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Strictly Personal
Strictly Personal, like The Summing Up, is no formal piece of autobiography. It deals with the events of a few months, and with those events only as they affect the narrator. It begins in the village of Cap Ferrat, at the Villa Mauresque, the author's home overlooking the Mediterranean, and ends at La Guardia Airport. Between these two points lies a sharply defined period of life, filled with events, some sensational, some unique, some tragic, some at times all three. There is perilous adventure, in the long voyage of a broken-down, over-crowded collier, that might have been Conrad's Nan-Shan, were not its passengers fleeing residents of the Riviera rather than Chinese coolies. There is brilliant reporting in Maugham's description of the crumbling of the French spirit. There is sound prophecy in his analysis of what post-war England will be like.Like The Summing Up, this may well become one of Maugham's influential books. Parts have been published in the Saturday Evening Post and Redbook. They are here rewritten and brought together in the form originally intended.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1941
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About the author
W. Somerset Maugham
2,115 books6,064 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 10, 2022
Maugham's autobiographical memories of the early war years when he moved from Cap Ferrat in France.
The ambience is excellent, one very definitely gets the feel of France on the verge of occupation and when he moves to London the descriptions of a war-torn city are superb and very redolent of the times.
Maugham's story-telling translates superbly into autobiography, which in itself is something of a history lesson, too.
The ambience is excellent, one very definitely gets the feel of France on the verge of occupation and when he moves to London the descriptions of a war-torn city are superb and very redolent of the times.
Maugham's story-telling translates superbly into autobiography, which in itself is something of a history lesson, too.
August 30, 2018
A superb insight into what it was like to be in France and with the French in 1939 and 1940. He captures the changing mood of the French vividly, from the strange equanimity and confidence with which they initially viewed the threat of war to the sudden, shocking disintegration of their will to stand up to Hitler.
Maugham is no mere observer in this national tragedy. He had made his home on the French Riviera and believed he would live out his days there in comfort, writing novels and plays. Following the declaration of war, he made himself available to the British government and used his connections to gain access to French war preparations so he could write about them for the government and the British papers. But as the Germans swept through northern France he realised that he would have to leave and embarked on an arduous month-long flight from France, enduring all manner of hardships that he took in his stride, never once mentioning that he was already in his mid-60s.
His refections on what happened to France and who was to blame are powerful and at times brutal but full of insight.
Maugham is no mere observer in this national tragedy. He had made his home on the French Riviera and believed he would live out his days there in comfort, writing novels and plays. Following the declaration of war, he made himself available to the British government and used his connections to gain access to French war preparations so he could write about them for the government and the British papers. But as the Germans swept through northern France he realised that he would have to leave and embarked on an arduous month-long flight from France, enduring all manner of hardships that he took in his stride, never once mentioning that he was already in his mid-60s.
His refections on what happened to France and who was to blame are powerful and at times brutal but full of insight.
February 14, 2010
This starts out with Maugham leaving his villa on Cap Ferrat around the time the Nazis invaded Poland, but before France fell. It's an interesting look at how the very wealthy endured some brief but genuine hardships at this time.
Maugham makes sailing around the South of France, looking for a port willing to take a ship of evacuees, sound like a bad vacation. Things, of course, get worse later, when on another ship, Maugham sees elderly people die from the stress of the experience.
The book ends with a few optimistic chapters on the British spirit and the future of the Labour Party.
I wonder if any of the people cattily described here ever read this book and recognized themselves. It's a fun read for Maugham fans.
Maugham makes sailing around the South of France, looking for a port willing to take a ship of evacuees, sound like a bad vacation. Things, of course, get worse later, when on another ship, Maugham sees elderly people die from the stress of the experience.
The book ends with a few optimistic chapters on the British spirit and the future of the Labour Party.
I wonder if any of the people cattily described here ever read this book and recognized themselves. It's a fun read for Maugham fans.
February 28, 2021
A beautifully written book of stories that showed me a side of the French mindsets in the short time leading up to World War II that I had no idea about.
July 17, 2021
Moomi polnud kohe ammu lugenud. Väga meeldis vanasti. Aga siis tulid mingid Kitsad nurgakesed ja Kirevad loorikesed, nii raamatu kui filmi kujul, ja võtsid isu ära. Need olid kuidagi vanamoeliseks punnitatud romaanikesed, mis proovisid eksootika peal liugu lasta...
Igatahes. Leidsin selle päevaraamatu moodi teose mingist kaltsukast kahe euri eest ja mõtlesin, et proovin veel. Kaltsukast on hea raamatuid osta. Seal on nii juhuslik ja piiratud valik, ja kohati on müstilisi asju. Nojah. Algus oli tore. See esimene lugu, see oli nagu kompu. Tõeliselt moomiliku novelli vaimus iroonia. Edasi läks kirjelduslikuks, aga see oli täitsa okei kuniks ta Vahemerel seikles. Hädapärast kannatas lugeda ka see periood, kui ta Prantsusmaal ringi liikus ja sõjaolukorrast reportaaže tegi. Laevasõit Inglismaale oli ka tore. Aga viimane ca kolmandik raamatust - pealkiri lubas küll, et rangelt isiklik, aga lõpus ta kirjutas ainult poliitikast, ja rangelt ebaisiklikult. Teemad kordusid, ja kõik sumbus mingitesse paleeintriigidesse, mis mind lihtsalt ei huvita, isegi ja eriti juhul kui need on mingi ammusurnud tegelased, kes intriigitsevad.
