satire on the London literary scene and wry observations about love. The possibility became a certainty when in November 1944, after a six-month illness initially diagnosed as pleurisy, Haxton died of tuberculosis. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest paid author during the 1930s. [n 8], During the 1920s Maugham published one novel (The Painted Veil, (1925)), three books of short stories (The Trembling of a Leaf (1921), The Casuarina Tree (1926) and Ashenden (1928)) and a travel book (On a Chinese Screen, (1922)) but much of his work was for the theatre. During his time in Heidelberg he had his first sexual affair; it was with John Ellingham Brooks, an Englishman ten years his senior. [47] In 1913 he proposed to the actress Sue Jones, daughter of the playwright Henry Arthur Jones;[48] she declined his offer. [190] A rising critic of a younger generation, Cyril Connolly, praised Maugham for his lucidity and called him "the last of the great professional writers",[190] but Connolly's contemporary Edmund Wilson insisted that Maugham was second-rate and "disappointing". His aunt, who was German, arranged accommodation for him, and aged sixteen he travelled to Germany. The marriage lasted for twelve years, but before, during and after it, Maugham's principal partner was a younger man, Gerald Haxton. Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents. [73] He was a prolific writer: between 1902 and 1933 he had 32 plays staged, and between 1897 and 1962 he published 19 novels, nine volumes of short stories, and non-fiction books covering travel, reminiscences, essays and extracts from his notebooks. [145], A few of Maugham's plays have been revived occasionally. [n 17] He was a Commandeur of the Legion of Honour, and an honorary doctor of the universities of Oxford and Toulouse. By the early 1930s Maugham had grown tired of the theatre. 227228; Mander and Mitchenson, p. 204; and Lyttelton and Hart-Davis (1978), p. 195. 191, 205 and 210, Mander and Mitchenson, pp. Culture; Somerset Maugham; Reuse this content. Support your answer with examples from the story. [65] Samoa was regarded as crucial to Britain's strategic interests, and Maugham's task was to gather information about the island's powerful radio transmitter and the threat from German military and naval forces in the region. He was the son of a British diplomat. It is high time for them then to retire. [n 13] He was cremated in Marseille on 20 December. "[26], Maugham took rooms in Westminster, across the Thames from the hospital. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest paid author during the 1930s.After losing both his parents by the age of 10, Maugham was raised by a paternal uncle who was emotionally cold. Publisher: Franklin Classics. IndigoMistBooks. [97] During a visit to India in 1938 he found his interest prompted less by the British expatriates than by Indian philosophers and ascetics: "As soon as the Maharajas realized that I didn't want to go on tiger hunts but that I was interested in seeing poets and philosophers they were very helpful. William Somerset Maugham, bedst kendt som bare W. Somerset Maugham, (fdt 25. januar 1874 i Paris, dd 16. december 1965 i Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat nr Nice) var en betydningsfuld engelsk forfatter.. Among the best-known examples are "Rain" (1921), charting the moral disintegration of a missionary attempting to convert the sexual sinner Sadie Thompson;[161] "The Letter" (1924), dealing with domestic murder and its implications;[162] "The Book Bag" (1932), a story of the tragic result of an incestuous relationship;[163] and "Flotsam and Jetsam" (1947), set in a rubber plantation in Borneo, where a dreadful shared secret binds a husband and wife to a mutually abhorrent relationship. He was an English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer whose work is characterized by a clear unadorned style, cosmopolitan settings, and a shrewd understanding of human nature. Many would say that his short stories embody his best work, and he remains a substantial figure in the early-20th-century literary landscape. [156] The structure of the book is unusual in that the protagonist is already dead before the novel opens, and the narrator attempts to piece together his story, and particularly his final years in Tahitian exile. View interactive tab. Raphael comments that there is no firm evidence for this,[5][53] and Meyers suggests that she is based on Harry Phillips, a young man whom Maugham had taken to Paris as, nominally, his secretary for a prolonged stay in 1905. Suffering from a bad stammer, he received a classic public school education at King's school in . And in one way or another however indirectly all I've written during the last twenty years has something to do with him".[109]. [110] He came from Bermondsey, a poor district of London. These often convey the emotional toll that isolation exacts from the characters. The hero survives, and by the end of the book he is evidently set for a happy ending. [73] He saw little of Haxton, who undertook war work in Washington DC. [50], By 1914 Maugham was famous, with thirteen plays and eight novels completed. Scott thought the style more effective in narrative than in suggestion and nuance. 