Rating: 
Summary: Subtle, Insightful and Brilliant
Review: "To recognize it (Beauty) you must repeat the adventure of the artist. It is a melody that he sings to you, and to hear it again in your own heart you want knowledge and sensitiveness and imagination." And so the narrator's friend passes along a bit of wisdom early in this magnificent book. Of course, the narrator does not understand and must, on his own, develop knowledge, sensitivity and imagination around the life of the fictionalized-Paul Gauguin, Charles Strickland.The narration is cunning and subtle throughout. The narrator begins as a young novitiate of life, sides with convention, utters a few misogynistic statements (which are good for a laugh/is this how women were viewed by some in the early 1900's?) and, oh so slowly, develops into a person of sensitivity and imagination. The transformation is subtle and quiet, ending with a physical return to the place where it all started. Those characters, who he had originally thought so highly of, are still the same, mean and opportunistic. He sees their stasis and reflects on the greatness of the man that he himself once thought mean. With each new Maugham book I read, I gain a deeper appreciation for the wonder of his writing. The story is effortless and at the same time loaded with significant themes that give me pause for consideration.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite an interesting story
Review: The characters in this book are well chosen and with the death of Strickland Maugham shows the unimportance of man's existence. The thing Strickland did was more important than himself as a person. Yet sometimes Strickland gets a bit unrealistic, because he seems to be so selfish and really doesn't care about anything else but his inner urge to paint. The story describes the life of the great painter Gauguin although he is not mentioned by name but there are a lot of similarities between the two. Exotic places are also an important part in the novel, which makes it interesting and easy to read to read. On the whole it's a well written story.
Rating: 
Summary: unimaginably depressing
Review: Far from being an interesting story about the life of a renegade sort of painter, I found this book to be about as demoralizing as any book I've ever read. The painter that is supposed to be the hero of the book is a worthless creep who does his best to infiltrate and destroy the lives of everyone he comes into contact with. Maugham always makes him come out on top and has everyone kissing his hindquarters. I guess some people like those kinds of characters, but I didn't. In fact, I only read halfway through this book before I hauled it back to the library and got something else. My advice - don't even waste your time. Maugham's best book was _Of Human Bondage_, but even it is pretty depressing. Maugham is the only author I've found that might be more depressing than John Steinbeck. Nonetheless, he's worth reading, just to get a different perspective on things. But this was _not_ one of his better books.
Rating:
Summary: Virtual Gauguin...
Review: If Gauguin, the painter, had been an Englishman, his life could very well have been as reconstructed by Maugham in this famous novel. The main characters are few: the author cast as minor English writer, Strickland or the "Gauguin character", his first wife, a Dutch painter in Paris and his English wife. A number of minor characters give intense color to much of the book and are very skillfully drawn. Not just a biographical novel, which could have been interesting in itself, THE MOON AND SIXPENCE attempts to be a psychological study of an unusual person, a genius perhaps. And there is no doubt---it succeeds. Not only is a fascinating novel that will grip you for as long as it takes to read, it is a major work on the relationship of art, psychology and society. The novel is one of the greatest of a very talented writer. Maugham's overarching question is "what kind of person suddenly leaves a very mediocre, average life as a stockbroker---having shown absolutely no inclination for art---throws over his wife, his relatives, and everything he has ever known, to go to Paris to become an artist in the utmost poverty ?" What makes a man do that ? And how strange it is that he succeeds beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Along the road of explanation, Maugham introduces many an interesting argument between humanism and cold rationality, between those who feel for others and those who only act for themselves. I like seashells, the treasures of the ocean, but I prefer to find them myself, buried in the sand or lying in a mess of seaweed. I clean them off and they're mine. I never buy them, polished and sterile, from a shop shelf. That is, I don't like getting repeated "nuggets of wisdom", polished and presented to me by an author. I prefer to stumble on them myself, pondering as I go. What I do not particularly care for in this novel, which may put off readers (or, sure, may attract them) is the didactic, hectoring tone (leaving aside the rather misogynistic view of women). Maugham insists on hitting the reader over the head, again and again, with his views... "Suffering for the most part, makes men petty and vindicative" (p.64). "There is no cruelty greater than a woman's to a man who loves her and whom she does not love; she has no kindness then, no tolerance even..." (p.114) "...Man in moments of emotion expresses himself naturally in the terms of a novelette." (p.135). I can provide a lot more examples. Maugham writes a tremendous story, a sensitive psychological portrait of a man who was contrary to what everyone had supposed him to be, a man possessed for years by a secret devil---Art. The author insists that it is impossible to know exactly what a person will do, that it is impossible to fathom human nature. He then fills his novel with endless little lectures, innumerable aphorisms, about human nature, thereby contradicting his own core theme. It is still a great novel.
