Short & Sweet Treats discussion
This topic is about
The Painted Veil
Some Leftovers! (Previous Reads)
>
The Painted Veil
Mod
I've had this on my to read list forever!
Mod
Trying to get it from the library, mine doesn't have it so they must get it from another library.
Has anyone else started this yet? I am listening to the audiobook version narrated by Sophie Ward. I like the way Maugham launches right into the story.
Mod
I'm not used to audio but I want to start the book soon!
I started it yesterday night and liking it so far. Loved the preface, I didn't know he was inspired by a character in Dante's Divine Comedy. Plus I liked the fact that it's similar to the film, in the way it starts in the middle of the action and then proceeds to a flashback, but "the middle of the action" in the book is different, it's slightly earlier in the story, so it surprised me all the same.Laura, I find audiobooks are great when you have to commute, but listening to them in bed at night usually makes me fall asleep in ten seconds, more or less :P
I agree Alessia, every time I have tried an audio book I fall asleep. ..Hmmmm do I dare try listening in the car? lol
Laura, I've become a big audiobook fan in the last year, but if I'm honest I have to say I do not retain the story as long as I do when I read it myself. I am more of a visual learner in general. Still, they make washing dishes a lot less painful!Hahaha Alessia and Ashley I've fallen asleep listening a few times too. One narrator in particular makes me extra sleepy - Simon Vance. He is an excellent reader, but I fell asleep 3 or 4 times listening to one section alone of his audio of Great Expectations. I'd wake up to (view spoiler) and have to rewind and start over.
I haven't seen the movie of The Painted Veil yet. I'm looking forward to comparing the two.
Danae, I sometimes listen to auiobooks when I'm doing housework chores too, but I usually choose humorous books (like Bossypants), rather than classics. Probably because, I have to admit it, I'm not always capable of understanding everything that's being read to me (English isn't my first language), and I don't want that to happen with literary classics. I definitely prefer to read those myself. Did you fall asleep while washing dishes, Danae? LOL I could never listen to Great Expectations, for example. I still have troubles understanding some of it, even if I've read it three times now!!!
The film of the Painted Veil is one of my favorites, it's one of the reason why I was so glad we're reading the book. I hope you enjoy it too!
Laura, have you managed to find a copy of the book?
Alessia wrote: "Danae, I sometimes listen to auiobooks when I'm doing housework chores too, but I usually choose humorous books (like Bossypants), rather than classics. i definitely prefer to read those. Did you fall asleep while washing dishes? LOL..."Hahaha no, luckily I wasn't washing up, but if I ever do that, I bet anything it will be while listening to Mr. Vance! :D
I will be beginning this tonight! I can't wait to get home and get started!
Danaë wrote: " He is an excellent reader, but I fell asleep 3 or 4 times listening to one section alone of his audio of Great Expectations. ..."Perfectly understandable no matter who the narrator is- it's Dickens, after all! (Sorry, couldn't resist...)
I actually like Simon Vance's voice, but it's very soothing and I can see how he might put you to sleep.
I used to be in the habit of listening to audio, and got out of the habit about a year ago. I'd listen while walking or housework... I still listen, sporadically, but I really ought to get back into the habit more consistently! All that perfectly good listening time is going to waste.
I picked up a paper copy of The Painted Veil when I was at the library yesterday. Unfortunately, it's just two years too new to be in the public domain. Sigh.
Melanti wrote: "I picked up a paper copy of The Painted Veil when I was at the library yesterday. Unfortunately, it's just two years too new to be in the public domain. Sigh. "I know! If you go on Project Gutenberg, they have basically every major book written by Somerset Maugham except for this! How many years does it take for the copyright to expire?
Anything before 1923 is in the public domain. This was written in 1925, just 2 years later. I think when this was published the law said it expired 95 years after publication. (I think it was initially 28 years, then you filed paperwork to extend it to 95.)
This would mean this particular book comes into the public domain (in the US at least) in 2020.
I'm loving this book and I can't put it down! Such a great selection to read, I can't wait to see the movie when I have completed it!
Hi everyone,I've just picked up the book out of my book case. And may I say that this is the tiniest, smallest period of time a book ever witnessed on my bookshelves between the time of its purchase and the time of its pick up. Maugham should rise from his grave and write me a "Thank You" note, not only for this, but also because I finished off 2013 with Of Human Bondage (exactly on New Year's Eve) and less than two months later I pick up another book of his which is unprecedented in my reading curriculum :D
Wish me luck :)
I'm about halfway through the audio book. It's a lot more interesting than I thought it would be!
I'm in <3 with this book!
I've just finished it. It was a very pleasant read, because it was so beautifully written. The descriptions of the Chinese countryside, the city of Meitan-fu and the temple were particularly wonderful. And I also loved the journey of self-improvement that Kitty went through. It was quite forward thinking that a man from that time could reflect on the condition of women and criticize the way they were brought up without a proper education, without any career prospect and with only marriage in mind, always dependent on men.The few things I didn't quite like are related to the ending, which I don't want to spoil for anyone of you, so I'll wait some more till more people have finished it too. I'll just say, I definitely preferred the film, which i recommend to anyone who hasn't yet seen it.
