The Trembling of a Leaf: Little Stories of the South Sea Islands [Hardcover]

W. Somerset Maugham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2001

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Replica Books (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735101892
• ISBN-13: 978-0735101890
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,237,880 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Any Maughamophile will relish it, September 13, 2002

By 

Koonu (Bethesda, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Trembling of a Leaf: Little Stories of the South Sea Islands (Paperback)

His short stories whetted my appetite for good reading as I was learning the subtle nuances of English language as an adolescent in 1970s. Like healthy food healthy books also need some effort at resisting junk while cultivation of a taste is ongoing in one's reading adolescence. English was only a second language for me after Oriya those days. One of my favorites is "Bookbag", where a British Colonial Civil Servant survives his outpost reading books and late delivery periodicals in chronological order.(Like watching a video tape of a soap opera in right order) I sought out all his books as well as books about him. One of them called "Somerset and all the Maughams" is written by his nephew Robin Maugham. In that he also mentions about a maternal uncle of Somerset Maugham, a black sheep named Charles Snell, who died an untimely death in Cuttack,a town in eastern India where I happened to spend a good part of my youth. I found his tomb stone in a cemetary known to locals as white mans' burial ground. Each epitaph in that cemetary may as well be spun into a Maugham story. Hope his books start to sell at Airports or train station bookstalls again. I think he is one of the most under-rated literary prodigies of last century. Do any English Professors teach his books in a undergraduate class ? Unfortunately the period and locales described by Maugham are rapidly being dismembered by the tramplings of human civilization. Hope reprints of his short stories like this; will keep them alive in the imagination of generations to come, at the least.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stories of the South Pacific, August 1, 2009

By 

Richard (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Trembling of a Leaf Little Stories of the South Sea Islands (Kindle Edition)

As someone who lived in the South Pacific (Samoa) and visited many countries there over a period of many years, I can tell you that W.S.M.'s South Pacific tales rank among the greatest. No one describes the people and cultures of the South Pacific better. No one describes the interaction of Westerners and the island people better. These are great stories, and I frequently have found myself wondering why they aren't held up in college and university writing classes as being among the peak of storytelling. Read them. They are simply great.