1 Childhood and education; 2 Career. [25] The local physician in Whitstable suggested the medical profession, and Maugham's uncle agreed. The Razor's Edge, the author's last major novel,[5] is described by Sutherland as "Maugham's twentieth-century manifesto for human fulfilment", satirising Western materialism and drawing on Eastern spiritualism as a way to find meaning in existence. [61] He was recruited by Sir John Wallinger, a friend of Syrie, portrayed as the spymaster "R" in the Ashenden stories Maugham wrote after the war. [73] It was well received: reviewers called it "extraordinarily powerful and interesting",[74] and "a triumph [that] has given me such pleasure and entertainment as rarely comes my way";[75] one described it as "an exhibition of the beast in man, done with such perfect art that it is beyond praise". Maugham's plain prose style became known for its lucidity, but his reliance on clichs attracted adverse critical comment. [189] Some biographers have doubted Maugham's claim to be unresentful at being overlooked or dismissed by literary critics, but there is little doubt that he was right about it. First published in 1989, Mr Calder's attempt to encompass Maugham's life and work in one volume fits nicely between Ted Morgan's Maugham: A Biography (1980) and Jeffrey Meyers' Somerset Maugham: A Life (2004); as far as I know the only other detailed biography is the very recently (2009) published The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham by Selina . [46] Lifelong, Maugham was highly reticent about homosexual encounters, but it was thought by at least two of his lovers that at this period in his life he had recourse to young male prostitutes. [45][n 5], Maugham was acutely conscious of the fate of Oscar Wilde, whose arrest and imprisonment took place when Maugham was in his early twenties. [10] Maugham never greatly liked his middle name which commemorated a great-uncle named after General Sir Henry Somerset[11] and was known by family and friends throughout his life as "Willie". The "two important critics" Maugham referred to were probably Desmond MacCarthy and Raymond Mortimer;[190] the former particularly praised the short stories, tracing their roots in French naturalism, and the latter reviewed Maugham's books carefully and on the whole favourably in the New Statesman. The length of his literary career alone makes him a special case. He moved to the United States where he led a very quiet life and went back after the war in 1944. [1] [114][n 11] After returning to Cap Ferrat he completed his last full-length work of fiction, the historical novel Catalina. 6 and 9798, Mander and Mitchenson, pp. "The Razor's Edge," which would be his last important work, was published in 1944. His stories the first in the genre of spy fiction continued by Ian Fleming, John le Carr and many others[169] are based so closely on Maugham's experiences that it was not until ten years after the war ended that the security services permitted their publication. Many of his works were highly praised: the novels Of Human Bondage , Cakes and Ale , The Razor's Edge , and The Moon and Sixpence ; short stories such as "Rain" and "The Outstation"; and his plays Lady . The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that they cease to love. Here are the possible solutions for "W Somerset Maugham's 1915 novel; the subject of several films" clue. Maugham usually published his works under the name of W. Somerset Maugham. He became a medical student in London and . [77] When in Britain, Maugham lived with his wife at their house in Marylebone, but the couple were temperamentally incompatible, and their relationship grew increasingly fractious. Part 2 also available on my channel as well as all parts from his other films Trio and Encore. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Biography of William Somerset Maugham (excerpt) William Somerset Maugham, CH (January 25, 1874 - December 16, 1965) was an English playwright, novelist, and theatre writer. Sisllys 1 Henkilhistoria 2 Kirjallinen tuotanto 2.1 Suomennetut teokset I did so with relief. His domestic staff there comprised thirteen servants. Popular British novelist, playwright, short-story writer and the highest-paid author in the world in the 1930s, Somerset Maugham graduated in 1897 from St. Thomas' Medical School and qualified as a doctor, but abandoned medicine after the success of his first novels and plays. Synonyms for Somerset Maugham in Free Thesaurus. RAIN VIII. We will try to find the right answer to this particular crossword clue. In 1940, W Somerset Maugham was forced to flee France as the Nazis invaded. Rain by W. Somerset Maugham Analysis. Maugham based his characters upon people whom he had known or whose lives he had somehow come to know; their actions are presented with consummate realism. [66] In addition to his intelligence work, Maugham gathered material for his fiction wherever he went. Author dvdnt [pro] 132. [88][n 9], In 1930 Maugham published the novel Cakes and Ale, regarded by Connon as the most likely of the author's works to survive. [191] Virginia Woolf was friendly though a little patronising;[192] Lytton Strachey disparaged one of his books as "Class II, Division I". Incidentally, W. Somerset Maugham inspired some mimesis of his own. [85] They divorced in 1929. [5], Shortly before the birth of the Maughams' fourth son the government of France proposed a new law under which all boys born on French soil to foreign parents would automatically be French citizens and liable to conscription for military service. Actually it has extremely complicated things to say about them, but its most important message may be that actions have real consequences, no matter how casually those actions may be taken". His American publishers estimated that four and a half million copies of his books were bought in the US during his lifetime.[127]. [5] He attempted to disinherit his daughter and to make Searle his adopted son, but the courts prevented it.