Who was everyone's favorite character, by the way?
Mine was Waddington without a doubt. I loved his open-mindedness, his curiosity for different cultures (as opposed to Kitty's initial disgust to everything remotely "other") and his shrewd humour.
I'm not a huge romance fan so I'm surprised at how I'm liking this -- though I REALLY want to slap Kitty, of course.We just got to Mei-tan-fu and met Waddington, so I'm hopping Kitty starts facing up to reality soon!
Melanti wrote: "I'm not a huge romance fan so I'm surprised at how I'm liking this -- though I REALLY want to slap Kitty, of course.We just got to Mei-tan-fu and met Waddington, so I'm hopping Kitty starts facin..."
She is definitely insufferable, but she was brought up in an unloving family, by a terrible mother, always dwelling in a confined environment without any knowledge of the world. So I supposed she's excused in a way, isn't she? I can't stand Townsend though
Shallow, insipid, stupid, arrogant, not politically savvy or street-wise at all... I could go on all day! Being raised as she was explains a great deal, of course, but I can't help but think that a dozen or so more IQ points would be nice.
Well, I hated her just as much as you at first, but as I said she's the product of her upbringing; besides (don't read till you've finished the book)(view spoiler)
I'll hold off on looking at spoilers for now, but I'm not sure whether I'd rather have a "and they lived happily ever after" ending or something more along the lines of Rhett Butler's "My dear, I don't give a damn." Of course, a horrible, tragic death isn't entirely out of the question either, with lots of lingering deathbed pleas for forgiveness...It's a really easy and fast read, so I suppose I'll find out for myself shortly.
I'm only around 50 pages in, but I think I can see where Kitty is coming from. I mean she was brought up on the idea of "You're only as good as the man you get" kind of upbringing. She was taught to please and therefore expected everyone else to please her all the same way in return. She lacks the natural empathy towards people and events. I mean she was quite detached from her father, sister and even suitors. She gave her hand in marriage just to not be there at her younger sister's wedding. How weird is that :/ ?As for Walter, he seemed like the kind of guy who can have a volcano boil up inside him and still manage to appear like an iceberg.
I second Melanti, that it's a super easy and fast to read and I'm kind of anxious on how it'll turn out.
I would honestly say that this was a great book and I'm sad that I have completed it. :) I love the descriptions - they are amazingly vivid and beautiful even in the midst of death.
I believe all the characters were wonderfully written.
I can understand why people would hate Kitty but I feel that she grew for the spoiled selfish girl with no care in the world to someone full of caring and emotion and regret for the way she lived her life previously.
She would be my favorite as far as depth to a character.
I will now be buying to movie. I can't wait to see how they compare.
Mod
Mod
Out with the book, in with the movie.Laura, I assure you that Walter is no Rhett Butler :D
Kitty isn't a Scarlett either, though I did think of Gone With the Wind while I was reading this. Scarlett is FAR smarter and more opportunistic than Kitty could ever hope to be. Kitty was more of a stereotypical female.(view spoiler)
Mod
The well-hidden kind. Maybe this is coming from my view-point of disliking Kitty, but we do see Walter from her point of view. I believe there's more to Walter than Kitty can see - but since she only recognizes the more demonstrative emotions and that's not something he's capable of, he comes off cold and unfeeling in her eyes and therefore ours too.
I don't know if that is only because we see it from Kitty's point of view, but certainly he is not a multi-faceted person. Besides he's quite passive-aggressive in his behavior and narcissistic. I mean how else would one describe the way he reacts when he discovers Kitty and Townsend, if not passive-aggressive? He doesn't even confront them, choosing instead to humiliate her first and then to try and kill her with cholera! Plus he seems to be perfectly fine with Kitty not loving him, as long as she doesn't sleep with somebody else, like he's only interested in her body, not her mind. This possessive kind of love is truly medieval, and I believe this is exactly how Maugham wanted him to be perceived, seeing as he chose the episode from Dante's Comedy, written in the middle ages.(view spoiler)
Yeah, definitely passive-aggressive, I agree. Not sure I agree with the humiliation though... IF he'd tried to tell her that Townsend didn't love her, she never would have believed him. The path he took wasn't good or the slightest bit nice, but it seemed an effective way of proving his point quickly and definitively. And even after having this proven, she STILL pined for Townsend for weeks. Would she ever have believed him if he just told her? Or would she have blamed him for it more than she already did?Maybe this is my wish-fulfillment speaking, but I saw Walter as someone who WANTED Kitty to love him and thought that once they were married he'd have plenty of time to convince her to fall in love, but just had no clue how to do that because they were too different. Then she started her affair and proved that he didn't have a chance at all. And then she kept pining for Townsend even after she knew for certain that he was taking advantage of her, and Walter gave up on her completely.
