by Dr.V.S.Gopalakrishnan Ph.D., IAS Retd.
The storyline is challengingly complex unlike in Moon and Sixpence. This book
of 1915 by Somerset Maugham is definitely semi-autobiographical. The time is Victorian and the British Empire knew no sunset (as the British were afraid of darkness, said a wag).
The young boy Philip Carey loses his mother and his father was already gone. His uncle William, the Vicar of Blackstable (in Kent) takes him as a ward, being childless. Phil is admitted into King''s School, Tercanbury.(Canterbury?) He is a bright student but hates the school atmosphere. He is a butt of ridicule as he is club-footed. He wants to quit and go away.
He is sent to Heidelberg, Germany, to learn German. He makes a couple of friends there but he returns for good soon. Then he works to become a Chartered Accountant but that is not his cup of tea. Then much against the wishes of his uncle and aunt, he goes to Paris to become a professional
painter. He finds that many of his colleagues end up in despair. Miss Fanny Price, his good acquaintance, commits suicide. Philip eventually realizes that he has limited talents and does not want to end up as a second rate painter! So back to his uncle''s place! His aunt soon dies. Her friend the elderly Miss Wilkinson pesters him with her advances, but he eludes her with clever pretences. Philip finally decides to become a doctor and joins St. Luke''s where his father also
studied.
He does well in his studies but falls madly in love with Mildred, a waitress working in a coffee shop in Parliament Street. (Mildred steals an important role in the novel.) She pays him no care and attention though he persists with her. She however gets engaged to marry a German and departs. Philip then gets the company and love of Norah, an elderly widow. But Mildred, jilted by the German and pregnant, returns to Philip. Philip again develops a fancy for her and fixes her in an apartment in the Vauxhall Bridge Road. After she delivers a child, he expects her to become his, but she shows no interest in that. Actually she runs away with Philip''s friend Griffiths.
Philips moves to Kennington and makes friend with Thorpe Athelny living near Chancery Lane. Philip encounters Mildred soliciting in the London Streets. He offers her protection but no love. She is piqued and she leaves his house after destroying all his effects.
Philip becomes poor and Athelny gets him a job. There is a break of two years in his studies as he works in a shop. His uncle William dies and he gets 600 pounds. He re-enters studies and passes his exams. He falls in love with Athelny''s daughter and marries her.
You feel relieved at the happy ending since the fellow''s travails have been too much. This is a simply written book that nearly never sends you to a dictionary. It’s a beautiful book, un-put-down-able as the modern jargon goes. There are lovely descriptions of Phil''s school politics. Maugham has shown a terrific insight into the hopes and frustrations of aspiring Paris based painters. His characterizations are wonderful. On the whole, Mildred is a vulgar and heartless girl. Philip''s love for her is very well portrayed. I feel that Thorpe Athelny is the most interesting character in the book.
HOW AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL IS THIS NOVEL? Well, Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was born in Paris, one amongst many children, and his father was a wealthy solicitor in the English Embassy office. He was made to be born in the Embassy since that is British soil and he could not be later conscripted to the French army!! He studied in French. By the time he was ten, his parents had passed away and he was sent to his uncle in Whitstable, Kent. (not Blacktstable!) He studied at King''s School, Canterbury (not Tercanbury!) and he had a stammer (not flat-foot) and as he was ad spoke poor English but near-perfect French, he was a constant object of ragging. He did go to Heidelburg University and studied literature and phiolsophy. On return to London, he did work as an accountant barely for a month! And then he studied medicine for six years at St.Thomas'' medical school. After a short practice he moved over to Paris to take up writing, abandoning medicine. His works became popular and he was a success. In the first world war, being very short, he served in a red cross ambulance. There he became friendly with an American fellow called Haxton and they were life partners and lovers. But he also had affairs with women and married one Syrie Wellcome who had to be given a divorce by her husband for infidelity. Somerset''s personal character was blemished since he was having sex with women and men and lesbians and homosexuals very regularly. During the second world war, he went away to the USA. Later he returned to his villa on the Riviera, dying in 1965 at the age of 91.
Lesson from the book: A happy marriage is the ideal antidote to too much of human bonding and too much of miseries !
(v.s.gopalakrishnan)