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Title details for The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham - Available

The Moon and Sixpence

by W. Somerset Maugham
Steven Crossley
Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
Based on the life of Postimpressionist artist Paul Gauguin, The Moon and Sixpence builds on a long tradition of European writing about the South Pacific as an exotic locale. It also marks the transformation of British writer W. Somerset Maugham from celebrated playwright to accomplished novelist.


In The Moon and Sixpence, Charles Strickland is a respectable London stockbroker who decides in middle age to abandon his wife and children and devote himself to his true passion: art. Strickland's destructive desire for self-expression takes him first to Paris to learn the craft of painting, and finally to Tahiti in the South Pacific. The Moon and Sixpence remains a complex and engaging novel echoing Maugham's own struggles between artistic expression and public respectability, and between his public persona and private life.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 24, 2010

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781400197583
      • File size: 227103 KB
      • Duration: 07:53:07

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Although published in 1919, Maugham's study of a man who abandons a comfortable, conventional life to pursue an overwhelming artistic impulse doesn't seem dated. Reincarnated as an audiobook, it will give pleasure to many who wouldn't pick it up in print. Michael Page is well-chosen as the first-person narrator, a writer who moves on the periphery of the artist's life. His tone and pacing are good, his voice pleasant, and his character voices satisfactory. This is an attractive offering though marred by sound quality. J.N. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      This audiobook brings together three talented people: author Somerset Maugham, painter Paul Gauguin (here fictionalized as Charles Strickland) and reader Neil Hunt. Maugham's 1919 minor classic traces the life of Strickland, who leaves a middle-class life as a banker in England, ignoring wife and family, to go first to Paris, then to Tahiti. There he paints--and paints and paints, becoming one of the world's great artists. It's a compelling story, made more so by Hunt's careful rendering. Masterfully dramatic, he's properly reserved about Strickland's mundane life in London, far more passionate about the later times in Paris and Tahiti. He handles a mix of characters and their differing pronunications and accents with the ease and consistency of a real pro. This one merits high marks throughout, for writing, for subject, for narration. T.H. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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