Collected Short Stories: Volume 4 (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) [Paperback]

W. Somerset Maugham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1993

China has been a wellspring of storytelling for over 2,000 years. Sadly, this fantastic literature is little known in the west outside the halls of academia, though a handful of recent 20th century authors have attained a respectable following. The stories in this volume date from the sixth century A.D. to the early part of the 20th century, and will give the listener a good feel for the subject. Astonishingly, the Chinese enjoyed from the earliest times many of the genres we take for granted today, from romance and love to adventure and satire.

Selections in Volume I:

THE WHITE MONKEY by Anonymous – A general's honor and self respect are on the line when his wife is kidnapped.

THE JADE GODDESS retold by Lin Yu Tang – Like a fine piece of exquisite porcelain, this wonderful story from the 6th century is a thing of delicate beauty. Will an artist put aside his creative gifts for the sake of love?

THE CANARY MURDERS by Feng Meng-lung – This twelfth century forerunner of the detective story attempts to sort out a string of mysterious deaths.

THE BOOK WORM by P'u Sung-ling – This is a humorous satire about a bibliophile who suddenly finds love.

K'UNG I-CHI by Lu Hsün – In this brilliant piece by the "Chinese Chekhov," an old fashioned scholar loses his way in life as modern society turns away from the kind of knowledge he treasures.

MR. PAN IN DISTRESS by Yeh Shao-Chün – War threatens the settled life of a provincial educator.

INTOXICATING SPRING NIGHTS by Yü Ta-fu – A look at the effects of a newly industrialized society through the eyes of a young scholar.

3 cassettes

Running Time: 4 hours 29 minutes

Unabridged

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Somerset Maugham was born in 1874 and died in 1965. After qualifying as a doctor under pressure from his family, he turned with relief to the work he'd always believed was his destiny, and became a writer, producing a large number of novels (a dozen of which are still in print), two volumes of autobiography, travel books, a series of successful and enduring stage plays - and scores of short stories. His plots are tightly constructed and often exciting, but critics complained that his characters were stereotypes rather than individuals. However, for today's readers the settings in which he placed them gave them a unique character. In fact, despite his own protestations, the overall impression is that Maugham had not 'invented' them at all; that he was simply recounting the experiences of people he had met in extraordinary circumstances, in a world that no longer exists. He was able to do this largely from first-hand knowledge. The Ashenden tales were based on his own service with the Intelligence Department during World War I; and many of the others drew on his travels to exotic places, especially the South Seas and Far East, where there were still people from Britain administering the colonies or managing the then still profitable Malayan rubber and timber plantations. They were often cut off from 'civilization' for months, even years, at a time, leading to frustrations and emotions which intensified to the point of explosion. The language has now dated, and life has changed - as have social attitudes - but the stories are still immensely readable and in a sense timeless, with a haunting, hypnotic, quality which draws the reader on from page to page. They don't necessarily reach a conclusion with the last words written. There is a tantalising impression that there is more to come, a quality which is irresistible, and addictive. (Kirkus UK) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

The stories in this collection move from Malaya to the U.S. to England and include some of Maugham?s most famous tales: ?Flotsam and Jetsam,? the story of an old woman trapped for years in a loveless marriage in the remote rubber plantations; ?The Man with the Scar,? and notably the opening story ?The Vessel of Wrath,? a tale of the unexpected love between a devout missionary nurse and a drunken reprobate. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (March 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140185925
• ISBN-13: 978-0140185928
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 4.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unmatched short-story writer, February 20, 2001

By 

Guillermo Maynez (Mexico, Distrito Federal Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Collected Short Stories: Volume 1 (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) (Paperback)

The first of four volumes of the collected short stories of Somerset Maugham is a glimpse of what is to come. A fine, detached, subtle but always unsparing observer of human nature, Maugham tells us stories about human weakness with a humorous, at the same time cynical and compassionate tone. Maugham expects very little from humans, and so, when they do sublime and even heroic things, it is all the more suprising. Perhaps the contemporary word which can best describe his attitude towards his characters is "cool". We humans are a mix of perversion, weakness, solidarity and real goodness. Maugham knows. So he is always willing to forgive his characters, as long as they know that their actions will have irremediable consequences. Hard but touching, Maugham sees the world from afar, from the internal wisdom which lets him know that nothing is too bad and nothing is too good.

The tales I liked the most are "Rain", about the unlikely relationship between a couple of puritan missionaries and a prostitute, "Before the party", about terrible marital secrets revealed right before an important party, and, above all, "The fall of Edward Barnard", simply a masterpiece of storytelling. First time I read it, I decided to become Edward Barnard myself. Go figure.

Maugham's style is anything but experimental. He is not trying to find a voice: he has one and he's pretty much sure about its value. And he's right. The way he uses words is the exact measure of craftmanship: not one word is missing, not one is futile. Precision, concision, wisdom, irony and humanism: the best mix for a reading. After you finish this, you'll go to the other three volumes, little by little, enjoying every story.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A man of few illusions regarding his fellow man (and woman),, October 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Collected Short Stories: Volume 1 (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) (Paperback)

W. Somerset Maugham in his always fascinating short stories explores such a variety of relational scenarios with "disinterested curiosity" as to leave this reader breathless with awe. His characters murder, suicide, go mad, con, spy and even (remember he was writing in the early part of the century) commit incest. No situation eludes or escapes him. His genius is to make it all sensible and plausible, even prosaic, a truth we all know. Unrivaled in breadth, depth, brevity, tightness of composition and humor. Not for the faint hearted.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Writer's Writer, December 21, 2002

By 

Strega Nona (Aust.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Collected Short Stories: Volume 1 (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) (Paperback)

I've only just discovered the wonders of W. Somerset Maugham. This was the first of his works that I have ever read, and it was an absolute pleasure. There are other reviewers on these pages who are more knowledgeable and better critics than I, so I am just going to tell you how much I enjoyed this particular compilation. Every story was a treasure. Every single character was so well drawn, that for the first time in a long time I found myself empathising with these people, loving them, hating them, lamenting for them and genuinely caring about what happened to them.

Every story started off in a fairly prosaic, nondescript fashion. But every story had me hooked by at least the first page. Sometimes they unfolded as funny stories, other were tales about how an individual's world had changed catastrophically. I never got bored, and the writing was never predictable, Maugham always had a surprisingly poetical observation to make that would send me into raptures. This is truly a writer of sensitivity and talent. I can honestly say that I have been searching for a writer of this calibre for a long time. If you care anything at all about the amazing stories that ordinary, little people have, then read this book and Maugham's other works. He truly is a master.