Customer Reviews

Theatre

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Theater" is my favorite W. Somerset Maugham's book. I have read it many times and remember it very vividly.

"Theater" is the story of Julia Lambert, the best and deservingly famous stage actress in England. On stage she is a true master of her craft, she is great in playing every possible human feeling and emotion. Off stage, however, she is not very happy with her handsome but not too bright husband; she does not have close relationship with her teenager son. At first, amused and touched by the adoration of a young fan, she eventually falls madly in love and lives through the real feelings and emotions that she was so great in playing on stage. How she deals with love, jealousy, anger, loneliness, aging - that's what "Theater" is about. She was able to take her revenge and punish her unfaithful lover, not only as a woman but what is more important, as an artist, and that was absolutely brilliant. Masterfully told story with delightful main character - talented, witty, charming, and very clever, "Theater" is an enjoyable, insightful, and honest portrait of a woman and an artist.

4.5/5

Middle-aged woman, a star of the London theatre, beautiful, fulfilled. But she thinks that something is missing in her life and falls in love with a very young guy, who is mesmerized by her fame. Later the young lover meets a girl of his age and falls in love with her, leaving behind his older lover. The story is as old as this world. What makes it so different from other million love stories? THe talant of it's writer and the truly wonderful finale. Maugham was able to turn the whole thing upside down. And it's not one of those sticky-sweet novels, this one has a strong character, which makes it truly interesting to read.

A photo from the set of Being Julia, the forthcoming film version with Annette Bening, led me to this book. Julia Lambert alleviates even the most claustrophobic subway ride with delicious English wit and melliflous sentences. You'll want to read some of the best lines out loud.

I read this novel years ago and had almost forgotten about it. I had certainly forgotten how vivid and distinct the characters are. Maugham is one of my favorite writers; as one of his short story characters said, I have a weakness for a story with a beginning, a middle and an end. This story has all three and a very satifying end at that.

Julia Lambert is an ageing star of the London stage. She stands at the summit of her art and reputation, but there is no substitute for youth and the elation that the attentions of a younger man can provide, especially since her husband Michael's principal preoccupation is with safeguarding her career. In Theatre, Maugham follows a similar plot line as in Of Human Bondage and The Painted Veil: the heroine (hero) falls in love with someone who only exploits and doesn't deserve her (him), with disastrous results until... (all right, I won't say until what).

Yet just because the topic isn't entirely new does not mean it isn't the occasion for the same trepidation and anguished, page-turning scenes. And Maugham knows his subject. He was a playwright. His novel is a realistic picture of the early 20th-century thespian milieu. In fact, it dispels many of the commonplaces about stage artists. Rather than irresponsible, capricious creatures, they are shown as hard-working and devoted, and production as a business where cost and income calculations often override considerations of art. At the same time, Maugham shows how expectations that they should lead a Bohemian life can affect even the most responsible and faithful actors.

Theatre is realistically written, fun, and interesting. If this is the first Maugham you are reading, I would choose Of Human Bondage; but if you have already done that, this is well worth adding to your library.

Julia Lambert is a gifted stage actress, the most renowned in London. Her immense talent has made her the toast of the theater world and a major celebrity. Her personal relations are another thing altogether. In Julia ,Maugham has created the ultimate narcissistic personality. She is so taken with own effect on people via her acting abilities that she cannot help but to use those skills off the stage as well to manipulate just about everyone she comes into contact with. The writing is pure Maugham and for fans of his work, this lesser known novel delivers. Julia and her theater manager husband are realistically portrayed as they progress in their careers and age together. Maugham was intimately involved in the London theater world and he is on obviously familiar territory so the writing and characterizations ring true throughout.

A very fine novel by one of my favorite writers and highly recommended.

This is the best novel ever written about those beguiling creatures called actresses. The central character is Julia Lambert, England's greatest actress, and at times a lying, manipulative bitch. Men who have been made miserable by such women will be disgusted by the novel unless they are able to maintain objective distance and laugh at this woman's scheming as she attempts to carry on a hopeless affair with a boy half her age.

Maugham has a remarkable ability to write compelling scenes that avoid melodrama and predictability. His years as a comic playwright served him well as a story teller. I find him one of the easiest to read of great (or near great) fiction writers. He keeps you turning the pages and avoids longeurs.

Maugham's view of human nature is tawdry -- some might say filthy. He believed a a perfectly respectable woman was capable of an episode of cheap sex in a sleeping car on a train. He certainly shows no Victorian sentimentality about the fairer sex.

I won't give away the ending, but it is the oddest scene in the novel. The ending is original to the point of peculiarity. Maugham believes the artist is the only truly free person because he can use his pain to create art. I don't think being an artist helped Maugham find happiness at the end of his own long life.

Theatre -By W.Somerset Maugham

Theatre is a typical Maugham book.Maugham is a great story teller.Words,sentences and quotes simply flow from his pen as he created a personality and a story.As usual his book deals with human nature and their foibles and frailty.This book is about an actress who has reaches middle age and his happily married with a son.Up comes a friend of her son,who brazenly seduces her.The experience overwhelmes her and she begins to enjoy life without a trace of guilt.Maugham is able to penetrate the mind of the character and weave a wonderful tale.Good enjoyable reading .

Niraj Jain

Bombay ,India

The tale of an older, successful woman who falls for a younger man. Also gives insights into a theatrical world which has now disappeared. The central character 'acts' her life and is herself only when alone. People accuse her of being artificial, but she never loses her inner honesty. The asexual relationship with her husband is touching. There's a gay subtext - Maugham was gay and probably fell in love with younger men more than once.

(About Russian translation) One of the best novel ever written. It's not "novel for women", it's novel about women. Very interesting reading.