The Painted Veil

Product Information

She began to regain her spirits; she felt better and stronger. It had seemed to her that she could do nothing now but weep; but to her surprise, and not a little to her confusion, she caught herself laughing at this and that. It began to seem quite natural to live in the midst of a terrible epidemic. She knew that people were dying to the right and left of her, but she ceased very much to think of it. (146) Charm and nothing but charm at last grows a little tiresome, I think. It's a relief then to deal with a man who isn't quite so delightful but a little more sincere. I've known Charlie Townsend for a good many years and once or twice I've caught him with the mask off--you see, I never mattered, just a subordinate official in the Customs--and I know that he doesn't in his heart give damn for any one in the world but himself." Maugham a fost sincer cînd a spus despre el însuși (în Bilanț) că nu are cine știe ce talent literar și nu se pricepe la comparații și metafore. Sinceritatea lui mi l-a făcut simpatic și am dus romanul pînă la capăt. Saddest lines in the book, from her husband: “I never expected you to love me, I didn’t see any reason that you should, I never thought myself very loveable. … What most husbands expected as a right I was prepared to receive as a favor.”

He's very fond of her. I will give him that credit. I think that is the most decent thing about him." The Charlies of this world are grating on my nerves, but I have to admit Somerset Maugham nailed him. Vain, good-looking, brutally selfish and shallow, they come, they see, they conquer, they leave. Wonderful writing and a good read from Maugham. I had not read him lately so I forgot how good a writer he is. When Walter confronted her, he gave her an ultimatum. Either to go with him to Meitan-fu, a cholera region where an epidemic broke out, the worst one in fifty years, or he files for a divorce. The condition was that Charles Townsend, her lover should confirm in writing that he would divorce his wife and marry Kitty, with Charles's wife confirming in writing that she will divorce Charles. If Walter's conditions were not met, Kitty would have to accompany him on his journey to avoid a scandal. Walter: 'I’m afraid you’ve thought me a bigger fool than I am.’ She did not quite know what to say. She was undecided whether indignantly to assert her innocence or to break out into angry reproaches. He seemed to read her thoughts... FROM THE BLURB: Less known than his masterpiece Of Human Bondage, this 1925 Somerset Maugham novel rips at your emotions with its portrayal of an adulterous wife. When the bacteriologist husband of Kitty Fane learns of her infidelity, he forces her to accompany him into the festering center of a Chinese cholera epidemic.The author explained in the foreword that the book was based on a story, rather than characters. While living in Italy and receiving Italian lessons, his tutor, Ersilia, introduced him to the fifth canto of the inferno. La Pia: Ante-Purgatory, Purgatorio 5What I learned in the reading of this wonderful short novel is that the film version is much more about the couple's relationship, whereas the book is much more about Kitty's coming of age.

I'm afraid your mother is dead," her father said on her return. "And I've never much cared for you, just as you've never much cared for me. I'm off to the West Indies, so you're rather on your own."

Retailers:

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 The biographer Richard Cordell notes that the The Painted Veil was influenced by the author Maugham's study of science and his work as a houseman (Maugham began training to be a doctor, but never completed his studies) at St Thomas' Hospital, London. Instead he was lured away from the profession by early literary success. You can appreciate the movie better once you read the book and get to know the characters as they were originally intended. The movie does a good job of interpreting those characters honestly and uses dialogue verbatim from the book. But, in the movie, Walter and Kitty are much more likeable -- probably because they find (SPOILER ALERT)redemption in their love for one another, and Kitty is able to resist Charlie's later advances.

In the preface the author even gives us some writing tips: “I think that this is the only novel I have written in which I started from a story rather than from a character. It is difficult to explain the relation between character and plot. You cannot very well think of a character in the void; the moment you think of him, you think of him in some situation, doing something…” The first time she was alone with Waddington she brought the conversation around to Charlie. Waddington had spoken of him on the evening of their arrival. She pretended that he was no more than an acquaintance of her husband. As much as I disliked Kitty at the onset of this book, she grew on me. I came to see her as an imperfect human, a product of her privileged upbringing and societal expectations. Similarly, I came to see some of Walter's flaws. He wasn't entirely a victim as I believed, early on. When he discovers her adultery, he gives Kitty an option. He will grant her a divorce, if Charles will agree in writing to divorce his wife and marry Kitty immediately thereafter. Or, Kitty can accompany Walter into rural China where he has accepted a job assisting with the medical management of the cholera epidemic. Of course, Walter already knows exactly how this will work out. Kitty seems to be the only one surprised by Charles' duplicity.

Subscribe from £173 *

I really don’t want to say too much of the plot- it is a short book after all and I think it is best discovered fresh. Steady on, old girl," Charlie said. "A chap says a lot of things he doesn't mean with his trousers down. You go off with Walter; cholera isn't so bad as long as you don't get it. Must bolt!" Kitty visits with her father, a quiet man who is adjusting to a life where Kitty’s domineering mother does not badger him. He plans to take a legal post in the Bahamas, and Kitty begs to go with him. For the first time in her life, Kitty has an honest conversation with her father, and establishes a relationship with him. Kitty plans to raise her unborn daughter as a strong, independent woman.