W. Somerset Maugham. [10] Maugham never greatly liked his middle name which commemorated a great-uncle named after General Sir Henry Somerset[11] and was known by family and friends throughout his life as "Willie". 227228; Mander and Mitchenson, p. 204; and Lyttelton and Hart-Davis (1978), p. 195. He has been a verger in St. Peter's Neville Square Church, doing his duties with great enjoyment and dedication. He did not wish to follow his brothers to Cambridge University,[23] and his stammer precluded a career in the church or the law even if either had attracted him. [67] He was helped in this by Haxton extrovert and gregarious in contrast with Maugham's shyness who became what Morgan terms an "intermediary with the outside world". It was an amusing book to write. [190] L. A. G. Strong acknowledged his craftsmanship, but described his writing as having an effect like "that of music expertly played in an expensive restaurant at dinner". Although he was an important influence on many well-known writers, "Maugham's critical stock has remained low". Two days later his ashes were interred in the grounds of The King's School, Canterbury, beside the wall of the Maugham Library, which he had endowed in 1961. W. Somerset Maugham, in full William Somerset Maugham, (born Jan. 25, 1874, Paris, Francedied Dec. 16, 1965, Nice), English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer whose work is characterized by a clear unadorned style, cosmopolitan settings, and a shrewd understanding of human nature. After another long trip to the Far East, he agreed with Syrie that they would live separately, she in London and he at Cap Ferrat in the south of France. [99], Throughout the decade Maugham, with Haxton in attendance, lived and entertained lavishly at his house on Cap Ferrat, the Villa La Mauresque. 00:00. The "two important critics" Maugham referred to were probably Desmond MacCarthy and Raymond Mortimer;[190] the former particularly praised the short stories, tracing their roots in French naturalism, and the latter reviewed Maugham's books carefully and on the whole favourably in the New Statesman. Omissions? Of Human Bondage is certainly one; Cakes and Ale probably; The Moon and Sixpence possibly. Contents. He was not known as a phrase-maker; the 2014 edition of The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations cites him ten times, compared with nearly a hundred quotations from his contemporary Bernard Shaw. Some of the short stories will undoubtedly prove immortal". Illustration by Edward Sorel. Alternate titles: William Somerset Maugham. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/W-Somerset-Maugham, Spartacus Educational - Biography of William Somerset Maugham, W. Somerset Maugham - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). The lifelong ban followed his arrest and trial over a homosexual incident in 1915. [187] Maugham outsold, and outlived, contemporaries such as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence, but, in Holden's view, "he could not match them in terms of stylistic innovation or thematic complexity". [150] Unlike many of Maugham's later novels it has an unequivocally tragic ending. The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that they cease to love. He had an amiability of disposition that enabled him in a very short time to make friends with people in ships, clubs, bar-rooms, and hotels, so that through him I was able to get into easy contact with an immense number of persons whom otherwise I should have known only from a distance. Authors. Both Maugham's parents died before he was 10, and the orphaned boy was raised by a paternal uncle who was emotionally cold. William Somerset Maugham. [29] The Westminster Gazette praised the writing but deplored the subject matter,[30] and The Times also conceded the author's skill "Mr Maugham seems to aspire, and not unsuccessfully, to be the Zola of the New Cut" but thought him "capable of better things [than] this singularly unpleasant novel". [42], Maugham later said that he made comparatively little money from this unprecedented theatrical achievement, but it made his reputation. His short stories were published in collections such as The Casuarina Tree (1926) and The Mixture as Before (1940); many of them have been adapted for radio, cinema and television. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest-paid author during the 1930s. In the post-war era, Maugham settled into a pattern of life that changed little from year to year: In 1959 the foreign travel included a final trip to the far East. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest paid author during the 1930s.After losing both his parents by the age of 10, Maugham was raised by a paternal uncle who was emotionally cold. William Somerset Maugham CH was an English playwright, novelist, and short story writer. [n 16] His aspiration to become a concert pianist ends in failure and suicide. What are synonyms for Somerset Maugham? Her concentration on her work briefly lessened the domestic tensions at the couple's house when Maugham was in residence. Maugham further damaged his own reputation by denying that another character, Alroy Kear a superficial novelist of more pushy ambition than literary talent was a caricature of Hugh Walpole. [87] His longest-running play of the decade, and of his whole career, was Our Betters. Born in the British Embassy in Paris, France (legally considered British soil), Maugham endured a traumatic childhood, orphaned at ten when his