The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.69 You Save: $11.26 (75%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Painted Veil
Book Review: "There is only one way to win hearts and that is to make oneself like unto those of whom one would be loved,"
Summary: 5 Stars
advises one of the handful of colorful characters (the Mother Superior) in this story of a formerly foolish young lady's transformation into a woman of substance.
The story starts with the author inserting the reader smack dab in the middle of the room where its adulterers, a 27-year-old married woman named Kitty Fane and her also married lover 41-year-old Charles Townsend, are secretly rendezvousing. Behind the locked door of her bedroom, they concernedly contemplate the identity of he or she who just tried to turn the doorknob. Was it her bacteriologist husband, Dr. Walter Fane, or simply a servant? Maugham's character descriptions are pointedly perfect. Kitty's mother is a, (p 19) "hard, cruel, managing, ambitious, parsimonious, and stupid woman." Kitty thinks of Walter as (p 37) "a restrained, cold, and self-possessed man" who "loved her madly," and Charles as (p 38) "tall and handsome." During their first meeting, Charles flatters her by stating she's a "a raging beauty."
When Walter finds out, he confronts his wife, giving her two choices, one which the answer to will show her lovers' true colors, the other which will test her mettle. She takes the semi-suicidal route: agreeing to accompany him to Mei-tan-fu amidst a cholera epidemic. There they meet several interesting characters, including: Waddington, who, not knowing about the adulterous relationship, provides some eye-opening information about Charles and insightful comments about the Fane's marriage. The convent's Mother Superior, who, respectful and appreciative of Dr. Fane's efforts against the epidemic, helps his wife see his goodness. Of course, some sad stuff has to happen to help Kitty gain proper perspective on the men in her life.
Worst of the book is the negative portrayal of the Chinese, best: super short chapters, great character development, and wonderful imagery. Here's one of my favorites (p 133): "The sky was unclouded and the early sun shed a heavenly mildness on the scene; it was difficult to imagine, on that blithe, fresh, and smiling morn, that the city lay gasping, like a man whose life is being throttled out of him by a maniac's hands, in the dark clutch of the pestilence. It was incredible that nature (the blue of the sky was clear like a child's heart) should be so indifferent when men were writhing in agony and going to their death in fear." The Painted Veil is a short, stellar story about a woman's transformation in the face of tragedy. Also good: Silas Marner by George Eliot, The Wings of the Dove by Henry James, and Reservation Road by Richard Yates.
Book Review: A Great Novel
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a truly enjoyable book to read. It takes you with Kitty as she develops a moral conscience and leaves you feeling empowered along with her at the end. I recommend it to everyone.Book Review: A refreshing story for our time
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought The Painted Veil off Amazon after watching the movie on HBO. I hadn't read any Maugham since high school so I thought this story looked interesting. I'm also attracted to stories with a Chinese influence. You'll see that more and more as I move through the list. The Painted Veil has really nothing to do with China. It's the story of poor shallow, Kitty who marries Walter in order to beat her homely, younger sister down the aisle. Walter takes her to Hong Kong where she falls in love with the charming and dapper, Charles. Her loathing of Walter only grows in proportion to her ever increasing desire for the also married Charles.
Knowing Kitty has been unfaithful, Walter takes her to a remote village in China to help fight a cholera epidemic. It is here that Kitty finally grows up. Walter indirectly shows her what a cad Charles is and that the true meaning of self worth is in the care and comfort of others. Not until Walter dies, does Kitty come to know the influence he has made in her soul. We watch Kitty find meaning and dimension in her life. As readers we watch her come full circle as a woman from petty and shallow to loving and compassionate. By the end we welcome Kitty into our hearts.
The Painted Veil is a classic. I rate this story 5 out of 5. If you'd like to take a trip back in time, The Painted Veil doesn't disappoint.
Linda C. Wright
Author, One Clown Short
One Clown Short
Book Review: Beautiful
Summary: 4 Stars
I saw the movie version of The Painted Veil a few months ago and I loved it. I thought that it was a tragically beautiful story and enjoyed learning that it was a novel. After all the book is almost always better than the movie. When I found out that the story was written by W. Somerset Maugham I was a bit wary. I had a bad experience with a work of Maugham's back in high school and I've avoided books by him since.
That said I am glad to have read this novel. I found it to be even more tragic and beautiful than the film. At the start of novel Kitty Fane is a very unsympathetic character. She marries Dr Walter Fane out of urgency to escape being put on the shelf, which was almost a certainty once her younger sister announced her engagement. Shorlty after the marriage the Fanes move to China where Walter works as a bacteriologist. Kitty finds Walter to be distant and she soon finds herself seeking affection in the arms of Charles Townsend, a married man who is part of their circle. When the affair is discovered Kitty has a choice to make: the scandal of being divorced by her husband or to travel with him to a cholera ridden area in a remote area.
Kitty chooses to go with her husband and fully expects to die as a result. What she finds instead is herself. Kitty was raised by a selfish and uncaring mother and as a result never really learned to care about others. Here Kitty learns that there is more to life than herself, parties and amusements. She begins to volunteer at the local convent and discovers just want it means to care for other human beings. During her time in Mei-tan-fu, Kitty experiences a lot of personal growth, a new way of acting and looking at the world that will serve her well when tragedy hits and the life that she had built for herself changes once again.
The Painted Veil is a short novel and the pages pass by quickly as the story is very engrossing. Though Kitty was unsympathetic at first she grows on the reader. As she grows and changes, the affection that the reader has for her also grows. As the novel ends, the reader is left with a sense of hope. Hope that Kitty will find happiness in her life and that the lessons that she learned in China will stay with her.
In Short: A story that is as beautiful as it is tragic. Kitty Fane is both a character to be loved and disliked. This is a slow, quiet story that contains a lot of power in its pages. This is a story worth reading and one that I will recommend to others.
As originally posted on my blog Ticket to Anywhere
Book Review: Can't wait to see the movie!
Summary: 4 Stars
Very interesting and enjoyable book to read. Can't wait to see the movie that's coming out this month!!