Collected Short Stories Volume 4: v. 4 (Vintage Classics)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
You turn the pages and enter a magical world of fabulous characters. You feel as if you are curled up listening to the delicious, risque, tales of an old, dear and rather wicked friend.
You are transported to the very place, the villa, the street, the bar,the smells and tastes are almost tangible. You can feel the sun, hear the crickets and are lost in his world.
Somerset Maugham is one of the worlds great story tellers. This is what sets him apart from other short story writers. he is not pretentious in his writng.
He would be a divine dinner companion, amusing every one with his stories.
If you have not enjoyed this master before curl up over Christmas, you are in for a treat.
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Although the language in this is somewhat archaic, this is, or will become, a timeless classic, along with Maugham's other short stories. I, a 16 year old, was given this by my mum to read, and the book was really accessible. Every story is an original gem, which although short, lingers in your mind long after you have read it.
Maugham portrays the upper middle class wonderfully (although not all stories are about this group of people), with superb characterisation. I found it hard to relate with the characters within the collection as I had never met anyone like them, but that isn't to say I won't and it didn't make the book any less enjoyable.
To start off with, I read the shortest stories (a few pages long), and gradually built up to the longest ones, such as 'The Vessel of Wrath'. My favourites are 'The Bum', 'Jane', 'The Creative Impulse' and 'Lord Mountdrago'. I had never heard of Somerset Maugham before but am very glad I have read some of his stories.
Maugham portrays the upper middle class wonderfully (although not all stories are about this group of people), with superb characterisation. I found it hard to relate with the characters within the collection as I had never met anyone like them, but that isn't to say I won't and it didn't make the book any less enjoyable.
To start off with, I read the shortest stories (a few pages long), and gradually built up to the longest ones, such as 'The Vessel of Wrath'. My favourites are 'The Bum', 'Jane', 'The Creative Impulse' and 'Lord Mountdrago'. I had never heard of Somerset Maugham before but am very glad I have read some of his stories.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
There is little better than reading Somerset Maugham's short stories. This group are set in the East, conjuring up the picture of English plantation owners sitting on their veranda drinking spirits as the sun sets on the Empire. Maugham has a great way of pulling you into the stories environment so that you feel as though you could be there with him. None of the stories are sensationalised. They are tales told simply about people he comes across on his travels. Nevertheless, his characters are drawn sufficiently for you to believe them, empathising with their problems as you think fit. Maugham does not moralise on the events he records, but it is easy for us to do after reading each of the stories. His writing style is simple and effective.
This is a great book with a good standard of literature. Read it if you want to be amused for a short period with stories of so many different people - reading too many stories at once is not as engaging - and dream of a time gone by when we had standards in society and people really believed in the Empire.
This is a great book with a good standard of literature. Read it if you want to be amused for a short period with stories of so many different people - reading too many stories at once is not as engaging - and dream of a time gone by when we had standards in society and people really believed in the Empire.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A cracking collection of stories
Maugham was a prolific writer of short stories, and this is the first volume of his Collected Short Stories, as published by Vintage (there are other collections of his short... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jimbo
Another age
Volume 2 contains some of Maugham's best stories - The Verger, The Alien Corn, The Colonel's Lady and a fair number of his Ashenden (spy) stories. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Clive A. H. Still
Short and sweet
Despite occasionally drifting into being pompous there is little better for a holiday than a collection of Maugham's short stories. Read more
Published on 8 Dec 2009 by Mr. S. Grainger
differnt world
As i reviewed with the volume 3 set of short stories this guy writes in a very old fashioned colonial style and likes to call the natives (mainly in Samoa) Greasy Niggers, all... Read more
Published on 10 Oct 2009 by S. Burton
My "Desert Island" Book!
If I were asked which book to take to a desert island, it would be The Collected Works of Somerset Maugham, or at the very least his Short Stories.
Need I say more!?
Need I say more!?
Published on 13 Jun 2009 by W. Halliburton
Undervalued
Maugham is out of fashion at the moment. He is a superb short story author and is well worth exploring.
Published on 13 Jun 2009 by G. R. Bawdon
Light reading
A wonderful collection of stories, though unfortunately I found the ones he wrote on Western Europe (mainly Spain) to be lacking of the passion and insight that we saw in his tales... Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2008 by Ibrahim Ali
Expatriates indiscretions in Malaya (pre Second World War)
My initial interest in this book was somewhat narrow. I obtained it specifically to read the short story "The Letter" by W. Somerset Maugham. Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2006 by Brian Boru
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