Okei, see kõik olnuks ka tegelt enam-vähem, kui tõlge poleks olnud nii kehv. Pidevalt täiesti ilmsed möödalasud. Mitte et ma oleks viitsinud originaali välja otsida ja kõrvutama hakata, aga ma olen täiesti veendunud, et tegemist oli valestitõlgitud kohtadega. Küll olid mingid nähtused jäänud hoomamatuks tõlkijale, või siis idioomid. Väga toores ja mehhaaniline oli tekst. Näis, et korralikku toimetajat polnud. Või ei võetud tema märkusi arvesse või ta ei julenud neid teha. Igatahes polnud need lõppversiooni jõudnud.
Nii et kui raamatu alguses tundus mulle, et võibolla peaks Moomijahile minema ka mõnda antikvariaati, siis raamatu lõpuosaks oli mu huvi jälle raugenud. Sest kõik need uuemad ja lugemata asjad on ju ühe ja sama tüübi/kirjastuse poolt vist eesti keelde tõlgitud ja välja antud.
Igatahes. Leidsin selle päevaraamatu moodi teose mingist kaltsukast kahe euri eest ja mõtlesin, et proovin veel. Kaltsukast on hea raamatuid osta. Seal on nii juhuslik ja piiratud valik, ja kohati on müstilisi asju. Nojah. Algus oli tore. See esimene lugu, see oli nagu kompu. Tõeliselt moomiliku novelli vaimus iroonia. Edasi läks kirjelduslikuks, aga see oli täitsa okei kuniks ta Vahemerel seikles. Hädapärast kannatas lugeda ka see periood, kui ta Prantsusmaal ringi liikus ja sõjaolukorrast reportaaže tegi. Laevasõit Inglismaale oli ka tore. Aga viimane ca kolmandik raamatust - pealkiri lubas küll, et rangelt isiklik, aga lõpus ta kirjutas ainult poliitikast, ja rangelt ebaisiklikult. Teemad kordusid, ja kõik sumbus mingitesse paleeintriigidesse, mis mind lihtsalt ei huvita, isegi ja eriti juhul kui need on mingi ammusurnud tegelased, kes intriigitsevad.
Okei, see kõik olnuks ka tegelt enam-vähem, kui tõlge poleks olnud nii kehv. Pidevalt täiesti ilmsed möödalasud. Mitte et ma oleks viitsinud originaali välja otsida ja kõrvutama hakata, aga ma olen täiesti veendunud, et tegemist oli valestitõlgitud kohtadega. Küll olid mingid nähtused jäänud hoomamatuks tõlkijale, või siis idioomid. Väga toores ja mehhaaniline oli tekst. Näis, et korralikku toimetajat polnud. Või ei võetud tema märkusi arvesse või ta ei julenud neid teha. Igatahes polnud need lõppversiooni jõudnud.
Nii et kui raamatu alguses tundus mulle, et võibolla peaks Moomijahile minema ka mõnda antikvariaati, siis raamatu lõpuosaks oli mu huvi jälle raugenud. Sest kõik need uuemad ja lugemata asjad on ju ühe ja sama tüübi/kirjastuse poolt vist eesti keelde tõlgitud ja välja antud.
December 4, 2016
Interesting slice of life 1939-1940.
August 2, 2011
Maugham was commissioned to write articles about what was happening in Europe in the late 1930s into 1940-41. He compiled these into a book that was published in 1941. He was living near Cannes, France at the time. I found it quite interesting to get an impression of WW2 and the Nazis from a contemporary perspective. It's amazing to read that they thought that Hitler was bluffing and that it would not happen. I only wish that he had continued his writing all through the war. Fascinating.
March 2, 2014
Si una nación valora alguna cosa más que su libertad, perderá su libertad, y lo irónico de todo esto es que si es el dinero o el confort lo que más valora, perderá también eso. Y cuando una nación se ve obligada a luchar por su libertad, sólo puede aspirar a salir victoriosa si posee ciertas cualidades: honestidad, valor, lealtad, visión y espíritu de sacrificio.
July 12, 2009
Very enjoyable memoir of the time just before the break out of WW2. I had never heard anything about this book before, just saw it while browsing the library a few weeks ago and thought I'd give it a try. Glad I did.
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August 23, 2008I've read this before; it's a narrative about Mr. Maugham's experiences in France and England in the early days of WW II - I find his stories very amusing and his style refreshing
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews