Rating: 
Summary: 2 thumbs up!
Review: I really enjoyed this book.It stands out in my memory.Some classic books can be boring, but not this one! What is amazing to me is that I actually felt some sympathy for Charles despite his immense selfishness. People should not overlook this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Made time to read this classic
Review: There are many good books out there and none of us have time to read them all. Here is one that you should make the time to read. For much labor, thought, and (dare I say it) love went into the writing of this classic biography of the artistic genius, stockbroker turned painter, Paul Gauguin. Much love, and some imagination, and a ton of research including visits to the haunts of the man himself -- Paris and Tahiti and Taravao, the home of Ata, Paul's woman in the islands. Add to this the sympathetic outlook of a humanist and the craftsmanship of a great novelist and you get one of the great books of our time and probably of all time. This is a book written by a genius about a genius who made pictures that were and are still stupendous and overwhelming. Charles Strickland's (Gauguin's alter ego and the protagonist of this story) last picture, the Polynesian garden of the Hesperides, with its quivering purple and red lusters that suggested the palpitation of something mysterious and terrible with the possibilities of the Unknown, possessed a somber passion previously unknown in the history of art. It was his best and most complete work, done a year after the artist had gone blind from leprosy. By his command it was burned soon after his death. When you visit Taravao, you will see a replica which still has tremendous power. After you read this book, you will understand that power and you will have an appreciation for Gauguin's art that you never had before. You will have an appreciation for beauty and truth that succinctly demonstrates the redemptive quality of great art.
Rating:
Summary: A haunting portrait of artistic obsession
Review: Though not his most famous novel, Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence is as much a literary accomplishment as better-known works such as Of Human Bondage and The Razor's Edge. From start to finish it is a powerful, moving, sometimes haunting portrait of a man obsessed with his art. Inspired by the events in the life of Paul Gauguin, this gem of a novel follows Charles Strickland, a seemingly normal, well-to-do, slightly dull Londoner as he abruptly abandons his family, friends, and career to pursue a personal odyssey of artistic creativity. With no advance notice and nothing more than a terse, post-departure note to his wife, Strickland moves to Paris where he abandons the luxuries of his comfortable London life to live and paint in a small, dingy apartment. With few friends, little money, and an often-ornery personal demeanor, he struggles to survive while he devotes himself slavishly to his artistic obsession.At first glance Charles Strickland wins little admiration from the reader. After all, how can one look up to a man who feels no obligation to his wife and children? How can the reader sympathize with a man who abandons a successful career in order to paint, a vocation for which he has previously demonstrated neither great talent nor great interest. Maugham makes no attempt to portray Strickland through rose-colored glasses. Strickland is a man completely devoted to his art, so obsessed that he completely ignores his family, welfare, and health. He lives his life as a semi-recluse, working prolifically in his studio yet neither showing nor selling his work to anyone. As with many artists, his true genius was not acknowledged until after his death. Despite these seemingly unsympathetic qualities, Strickland without doubt comes to be viewed as a hero of sorts. Here is a man bold enough to risk everything to pursue his dream, a man with sufficient character to disregard those who scoffed at him, and ultimately a man with true artistic genius. And yes, there is an element of tragic heroism in his sometimes self-destructive struggle against insurmountable odds. Maugham's writing is at its finest in this tightly crafted, elegantly written novel. As in many of his other works, we find here the first-person narrative so characteristic of Maugham. Our unnamed narrator, himself a writer, is a keen observer of events and emotions. And though he is a minor protagonist as well, he remains far enough removed from the central action of the novel that he never loses his sense of objectivity. The reader comes to rely on him as a trusted friend. And because of this relationship between narrator and reader, Maugham is able to paint a sympathetic portrait of his central character that the reader cannot help admiring.
Rating:
Summary: The Story Saves a Lackluster Book!
Review: The Moon and Sixpence has an adequate first act, a poorly structured second act, and a conclusion that somehow makes me forget the 270 ho-hum pages that preceded it. If you are looking for Maugham at his best, see Of Human Bondage first. If you're looking for further works by Maugham, pick up The Moon and Sixpence, but don't expect to be as thoroughly impressed. The story, however, is one with immense potential: the discovery of the internal artist. The main character of Charles Strickland is a unique and interesting one to say the least. Watching him respond and develop is something to at once appall, intrigue, and admire. By the conclusion, you'll see his journey full circle, and not feel the least regret for having read the novel. But it was with a peculiar displeasure that I journey the first few hundred pages. Part One is an episodic narritive in which the narrator meets the society of London and Paris, and more particularly Charles Strickland. This style of writing I have always found most appealing, but nonetheless Maugham seems in a desperate rush to go through it all. There are so few episodes, and indeed they all go by in such a flourish, that one doesn't find the story and its characters as sufficiently developed as a longer tale might have accomplished. Part Two adorns the more appropriate, leisurely pace, but the plot is recounted through sundry interviews from negligable characters. Maugham's intention was no doubt to show Strickland's effect on people, but every time fiction assumes such a story-telling strategy, it comes across as impersonal and unsatisfactory. And The Moon and Sixpence is no exception. Because different characters are recounting and reminiscing, the tone varies too frequently, and as soon as you begin to comprehend one character, he is quickly abandoned for another. What comes as an ultimate surprise, however, is that Maugham was able to pull me back in during the final few pages. Indeed, that shows the true strength of the narrative. The fact that I could be somewhat disappointed with the first part, exceedingly disappointed with the second part, and still come around to applaud the book on the last pages is a true feat. As the closing events occur, and Strickland comes to his ultimate fate, one can't help but view the life and sacrifices of an artist with a whole new outlook, a whole new respect and appreciation. Yes, perhaps Strickland takes the eccentricities of art to an absurd degree, but the character is so well developed and understood by his author that one cannot help but feel a greater fondness for the misunderstood Strickland, the initially lackluster book, and the literary skills of W. Somerset Maugham. And so, I can't help but conclude with the statement that this is a widely successful book in its most grand artistic attempt. Could it have been organized, structured, paced any better? --Yes! But on the whole, I'll take what I can get: a good story, with an interesting character, who has an incalculable gift.
Rating:
Summary: Portrait of an Artist as a Not so Young Man
Review: In "Moon and Six Pences", Willian Somerset Maugham created fiction beyond the shadows of the reality. It's widely known that the life of the main character, Charles Strickland, is based on some events of the life of the painter Paul Gaugin. However, it's not closely to be a byographical work, actually, it is good work of fiction. The narrative can be divided in three distinguishing parts. In the first one, we are introduced to narrator, Strickland and his family, and some friends. In this section of the novel, the painter is not a painter yet, and he has an ordinary and boring life with his wife and kids. Although we can notice he is not a happy man, we never got a slightest clue of he is about to do. Charlie appears only in a couple of paragraphs of this part, and we learn much more about him through other people's comments. The second part stars with a surprise when he escapes to Paris and his wife ask the narrator to help her. That's when we see much more about Charlie. It's discovered that all he wants is to get down to painting. It's the largest part of the novel and this when the most important events of Strckland's life happen, and this will influence his art forever. The last part is very interesting, because it is when the narrator is no longer in touch with the painter and everything he learns about him -- and so do we -- is through the people who had lived with Charlie in the Tahiti. This novel may not be Maugahm's masterpice, but on the other hand it is a very good reading. I think the the whole novel comes down to following a dream. Many times near the end, the writer makes it very clear. Mainly when he tells a woman a story of a doctor who could have got everything he wanted but he chose living in a far and poor place, because it satisfied hismelf much more. This is the same thing that happens to our hero. He spent most his time in a tasteless and senless family life in London. He was almost 40 when he gave everthing up in order to fullfill his feelings. Nobody understand why he did so, but as he said all the time, he didn't give a damn to what people thought or said about him. All in all, this novel I had the feeling that Charles Strickland was a desperate soul in search of rendemption, and he only got it after quiting his meaningless life and seaching for his own sense of life.
Rating:
Summary: magnifico
Review: SOBERBIA
William Somerset Maugham "Cada uno de nosotros vive solo en el mundo, encerrado en una torre de bronce, y nos comunicamos con los demás por medio de signos; pero como esos signos no tienen un valor común, su sentido es incierto. Tratamos lastimosamente de transmitir a otros los tesoros de nuestro corazón; mas como ellos no tienen forma de aceptarlos, vivimos solitarios, unos al lado del otro, pero no juntos, sin poder conocer a los que nos rodean y sin que ellos puedan conocernos a nosotros. Somos como hombres que viviéramos en un país cuya lengua nos fuese casi desconocida y que, no obstante tener tantas cosas bellas y profundas que decir, estuviésemos condenados a las nonadas de una conversación vulgar. Nuestra imaginación esta llena de ideas; sin embargo, solo podemos decir que la sombrilla de la tía del jardinero esta en la casa. P 164 Un Novela escrita con precisión, tratando de comprender la pasión de un hombre que es empujado por una fuerza interna, que lo hace dejar bienes y familia y partir en busca de un ideal: el ideal de la belleza; el ideal de pintar lo que pasa mas allá de la imagen visual y de las palabras. No se puede pintar lo absoluto ni tampoco se puede describir, solamente podemos acercarnos con nuestros símbolos imperfectos para describir la perfección. La novela narra la vida de Charles Strickland, un ingles de 40 años, casado y con dos hijos, que abandona de repente todo lo que posee y parte para Francia donde se hospeda en un humilde hotel y donde reside por un tiempo. Termina sus días en Tahití viviendo en la selva, encontrando así su completa libertad y la completa satisfacción de un mundo que no le ofrece nada de lo que él podría desear. Su vida es casi la de un místico buscando un ideal. Al principio todos pensaron que había huido con una mujer, luego cuando se supo que se iba porque quería pintar, pensaron que se había vuelto loco. En realidad estaba poseído. Poseído de la búsqueda de la belleza y de la verdad a través de la pintura. Hasta su manera de hablar era atropellada y no podía expresarse verbalmente de una manera coherente sin atropellarse. Aquí les dejo con un apéndice a este comentario; se trata de la vida de Paúl Gaugin, al que Somerset trato de describir en esta obra. Luis Méndez. Nombre: Paúl Gauguin
Nacionalidad: Francesa
París (1848) - Atuona (1903)
Estilo: Impresionismo, Neo-Impresionismo
Paul Gauguin, pintor neo-impresionista francés, nace en París el 7 de julio de 1848. Su padre era un periodista liberal y tuvo que emigrar, en 1852, con toda su familia a Perú tras el golpe de estado de Napoleón III. En Lima, huérfano de padre, residió la familia Gauguin hasta el otoño de 1854, fecha en la que regresan a Francia, instalándose en Orléans. En 1861 se trasladan a París donde la madre trabaja como modista para sacar a la familia adelante. Paul se prepara para ingresar en la Escuela de Náutica, pero suspende y se enrola en la marina con 17 años, hasta 1871. A su regreso a París en 1872 se convierte, gracias a un amigo de la familia, en agente de Bolsa, trabajo en el que se desenvuelve muy bien, obteniendo buenos ingresos que le permiten coleccionar pinturas, empezar a pintar y contraer matrimonio con la joven danesa Mette Gad, con la que tendrá cinco hijos. Su primer maestro artístico será Camille Pissarro de cuya mano entra en el grupo impresionista, participando con ellos en varias exposiciones. También le llamará la atención Edgar Degas. En 1882 numerosos agentes de Bolsa son despedidos, entre ellos Gauguin, que empieza a pensar en vivir de su pintura. Las dificultades económicas, problema con el que convivirá siempre, motivan el traslado en 1883 a Rouen porque la vida allí era más barata. Pasan dos años en los que no sabe muy bien qué hacer, llegando a trabajar como representante de toldos, viajando entre Rouen, París y Copenhague hasta que en 1886 decide instalarse en París junto a su hijo mayor, dejando al resto de la familia en Dinamarca. Ese mismo año se traslada a Pont-Aven, en la Bretaña francesa, donde su pintura cambiará radicalmente, abandonando el Impresionismo e iniciando un camino más personal con un colorido más intenso y un mayor simbolismo. Pero Gauguin es el eterno viajero que desea huir desde su infancia por lo que se traslada a Panamá, donde trabaja en el Canal que se está construyendo, y a Martinica, lugar en el que se relaciona por primera vez con el exotismo que caracterizará su pintura. De regreso a Francia y tras un breve paso por París, se instala de nuevo en Bretaña, concretamente en Le Pouldu. Aquí experimenta de nuevo un cambio en su forma de pintar gracias a la influencia del arte oriental, que le llevará a un mayor sintetismo. En esos momentos pinta obras como La visión después del sermón, El Cristo amarillo o La bella Angela. La estancia bretona se vio interrumpida por una breve temporada con Vincent van Gogh en Arles, relación de la que ambos salieron mal parados, aunque conservaron la amistad. Su nuevo sueño es marcharse a Tahití, llegando a Papeete en 1891. Piensa ganarse la vida haciendo retratos pero decide retirarse de la civilización y vivir con una joven mestiza. El primitivismo y el simbolismo marcan su pintura, como se observa en Yo te saludo, María, La mujer con la flor, Tierra deliciosa o Diversiones. En septiembre de 1893 regresa a París, donde espera el reconocimiento de su talento y el éxito económico, pero ocurre lo contrario por lo que en junio de 1895 se traslada de nuevo a Oceanía, desesperado, enfermo, alcohólico y solo. Las Marquesas será su nuevo destino y allí hará sus obras más famosas: Never more, Los jinetes, Joven con el abanico, Cuentos bárbaros, ¿De dónde venimos?, ¿Qué somos?, ¿Adónde vamos? o Y el oro de sus cuerpos, obras en las que pone de manifiesto su intención de romper absolutamente con la tradición realista. Gauguin empieza una importante campaña a favor de los indígenas y al tener dificultades con las autoridades de Tahití, abandona la isla y se traslada a Atuana, donde intenta aislarse lo más posible con una muchachita muy joven y en una cabaña confortable; morirá, al parecer de un ataque cardíaco, el 8 de mayo de 1903, soñando con regresar a Europa y volver a empezar, esta vez en España.
Rating:
Summary: A portrait of an artist
Review: Inspired by the life of Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin, "The Moon and Sixpence" is the story of a bourgeois, seemingly philistine man who completely transforms his life with the inexorable urge to be an artist. The man is Charles Strickland, a middle-class London stockbroker with a wife and two children, and the story is told in the first person by a nameless narrator who happens to make Strickland's acquaintance. One day, Strickland abandons his family and runs off to Paris, leaving no suitable explanation. The narrator, on Strickland's wife's entreaty, trails him to a seedy hotel, where he reveals a somewhat rude disposition and explains that he's always wanted to be a painter but was forced into business by his father. He plans to live in Paris and paint and has no intention to return to his family and his old life. In Paris a few years later, the narrator introduces us to a friend of his, a Dutch painter named Dirk Stroeve who happens to have made Strickland's acquaintance. Stroeve is a comical, pathetic figure who is not much of a talent himself, but he tells the narrator that Strickland has some real genius that nobody seems to recognize. Strickland, in the meantime, has isolated himself in poverty and self-absorption and become a surly, insufferable, misogynistic boor who repays Stroeve's kindness and friendship by insulting his work, seducing his wife, and kicking him out of his own home. Strickland later moves to Marseilles and eventually to Tahiti where he lives the rest of his short life, afflicted with leprosy and inspired to create his most profound and beautiful works of art. The narrator goes there years after Strickland's death and collects stories about his final years on the picturesque tropical island from various people who came into contact with him. It turns out that Strickland's paintings, once generally considered junk, are now priceless masterpieces. Maugham has been one of my favorite writers since I read "Of Human Bondage," and this novel offers more of his straightforward, thoughtful prose with regard to describing the life and experiences of a man who realizes he doesn't quite fit in with the world and strives to make his life meaningful to himself, if not to others. Charles Strickland's life exemplifies the theme of many existentialist novels that were to be written throughout the 20th Century -- living your life doing what you truly want to do rather than vainly pursuing what will make you the most money or please your family or impress your friends. The culmination of Strickland's life in Tahiti symbolizes man's return to the Garden of Eden, the return to innocence, the rejection of materialism; which may have been Gauguin's ideal for humanity.
Rating:
Summary: Strickland - a very interesting character
Review: I really liked reading this book, although sometimes I was a bit bored by the monologues of the narrator. Also the way the characters of the women are described, disappointed me a bit, because it seems that they mostly live to serve men. I was absolutely fascinated by the character of Strickland. Even if he seemed almost evil because of his indifference, there was something about him that made him mysterious. At the beginning you'd never guess what type of man Strickland really is, because he seems to be absolutely normal. I would have been glad, if he lived a bit longer in the book, because I wanted to know more about him. But perhaps it is exactly this that makes the story so interesting. Most of the information you need you get to know out of the dialogues between the narrator and somebody who knew Strickland and that makes him particularly mysterious. You learn a lot about art and artists and their way to live. I can really recommend this book, it will not disappoint you!
Rating:
Summary: enchanting atmosphere
Review: An enchanting novel about the life of the English painter Charles Strickland (based on Paul Gauguin - but not entirely biographic). Strickland leaves his familiy to devote himself to painting. He goes to Paris, where he lives in poverty and does nothing but paint. He does not care about his fellow-painters and often offenses them in rather cruel ways. He's totally indifferent to any comfort and relationship. He finally dies on the island of Tahiti, where he had been married a second time. Maugham lets the narrator's character (which is omnipresent during every episode of Strickland's life) act in the background as to give more importance to the painter's action and generally to his own ideas. Nevertheless, I do not consider Strickland the most important thing in the novel, but his way of living, on one hand the "prison" of an artist, which is created by his own desire to do nothing but (in Strickland's case) paint - it's not an option, it's rather a compulsion. Maugham shows Stricklands indifference to everything and everyone very well and his desire to be like Gauguin seems obvious and very marked. In the end, Strickland dies and Maugham lets the reader feel that he was content and somehow fulfilled. I especially liked Maugham's description of Strickland's canvas on Tahiti. He lets the reader feel every perception he obviously felt observing his canvas... a wealth of observations. What I didn't like was a part of Strickland's life in Paris where everything seemed a bit predictable.
Rating:
Summary: Poignant
Review: I enjoyed reading the book a lot, first started I was always excited to read on to know what would happen next. It is quite hard to believe, that someone could care so little about other people's opinions and feelings as Strickland does, still it gives you another point of view, it shows you the way of someone who followed his obsession entirely and was faithful up to the end at least to himself. Strickland is not the only interesting character in the book though. Strickland's wife, the narrator's friend Stroeve , as well as Blanche, are very special and radical in their way, all of them leave you with a sad picture.
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