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The Painted Veil (Vintage Classics) [Paperback]

W Somerset Maugham
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
RRP: £8.99
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Book Description

5 April 2001 Vintage Classics

Kitty Fane is the beautiful but shallow wife of Walter, a bacteriologist stationed in Hong Kong. Unsatisfied by her marriage, she starts an affair with charming, attractive and exciting Charles Townsend. But when Walter discovers her deception, he exacts a strange and terrible vengeance: Kitty must accompany him to his new posting in remote mainland China, where a cholera epidemic rages...

First published to a storm of protest, The Painted Veil is a classic story of a woman's spiritual awakening.

(20000914)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage Classics; New Ed edition (5 April 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0099286874
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099286875
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.5 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 105,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

Reveals many of Maugham's strengths: an understanding of women, meticulous craftsmanship and raw emotion' (Daily Mail )

A work of art (Spectator )

An expert craftsman... His style is sharp, quick, subdued, casual (New York Times )

Book Description

Stunningly rejacketed as part of a major reinvention of this neglected 20th century master

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Spellings alert! 27 Mar 2012
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
My comments relate to the Thinking Media (Spiritual Classics) version of this title. I have never read a book with so many typos/mistakes. Literally several per page - sometimes within the space of 2 or 3 sentences, often so bizarre it was hard to work out what the original sense was, making reading so absolutely infuriating that I don't know how I managed to keep going. Spoiled my enjoyment of the book completely. Don't be tempted to buy this version.
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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Reccomended 6 Sep 2007
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This a book that became one of my instant favourites. It tells the story of Kitty, the beautiful though superficial wife of socially inept doctor Walter Fane. Bored of life in Hong Kong she begins and affair with Charles Townsend whom she finds eminently more suitable. Ultimately her deception uncovered her husband exacts an unusual vengeance making her accompany her to a cholera ridden province in mainland China. Whilst the story line is fascinating in itself the real beauty of the novel comes from the descriptions of the feelings both husband and wife have for each other. Both come of as incredibly human with believable flaws, and though I was slightly disappointed with the ending the rest of the novel continually delighted me.
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45 of 51 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling. 21 Sep 2003
By S. Hapgood VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
It doesn't start off very promisingly. Kitty is having an illicit afternoon liaison with her lover, Charles Townshend, and it's all so very British Empire. Talk of tiffin and men in topi's can make it feel like "Carry On Up The Khyber", albeit set in China instead of India! But after that first short chapter you quickly get drawn into it. Kitty, in spite of her faults, is a very likeable and only-too-human heroine, and her husband, Walter Fane, is one of the most intense and complex characters Maugham ever wrote. Fane takes a disturbingly bizarre revenge on his wife's infidelity by making her accompany him to a cholera-ridden village in the wilds of China. Once there, Kitty seeks spiritual salvation and insight, and succeeds. Sadly, there is to be no happy ever after for this couple, and I was genually saddened that this was so. But Maugham, with his usual sharp insight, gives us great insight into the bit players in Kitty's life, such as Waddington and his mysterious Chinese princess, and the Mother Superior at the convent. This is good stuff.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars Ending changed - Buy it but NOT THIS EDITION
This is a great book but please don't buy this edition. Not only are there countless typos - mainly small mistakes on every page, as if they have run a spellcheck which picks up... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Penny
4.0 out of 5 stars completely different
worth a read, as i havent read a book like it before. there are a group of main characters but none are heros or heroines. Read more
Published 1 month ago by sj
5.0 out of 5 stars book club choice
we had a really good discussion after reading this book and it encourages you to read more Maugham. I have passed it on to friends
Published 1 month ago by skyler
4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read
After reading 'Of Human Bondage' I thought I would try 'The Painted Veil' which proved an absorbing read but just too short! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Clarem
1.0 out of 5 stars You can't tell a book by its cover.
The novel itself cannot be bettered, Those who wish to read it would be advised to seek the novel by a different publisher. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mr H G King
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Written
I had seen the film beforehand with Ed Norton and had enjoyed it very much. While reading the book it helped me to imagine the scene as it might have been in China, a place i have... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Diane Calvert
4.0 out of 5 stars Gentle study of emmerging maturity.
I read this as part of a book club required reading and it's made me want to read more Somerset Maughn. Read more
Published 2 months ago by rebeccaatk
2.0 out of 5 stars Very poor proof reading
This is a classic story absolutely marred in this publication by typos and mis-spelling on virtually every page. It is published by thinkingmedia. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jennifer Taggart
3.0 out of 5 stars Different
A good read but very different from the film. They should not be associated as one would definitely cancel out the other. Best kept as separate
Published 3 months ago by Desiree Parrinello
5.0 out of 5 stars The Painted Veil
I must confess that, though I loved the recent film adaptation of The Painted Veil, I have been circling my copy of the book for a long, long time. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Fleur Fisher
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