mother died from tuberculosis and his father died from cancer. [8][9] The second son, Frederic, became a barrister, and had a distinguished legal career in Britain The Times described him as "a great legal figure" serving as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (19351938) and Lord Chancellor (19381939). [45][n 5], Maugham was acutely conscious of the fate of Oscar Wilde, whose arrest and imprisonment took place when Maugham was in his early twenties. [103], Maugham spent most of the war years in the US, based for much of the time at a comfortable house on the estate of his American publisher, Nelson Doubleday. Corrections? After one has got over the glamour of the stage and the excitement, I do not myself think the theatre has much to offer the writer compared with the other mediums in which he has complete independence and need consider no one. We will try to find the right answer to this particular crossword clue. [26] In maturity, he recalled the value of his experiences: "I saw how men died. Somerset Maugham . Between 1908 and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Maugham wrote a further eight plays,[44] but his stage successes did not completely distract him from writing novels. [71], By that time Maugham was ill with tuberculosis. [5][57] Bryan Connon comments in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, "After this it seemed that Maugham could not fail, and the public eagerly bought his novels [and] volumes of his carefully crafted short stories". [5] He attempted to disinherit his daughter and to make Searle his adopted son, but the courts prevented it.[124]. Leonard Nimoy has said that when he was creating a voice for Star Trek's Mr. Spock, he listened to hours of recordings of the English writer reading his works. [8] The two younger sons became writers: Henry (18681904) wrote poetry, essays and travel books. [31] The first print run sold out within three weeks and a reprint was quickly arranged. RAIN VIII. William Somerset Maugham ( 25. ledna 1874, Pa - 16. prosince 1965, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat pobl Nice) byl anglick spisovatel a dramatik . Many portray the conflict of Europeans in alien surroundings that provoke strong emotions, and Maughams skill in handling plot, in the manner of Guy de Maupassant, is distinguished by economy and suspense. Entdecke Where to Watch Birds in Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire by Ken Hall (Eng in groer Auswahl Vergleichen Angebote und Preise Online kaufen bei eBay Kostenlose Lieferung fr viele Artikel! [188], In The Summing Up (1938), Maugham wrote of his non-dramatic work, "I have no illusions about my literary position. He drew upon his experiences as an obstetrician in his first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), and its success, though small, encouraged him to abandon medicine. W. Somerset Maugham, in full William Somerset Maugham, (born Jan. 25, 1874, Paris, Francedied Dec. 16, 1965, Nice), English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer whose work is characterized by a clear unadorned style, cosmopolitan settings, and a shrewd understanding of human nature. William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), English playwright and author wrote Of Human Bondage (1915); He did not know how wide a country, arid and precipitous, must be crossed before the traveller through life comes to an acceptance of reality. Author: w Somerset 1874-1965 Maugham. [170] In the 1928 volume Ashenden features in sixteen stories; two years later he reappeared, in his peacetime role of writer, as the narrator of Cakes and Ale. [183] On radio, the BBC's connection with Maugham goes back to 1930, when Hermione Gingold and Richard Goolden starred in an adaptation of "Before the Party" from his 1922 volume The Casuarina Tree. [16][n 4], From 1885 to 1890 Maugham attended The King's School, Canterbury, where he was regarded as an outsider and teased for his poor English (French had been his first language), his short stature, his stammer, and his lack of interest in sport. [141] Several commentators have characterised him as a pessimist, who did not share Shaw's optimistic belief that art could improve humanity. But at first glance, Maugham's progression to worldwide fame and great wealth seems relatively straightforward. He said that lacking any great powers of imagination he wrote about what he saw, and that although he could see more than most people could, "the greatest writers can see through a brick wall my vision is not so penetrating".[202]. Among the best-known examples are "Rain" (1921), charting the moral disintegration of a missionary attempting to convert the sexual sinner Sadie Thompson;[161] "The Letter" (1924), dealing with domestic murder and its implications;[162] "The Book Bag" (1932), a story of the tragic result of an incestuous relationship;[163] and "Flotsam and Jetsam" (1947), set in a rubber plantation in Borneo, where a dreadful shared secret binds a husband and wife to a mutually abhorrent relationship. Today's crossword puzzle clue is a general knowledge one: W Somerset Maugham's 1915 novel; the subject of several films. She began posting to Twitch in June 2019. This website uses cookies. [139] The critic J. C. Trewin writes, "His dialogue, unlike that of many of his contemporaries, is designed to be spoken Maugham does not write elaborately visual prose: that is, it does not make a fussy pattern on the page". 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