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The Great Novels and Short Stories of Somerset Maugham
This compilation contains three complete novels and eight major short stories from the canon of one of the twentieth century’s most enduringly popular fiction writers.
From London to Hong Kong, from Paris to Pago Pago, in Samoa or Malaya or on a Tahitian tropical isle, the men and women in this collection of masterfully crafted tales inhabit exotic, mysterious worlds—and at their own peril invade the dark territory of the human heart.
Somerset Maugham, a noted English novelist, playwright, and author of masterly short stories, spent several months in the Pacific in 1916 and 1917 during an interlude in his service in British intelligence during World War I. Several of his works have been made into movies and plays, including Razor’s Edge, Of Human Bondage, Cakes and Ale, Rain, and The Moon and Sixpence.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
From London to Hong Kong, from Paris to Pago Pago, in Samoa or Malaya or on a Tahitian tropical isle, the men and women in this collection of masterfully crafted tales inhabit exotic, mysterious worlds—and at their own peril invade the dark territory of the human heart.
Somerset Maugham, a noted English novelist, playwright, and author of masterly short stories, spent several months in the Pacific in 1916 and 1917 during an interlude in his service in British intelligence during World War I. Several of his works have been made into movies and plays, including Razor’s Edge, Of Human Bondage, Cakes and Ale, Rain, and The Moon and Sixpence.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
773 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 4, 2014
201 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
W. Somerset Maugham
2,113 books6,060 followersWilliam Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874. He spoke French even before he spoke a word of English, a fact to which some critics attribute the purity of his style.
His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in Of Human Bondage, Maugham became a qualified physician. But writing was his true vocation. For ten years before his first success, he almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays.
Maugham wrote at a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as 'such a tissue of clichés' that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way.
During World War I, Maugham worked for the British Secret Service . He travelled all over the world, and made many visits to America. After World War II, Maugham made his home in south of France and continued to move between England and Nice till his death in 1965.
At the time of Maugham's birth, French law was such that all foreign boys born in France became liable for conscription. Thus, Maugham was born within the Embassy, legally recognized as UK territory.
His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in Of Human Bondage, Maugham became a qualified physician. But writing was his true vocation. For ten years before his first success, he almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays.
Maugham wrote at a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as 'such a tissue of clichés' that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way.
During World War I, Maugham worked for the British Secret Service . He travelled all over the world, and made many visits to America. After World War II, Maugham made his home in south of France and continued to move between England and Nice till his death in 1965.
At the time of Maugham's birth, French law was such that all foreign boys born in France became liable for conscription. Thus, Maugham was born within the Embassy, legally recognized as UK territory.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 13, 2023
The short stories are all so depressing that it was difficult to go through.
I can't help but feel that all of them had the same tone and all ended the same way.
The Novels:
The Moon and Sixpence -- this was interesting but also a hard read. Maugham has a romantic way of writing that allows you to visualize the picture so the realism of this novel was quite moving. If you read to escape, this isn't the novel for you as it brings you closer to humanity, morality, and life as a whole.
The Magician -- this is a perfect mix of melancholy, mystery, and suspense. Out of the 3 novels featured in this book, this is my favorite. The twists and turns of this story was a lot to deal with and extremely unpredictable. This honestly felt like a big fever dream.
The Painted Veil -- this was the odd one out of the novels. Uncharacteristically predictable. It was a difficult read because he wrote in an accent but I honestly found the predictability boring. This was similar to the short stories featured here wherein it was monotonous and more or less followed one format.
I can't help but feel that all of them had the same tone and all ended the same way.
The Novels:
The Moon and Sixpence -- this was interesting but also a hard read. Maugham has a romantic way of writing that allows you to visualize the picture so the realism of this novel was quite moving. If you read to escape, this isn't the novel for you as it brings you closer to humanity, morality, and life as a whole.
The Magician -- this is a perfect mix of melancholy, mystery, and suspense. Out of the 3 novels featured in this book, this is my favorite. The twists and turns of this story was a lot to deal with and extremely unpredictable. This honestly felt like a big fever dream.
The Painted Veil -- this was the odd one out of the novels. Uncharacteristically predictable. It was a difficult read because he wrote in an accent but I honestly found the predictability boring. This was similar to the short stories featured here wherein it was monotonous and more or less followed one format.
December 9, 2019
Somerset Maugham has a distinct way of writing. He makes you think hard and lets you form an opinion without forcing one on you. I love that he shows reality as is without judging it. His depiction of life in the Samoan island touches your heart and you become a part of the story! I thoroughly enjoyed every story in the book.
November 5, 2015
Maugham is a first-rate author of descriptions and of unforgettable characters, but needs facts-checks, as publishers call them: there are no mountains in Nebraska (it's a grasslands plains state) and there is no Midnight Mass on New Year's Day (only on Christmas). This anthology of superb stories and short novels is all about Tahiti except for the unforgettable but sadly forgotten novella "The Magician," which goes from suspense to horror in the tradition of Mary Shelley, perhaps. Liza of Lambeth is an unforgettable characterisation of the life of a Cockney, unfamiliar to Americans yet valuable for its local color. Every character is drawn uniquely! I've rated "The Moon and Sixpence" elsewhere here on goodreads, but please recall that it's his introduction of a macho bohemian character also in Vincente Minnelli's film "Lust for Life," a peripheral character of the same roman a clef. I enjoyed this volume and was drawn into all the plots and characters of this most-well-read English language author since Charles Dickens; I couldn't wait to finish each short story in one sitting over a pot of tea.
April 5, 2017
Well, I didn't know that the library had such long arms. So, actually I'm not finished but not interested enough in the writer's downer attitudes to get it back out of storage. lol
March 24, 2017
Found it all very lugubrious and hard to plow through. Only liked the gothic novel The Magician for its rather Lovecraftian moments. Also the book has tons of typos.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews