The Moon and Sixpence
First published in 1919, W. Somerset Maugham's "The Moon and Sixpence" is an episodic first person narrative based on the life of Paul Gaugin. At the center of the novel is the story of Charles Strickland, an English banker who walks away from a life of privilege, abruptly abandoning his wife and children, in order to pursue his passion to become an artist. Strickland leaves London for Paris and ultimately Tahiti, mirroring the life of Gaugin who would also split with his wife to pursue a life of painting eventually immigrating to Tahiti. The title of the novel, which is never clearly explained in the novel, comes from a review for Maugham's previous work "Of Human Bondage" in which that novel's protagonist, Philip Carey, is described as "so busy yearning for the moon that he never saw the sixpence at his feet." The moon in this sense might be seen as the lofty ambition to pursue a life of artistic expression in contrast to the sixpence which represents the security of a middle-class life style with wife and children to which the protagonist abandons. "The Moon and Sixpence" is the story of the demands that can be placed on a tortured artistic soul and consequently the lives that it touches. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
This book has some great moments. When WSM is talking about art and exploring the way we treat "genius", it is very thought provoking.
He also created a genuinely interesting character in Strickland.
I think WSM meant for us to question Strickland's sanity and value, but then come down on the side of it all being worth it in the end. To conclude that he is a horrible person, but a great artist, suffering and taking it out on others, but admirably dedicated to his mystical vision of the secret core of life.
But I have known people with some genius. And yes, they can be a little weird. But they don't all act like that. There's no need for it. And so in that sense, I didn't fully buy the implied judgment at the end - even though the narrator claims at one early juncture that a writer is supposed to describe and not judge.
Incidentally, the narrator is a little on the unreliable side. He constantly admits to making things up, questions the veracity of his own story, and often seems to present himself as morally indignant in one breath and pleasantly tickled with misanthropy in the next. But it's not clear that there's a thing we're supposed to figure out from this duplicity.
And then there's the misogyny. I naturally adjust for outdated notions of gender essentialism when I read 19th century stuff and before. But this is outright crazy. The very core of the book wants to say that women create social structures in order to trap and drain men, especially men of genius. That beating a woman is the only way to be sure you love her. That a woman should *prefer* that. That their essential role in life should be to satisfy man's baser desires, clean his house, cook his meals, and watch after any children that unfortunately appear, and then leave him alone. None of this is my extrapolation. Or hyperbole. That is what the characters say in the novel, explicitly. Including what some women say. And there's way more besides - that they're stupid, don't have souls. I could go on. Luckily, this stuff is not totally pervasive in the story, but it appears at regular intervals. Like, out of 200 pages, I'd say you would find around 8 or 9 pages worth of stuff like that. It got to the point when I was just laughing at the absurd lengths it went to. Apparently a lot of WSM's stuff does this, but he also has a novel that borders on feminist? That's what I read any way. And he was gay, highly closeted, married. So - psychoanalyze that if you wish. Any way, it was a lot to swallow!
The novel also has what appears to be a sort of written by a mano-sphere commentary on a 'simp' husband who is practically volunteering to let the alpha man of genius take his wife, then coming back to her over and over. So bizarre. But not boring.
But like I said - very engaging story. Moments of brilliance. You just have to roll your eyes from time to time.
He also created a genuinely interesting character in Strickland.
I think WSM meant for us to question Strickland's sanity and value, but then come down on the side of it all being worth it in the end. To conclude that he is a horrible person, but a great artist, suffering and taking it out on others, but admirably dedicated to his mystical vision of the secret core of life.
But I have known people with some genius. And yes, they can be a little weird. But they don't all act like that. There's no need for it. And so in that sense, I didn't fully buy the implied judgment at the end - even though the narrator claims at one early juncture that a writer is supposed to describe and not judge.
Incidentally, the narrator is a little on the unreliable side. He constantly admits to making things up, questions the veracity of his own story, and often seems to present himself as morally indignant in one breath and pleasantly tickled with misanthropy in the next. But it's not clear that there's a thing we're supposed to figure out from this duplicity.
And then there's the misogyny. I naturally adjust for outdated notions of gender essentialism when I read 19th century stuff and before. But this is outright crazy. The very core of the book wants to say that women create social structures in order to trap and drain men, especially men of genius. That beating a woman is the only way to be sure you love her. That a woman should *prefer* that. That their essential role in life should be to satisfy man's baser desires, clean his house, cook his meals, and watch after any children that unfortunately appear, and then leave him alone. None of this is my extrapolation. Or hyperbole. That is what the characters say in the novel, explicitly. Including what some women say. And there's way more besides - that they're stupid, don't have souls. I could go on. Luckily, this stuff is not totally pervasive in the story, but it appears at regular intervals. Like, out of 200 pages, I'd say you would find around 8 or 9 pages worth of stuff like that. It got to the point when I was just laughing at the absurd lengths it went to. Apparently a lot of WSM's stuff does this, but he also has a novel that borders on feminist? That's what I read any way. And he was gay, highly closeted, married. So - psychoanalyze that if you wish. Any way, it was a lot to swallow!
The novel also has what appears to be a sort of written by a mano-sphere commentary on a 'simp' husband who is practically volunteering to let the alpha man of genius take his wife, then coming back to her over and over. So bizarre. But not boring.
But like I said - very engaging story. Moments of brilliance. You just have to roll your eyes from time to time.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.