Rain: And Other Stories by William Somerset Maugham

by W. Somerset Maugham

Mass Market Paperback

About the author

William 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.

Reviews

[Laia Puig Fontrodona · Rating 5 out of 5]

He llegit "Pluja" en la versió catalana de Petits Plaers, que no he trobat per aquí. M'ha agradat moltíssim, una història concisa sobre el fanatisme i la intolerància, amb tocs d'humor per aquí i per allà.

[CesarSadAsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una relectura exquisita para una tarde de invierno. Lluvia me sigue pareciendo una maravillosa historia corta, su mensaje es talante y justo, una crítica en cierto sentido a aquellos que ofrecen con hipocresía la mano de la salvación. Es un análisis sobre la supresión de la naturaleza y la libertad humana, una tragedia anclada en el derecho que tienen las personas de juzgar, con razón o no , a sus semejantes. Lluvia es una lapidación aparente para erradicar el pecado desde la misma raíz, un gramografo melancólico, un murmullo apagado de un rezo hipócrita que llama a gritos un perdón satisfactorio y la sinfonía de las gotas de lluvia en un tejado de cinc.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Rain is the most famous story in this collection, it is far from the only story that sets W. Somerset Maugham apart as a superb short story author. I was drawn to the book because I just finished reading The House of Doors by Tan Tan Eng and wanted to reread The Letter. This story, and Jane, a take with a difference on a 60-something widow who marries a 20-something young man, are my personal favorites. I had forgotten quite how good Maugham was, and am delighted to be reminded. Highly recommended.

[Liore Vogt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lluvia es un relato breve e intenso que invita a reflexionar sobre la moralidad, la ética y la crueldad humana cuando se disfraza de virtud.

El choque moral, exagerado pero eficaz, se desarrolla en un espacio cerrado y opresivo donde la lluvia no da tregua y se enfrentan distintas ideas de libertad, castigo y poder.

No le doy cinco estrellas porque el final me dejó con demasiadas dudas y la necesidad de más información. Sin embargo, es una lectura muy potente que incomoda, hace pensar y se queda contigo después de terminarla. Sin duda, quiero leer más de Maugham.

[Lolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s disgusting how Sadie is treated and the whole colonialism scenario is played out, but I appreciate the little power that is given to Sadie through her perseverance and stubborn nature.

[Israt Jahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rain was a really good story. Enjoyed it.

[Oyirum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bajo la lluvia que mantiene a los personajes en una atmósfera extraña y cada vez más tensa, el protagonista ve cómo la fe inquebrantable de un misionero, cuya superioridad moral es tiránica, se rompe al tratar de salvar (que en el fondo esta condenando) a una prostituta.
Pero lo hace con una gracia que logra que el misionero no caiga en hipocresías y siga con su estricta fe hasta las últimas consecuencias, lo cual creo que hace al libro ganarse las 5 estrellas. Cómo logra en tan pocas páginas dar un giro a la trama sin desdibujar la esencia de los personajes.
Lo leí en catalán en la edición de "Petits plaers"