Rating:
Summary: Art Promises You the Moon
Review: The novel, based on the life of the French painter Paul Gauguin, is a very absorbing and easy read. Maugham's style has such fluidity that you can read the entire book with great interest in a single day. The main character, Charles Strickland, gives up a comfortable life of a financier to pursue his passsion for painting. Strickland is a man possessed, who is willing to sacrifice his well being and that of his family to fulfill the call of his inner voice to paint his vision of the world. I like the novel and highly recommend it, but I do have a few criticisms. First, Strickland is portrayed as too inhuman, which makes the character unrealistic. Many artists are driven and single-minded, but Maugham is so concerned in making his Strickland appear a hard and uncompromising creator that he makes him crude. Strickland is taciturn, though he occasionally spouts Nietzshean phrases and tries to project Nietzschean haughty indifference to everything except his art. Not surprisingly, Strickland is condescending toward women and does not hesitate to let us know about it in his rare but obnoxious commentary. If the real Gauguin, or any artitst of significance, were as incensitive as Strickland, he would not be able to feel and to paint what he did. And this, in a nutshell, is the problem with Maugham's novel. He started from a stereotype and ended with the main character who was not particularly compelling.
Rating:
Summary: life changing
Review: I've read the reviews of this book and can only say this; You either "get it" or "You don't".
But if you do - the world is a much more vivid, bright, achingly beautiful place... and you can consider yourself blessed. An utter masterpiece!
Rating:
Summary: say what you want....
Review: I won't even comment about the storyline. The author refers to Strickland/Gaugin as a genius several times and you wonder if he just really likes the artist's work or if he actually knows what he was talking about as a critic. If you have ever had the honor to stand in front of and gaze upon one of Gaugin's works, then you can almost understand why he did give up his life. Actually seeing his art makes you realize that his despicable character should be forgiven. He was right in knowing that he "had to paint". There's never been anyone like him that could paint such beautiful pictures or such detailed carvings, so full of life!
Rating:
Summary: the run-away genius painter
Review: When I first picked up this book, I took it merely as an entertainment novel that helps me to kill an idle evening. I read it. I read it again. I read on and on. All of a sudden, the world around me disappeared totally. Everything around me, the trees, the people, the strawberry in a bowl, were clothed with a dim and unspeakable color. I felt the power that Maugham tried to convey to the readers. I felt that struggling pain, but in an exultance. I came to love Maugham since then and decided to focus on him on my graduation thesis. Maugham is not a very serious writer that can be found easily in any A-level writer list. However, there is something extremely unique about him: He saw life and wrote it down not only as what it is, but as what it will be. Who said Strickland is an inhuman painter? Didn't he see the tears that he shed for the faithful tears of Ata? In my eyes, Strickland IS detestable, for he wants too much. Isn't there always a strickland in our hearts? Ignorance doesn't mean overlooking it. Philip in "Of Human Bondage" walked all the path taht Maugham walked on, but strickland went through a spiritual prigrimage that only rehearsed in Maugham's mind. Maugham is a pathetic guy throughout. He is one of a few who remain somber, therefore, he is painful. Read this book in a room of your own, you'll find a room with a view.
Rating:
Summary: ~Fall in love with Maugham's Writing~
Review: Beautiful writing. Somerset Maugham wrote with so much feeling it's hard not to fall in love with his stories or himself. Romantic and practical, the author narrates his personal journey with well-known painter "Charles Strickland", Maugham's stories feature their early lives in England, Paris and later Tahiti. Described as a "selfish" man (depending on how you view him), Strickland suffers isolation and no recognition during his lifetime. His advanced art vision set the base for a post impressionist movement, raised Strickland to fame posthumously. I really think Maugham has done an incredibly super job in describing the complexity of the characters in the book (Strickland, Dirk Stroeve, Tarie among others). Thorough and subtle, his characters are believable and alive. Maugham also includes stories of Tahitian natives whom Strickland has made his acquaintances. His dreamy description of Tahitian lives make me want to live there and experience the island's beauty for myself.
Rating:
Summary: amazing book
Review: Of all the books I was forced to read for school, this one was by far the best. I just recently remembered the name of it while thinking on famous painters, and also remembered the vividness of the work. The places he writes of come to life with his words, helped along no doubt by Maugham's travels themselves. Maugham writes not only an engrossing read, but also the ideas he writes of in his book are fascinating in their own right. The book makes you wonder what exactly "genius" is, and how one gets to be accorded this title. Despite the general despicable-ness of the main character, you can still identify with him, and walk away amazed at the idea anyone can do the things he did. I even found myself expressing a certain envy of this man who was, first and foremost, himself.
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