[124]. "[33], Before the publication of his next novel, The Making of a Saint (1898), Maugham travelled to Spain. Marking Maugham's eightieth birthday The New York Times commented that he had not only outlived his contemporaries including Shaw, Joseph Conrad, H. G. Wells, Henry James, Arnold Bennett and John Galsworthy but was now seen to rank with them in excellence, after years in which his popularity had caused critics to depreciate his work. The protagonist of the story, Salvatore who is a usual fisherman's son, is intensely in love with a beautiful girl who lives on the Grande Marina. [104] As always, Maugham wrote continually. His lifestyle was modest: he felt that despite his considerable wealth he should not live luxuriously while Britain was enduring wartime privations. William Somerset Maugham ( 25. ledna 1874, Pa - 16. prosince 1965, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat pobl Nice) byl anglick spisovatel a dramatik . [150] Unlike many of Maugham's later novels it has an unequivocally tragic ending. I do not resent it. [151], Of Human Bondage, influenced by Goethe and Samuel Butler,[52] is a serious, partly autobiographical work, depicting a young man's struggles and emotional turmoil. Used; Condition Used - Good ISBN 13 9780140185232 [132] Morgan comments: In his 1926 short story "The Creative Impulse" Maugham made fun of self-conscious stylists whose books appealed only to a literary clique: "It was indeed a scandal that so distinguished an author, with an imagination so delicate and a style so exquisite, should remain neglected of the vulgar". [89] The majority of his original plays were comedies, but of his serious dramas East of Suez (1922), The Letter (1927) and The Sacred Flame (1929) ran for more than 200 performances. [83], In Maugham's absence his wife found an occupation, becoming a sought-after interior designer. (1874-1965), Novelist, playwright and spy. Maugham believed that "it is the impressions of a man's first twenty years which form him", and at the age of 53 - and extracted from his turbulent marriage to Syrie Wellcome - he had chosen to look back at his boyhood on the Kentish coast and at his early adulthood as a medical student in London. His grandfather, Robert Maugham (17881862), was a prominent solicitor and co-founder of the Law Society of England and Wales. . William Somerset Maugham Theatre I THE door opened and Michael Gosselyn looked up. Authors. [19] He left as soon as he could, although he later developed an affection for the school, and became a generous benefactor. This is a social-psychological novel that reveals the problem of relations between men and women in bourgeois society, depicts the psychological portraits of characters, and describes their feelings, emotions and thoughts as well. Mary Elizabeth Maugham. He later said, "I took to it as a duck takes to water. W. Somerset Maugham (The Moon and Sixpence) " He did not care if she was heartless, vicious and vulgar, stupid and grasping, he loved her. [n 3] Robert Maugham handled the legal affairs of the British Embassy there, as his eldest surviving son, Charles, later did. THE LUNCHEON - Famous Short Story by William Somerset Maugham Ur Learning Bucket 9.1K subscribers Subscribe 898 55K views 1 year ago UNITED STATES The Luncheon' is a famous short english story of. [149], Liza of Lambeth caused outrage in some quarters, not only because its heroine sleeps with a married man, but also for its graphic depiction of the deprivation and squalor of the London slums, of which most people from Maugham's social class preferred to remain ignorant. Like Of Human Bondage it has a strong female character at its centre, but the two are polar opposites: the malign Mildred in the earlier novel contrasts with the lovable, and much loved, Rosie in Cakes and Ale. [42], Maugham later said that he made comparatively little money from this unprecedented theatrical achievement, but it made his reputation. He achieved fame initially as a dramatist with plays such as Lady Frederick (1912) and The Circle (1921). They lived together in the French Riviera, where Maugham entertained lavishly. He was one of the most popular authors of his era, and reputedly the highest paid of his profession during the 1930s. S omerset M augham is a singular figure in twentieth-century English literature. In the post-war era, Maugham settled into a pattern of life that changed little from year to year: In 1959 the foreign travel included a final trip to the far East. Author: w Somerset 1874-1965 Maugham. More recent assessments generally rank Of Human Bondage a book with a large autobiographical element as a masterpiece, and his short stories are widely held in high critical regard. Nice. By 1908 he had four plays running at once in the West End of London. He was, by his own account, not a particularly imaginative or inventive person, but he studied people and places and used them, sometimes with minimal alteration or disguise, in his stories. He became a medical student in London and qualified as a physician in 1897. He was raised by his aunt and uncle, and bullied by children at school. After another long trip to the Far East, he agreed with Syrie that they would live separately, she in London and he at Cap Ferrat in the south of France. Who Is W. Somerset Maugham's Wife? Although he was an important influence on many well-known writers, "Maugham's critical stock has remained low". William Somerset Maugham, better known as W. Somerset Maugham, was born on January 25, 1874, Paris, France. This ability is sometimes reflected in the characters that populate his writings. It is the kind of book that an author can only write once. In The Summing Up (1938) and A Writers Notebook (1949) Maugham explains his philosophy of life as a resigned atheism and a certain skepticism about the extent of mans innate goodness and intelligence; it is this that gives his work its astringent cynicism. 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