Rain and Other South Sea Stories

I’ve been reading a great deal of W. Somerset Maugham lately; and I daresay it will continue. His tales of the human condition – of heartfelt mistakes and foolish blunders – juxtaposed against the matter-of-factness of imperialism in turn of the century Victorian England make for charming stories. They are so naturally international – about a time when Englanders thought of the world as their own and acted accordingly – that they teem with an unpretentious multi-culturalism.These days we are accustomed to reading political thrillers or crime stories set against the backdrop of this-or-that exotic location; authors attempting to prove their grandiloquence through expert, almost surgical use of the foreign. As if to show that simply through their ability to write about a dark corner of the world, the significance of their book is proven; and their use of these locations as the backdrop for grand moments of imperial import – this time American – confirm the multi-culturalism of the American artist in the new world. Yet somehow they do not ring true; they seem contrived, thereby losing their worth.Maugham’s novels shine because they do no emphasize the exotic in far-away places and try and shock with bizarre cultural rituals or the important geopolitical realities of life lived in significance in faraway places. His novels are in fact the opposite, as they emphasize the constancy of British civilization which was effortlessly employed even in the furthest corners of her empire.His stories are those of everyday British citizens who live ordinary lives – fraught with mischief and mistakes – as they carry out their business, live and love. In Up at the Villa, Maugham tells a story about a woman widowed from an unsatisfying marriage and who makes a careless mistake while on holiday in Florence that upends her life entirely. Rain is the story of a British missionary returning from furlough to his mission in the South Sea Islands when he confronts a worthy adversary in the form of a harlot from Hawaii and is bested in his attempts to convert her. Mackintosh is the tale of a colonial administrator of a small island in the pacific who misinterprets the changing times, and loses his life in the process.And there are many, many others.Each of these stories is so full of humanity, abounding in emotion and passion for life lived more abundantly; of the richness offered by the world around us; lives a spirit occasionally sweet but more often with a bitter bouquet, served indiscriminately in chalices both simple and majestic. Of the potential for great opportunity and of failure; of the ecstasy of forbidden and sometimes sordid love and the promise of redemption or at least the gentle salve of forgetting. These are Maugham’s stories, upon a canvas as vast as the world around us.I hope you pick up a book by W. Somerset Maugham, to find as I often do a new perspective or a refreshing moment. You will find yourself better for it.

I bought this book for "Rain" and it was worth it, even if---at 38 pages---"Rain" occupies a small part of the volume. As other readers have noted, the quality of the stories varies greatly. The opening of "Rain" marks a brilliant piece of writing, and the story follows through with that brilliance. Sadly, most of the rest of the book seems to have been borrowed from the formula thus established. This book could be just as easily subtitled "Death As A Way To Resolve A Story" as pretty much every story is resolved with one. Maugham loves to end his stories with a twist and it's always fun to get to the end of a good one and see how he achieves it. Most of the stories here are not that good, and after a while one can begin to sense the twist well before the end.Maugham is a product of his time and a rather snobbish product at that. His readers are well aware of that, but in these stories his snobbery is often laughable. He's a city man who seems to feel deprived of his urban environment in the South Seas. He's in Paradise by any description---I've been to the Samoa's if not Tahiti, and to have seen any of these locales before the War which changed everything and often significantly, must havbe been something, but Maugham's characters seem to feel hung out to dry. The rain is oppressive. The beauty is stultifying. The lifestyle is paralyzing. Every now and then Maugham begrudgingly acknowledges the spectacular beauty of the setting, but only just. Normally, Maugham is a great place-setter. If the story is in Paris, you feel it. You're there. Here the setting is not always so well established. And the plots are often so formulaic that I began to recall that character from "Little Britain" the romance novelist who narrates to her secretary, and, after a handful of hackneyed phases announces "The End." and then enquires "How many pages is that?"Ah well. If you've not read "Rain" I'd highly recommend it alone above the rest, and this is a great value if you're tight of funds.