(view spoiler)
Walter's not a nice guy, by any means, and I wouldn't want myself or any of my friends to be saddled with him, but my view of him is a bit more forgiving than yours.
I had a very hard time getting through this book. I don't typically like the romance genre, and I didn't really like or identify with any of the characters in the book. I more or less ended up skimming through most of the book. I did, however, enjoy the movie. The scenic production of China was breathtaking. I gained a new found respect for Kitty and Walter. They were more likeable in the film (who doesn't love Edward Norton?). I recently finished a class for my BSN called Global Heath. So I was very familiar with the devastating effects of Cholera that is still present, even today. I found it amusing that my class work and personal reading coincided.
Although I enjoyed the book very much, but none of the characters were particularly likable to me. However, the movie version lightens up the severity of Walter's character and makes Kitty look more of a repentant.A few notes that is surely to spoil the reading for you is in the below link.
(view spoiler)
I really enjoyed reading this book (I have never read it before, or seen the film). I found many aspects of it fascinating; Kitty's journey - both literal and metaphorical - allows us as readers to feel some sympathies with her, I feel. What interested me almost as much, though, was the description of the colonial existence. The idea of moving to a country with an entirely different culture, but not engaging with that culture or its people in any way (other than as servants) is so strange.
A lot of the earlier comments are highly critical of Walter and his character (or lack of it), but I believe that he has some good qualities; his dedication to helping the orphans and those who have been stricken with cholera.
These are just a few of my thoughts, which I hope others will like reading.
Rachel wrote: "... What interested me almost as much, though, was the description of the colonial existence. The idea of moving to a country with an entirely different culture, but not engaging with that culture or its people in any way (other than as servants) is so strange...."Rachel, it was the norm of all British colonies to treat the natives as inferiors and to treat their culture as means of entertainment. For example, when Egypt was under the British occupation, Egyptians where not allowed into restaurants, clubs and sometimes some boats and cruises. Such places where exclusives for either foreigners or royal members. The only exceptions where people of great value to the colonial delegates who could do them great services. If you research it you'll find it also true for the rest of the colonies in north Africa and Asia.
I think that's part of why I disliked Kitty. As much as I tried to remind myself of the bad parts of colonialism and that Kitty's behavior to the Chinese she met wasn't at all out of the ordinary, modern sensibilities kept getting in the way... Waddington is more tolerable to a modern audience, but his behavior would have seemed very odd and scandalous, from what I understand.
Marwa wrote: "Rachel wrote: "... What interested me almost as much, though, was the description of the colonial existence. The idea of moving to a country with an entirely different culture, but not engaging wit..."Hi Marwa.
Although I was previously aware of colonial attitudes to 'the natives', I have never seen it depicted so graphically in a novel. As a British person myself, this is not something that is generally highlighted. I feel like I have really learned something from this, and I want to find out more.
Mod
Mod
I enjoyed and identified with Kitty's spiritual transformation. She seeks and enjoys the path to peace. Sometimes when you lose yourself, that is when you are able to find yourself.
Hi Rachel,I believe that in the literature of Naguib Mahfouz's The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk / Palace of Desire / Sugar Street which is set in Egypt in the time of the British occupation, there's an interesting side of colonial behavior. Also, in José Rizal's literature, there's a lot to be learned on the Spanish occupation attitude towards the natives in the Philippines. I've added the writings of the latter to my to-read list just recently hoping that I can tackle it soon.
Marwa wrote: "Hi Rachel,I believe that in the literature of Naguib Mahfouz's The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk / Palace of Desire / Sugar Street which is set in Egypt in the time of th..."
Thanks Marwa. I will make a note of these books and authors and check them out, they sound very interesting.
I really saw this as,a look at life and death, good and bad, rather than a love story. I also hated how Kitty said she would raise her daughter as I am woman, hear me roar (good!) but never quite grasped this for herself. She would come close...but just couldn't get there. I liked that Walter gave her this ultimatum and referred to her as the dog that bit him, a new literary reference, it added a dimension to him that I wasn't expecting. Over all, I think Maugham gives us,much to think about and is one of the underrated writers of this time.
And I haven't seen the movie, but have heard from many Goodreads friends it was worth watching so I will be checking it out, too!
Mod
The movie was great! I really enjoyed it
Short & Sweet Treats
Books mentioned in this topic
The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street (other topics)The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street (other topics)
The Painted Veil (other topics)
Of Human Bondage (other topics)
The Painted Veil (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
Naguib Mahfouz (other topics)Naguib Mahfouz (other topics)
José Rizal (other topics)
W. Somerset Maugham (other topics)
"Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, The Painted Veil is the story of the beautiful but love-starved Kitty Fane. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to the heart of a cholera epidemic. Stripped of the British society of her youth and the small but effective society she fought so hard to attain in Hong Kong, she is compelled by her awakening conscience to reassess her life and learn how to love.
The Painted Veil is a beautifully written affirmation of the human capacity to grow, to change, and to forgive."