Am hugely enjoying Somerset Maugham’s stories, so much so that after I have finished each one I read it again. They’re very subtle and full of profound and detailed analyses of human character. Each has a twist in the tail which is why I want to go back and read it again. He is a master of prose and of exploring what it means to be human. He also depicts the extraordinary heart rending beauty of South Sea islands like Tahiti and Samoa so powerfully that he has me wanting to buy a plane ticket and go there immediately and never come back.Rain is the most famous but I particularly liked the Fall of Edward Barnard. He tells the story from the point of view of Bateman Hunter, a rich and no doubt virtuous young man from Chicago dwellers. There’s obvious satire at the expense of this young man who can’t see any value in anything beyond wealth. And Maugham’s depiction of life on Tahiti is irresistibly seductive.Have just read Red which is equally unforgettable.Maugham may not be the most fashionable but I do highly recommend these stories. They make the works of contemporary writers seem rather shallow.

A mixed bag of six stories based on Maugham’s visits to the South Seas after WWI. Some subtle characterisations and three good tales (‘Rain’, ‘Mackintosh’ & ‘The Fall of Edward Barnard’). The other three stories (‘Red’, ‘The Pool’ & ‘Honolulu’) are less accomplished, but interesting nonetheless.

Nice product-sent quickly and well packaged. A great book, as one would expect from this author-and made interesting reading. Am looking forward to receiving more of the same :)

A good selection of short stories.

Maugham tischt die Klischees faustdick auf:- weitgereister Engländer verliebt sich in sinnlich-süße Insulanerin, sie bewohnen glücklich eine Kajüte oder ein Haus an der Lagune (natürlich währt das Glück nicht bis zum Ende der short story)- über der Lagune steht eine Mondsichel, an ihrem Rand stehen elegante Palmen- fundamentalistischer Missionar trifft frivole Dirne- die Einheimischen sind faul; Chinesen sind nicht faul, aber "Chinks"Manchmal klingt es wie ein Groschenroman.Dennoch habe ich - immer süchtig nach Hot Country Entertainment - die Geschichten mit Vergnügen gelesen. Meist um die 30 Seiten lang, erschien mir jede wie ein Mini-Roman: Durch Zeitsprünge verleiht Maugham seinen Erzählungen scheinbar zusätzliche Tiefe; sie beginnen in der erzählten Gegenwart, dann folgt eine lange Rückblende, die allmählich in die erzählte Gegenwart zurückführt. Das wirkt fast wie ein Trick, um die Plastizität zu erhöhen; wie ein Schlagschatten-Effekt in der Grafik oder künstlicher Hall bei Popaufnahmen.Engländer und Amerikaner sind die Hauptfiguren in allen Südseegeschichten - Händler, Seefahrer, Kolonialverwalter. Einheimische Frauen tauchen als love-interest auf, erscheinen aber kaum als Persönlichkeiten, sondern eher als Mysterien - "pretty little creatures". Einheimische Männer sitzen faul vor der Hütte.Die Atmosphäre erinnerte mich teilweise an Joseph Conrads Almeyer-Romane und einige Conradsche Erzählungen - wie Maugham portraitiert er gern Seefahrer in südlichen Gefilden -, teilweise entfernt auch an Graham Greene. Conrad wie Greene liefern jedoch mehr Tiefgang und weniger Kitsch.Maughams gerühmte Geschichte Rain - mindestens viermal verfilmt - ist vielleicht die schwächste im Buch: Die Südseeinsel spielt hier überhaupt keine Rolle, man könnte die Handlung auch auf der Nordseeinsel Amrum ansiedeln. Die Konfrontation Missionar-Freudendame in Rain steckt voller Klischees und kaum nachvollziehbarer Wendungen, bis hin zum drastischen, indes mehrdeutig interpretierbaren Ende. Alle anderen Geschichten haben deutlich mehr Ambiente. Sämtliche Erzählungen bleiben weitgehend frei von den öden Verallgemeinerungen und Räsonnements, die ich bei Maughams Gentleman in the Parlour und The Moon and Sixpence moniert habe. Das Englisch ist mir sehr leicht gefallen.Insgesamt: gute Unterhaltung.