This book came about when the editor of a magazine asked Maugham to make a list of the ten best novels in his opinion. This was then extended into prologues for new editions of the novels and, later, combined into this collection of essays. Maugham makes many relevant points in this work, the most important being that a sensible person reads as a diversion and not a task. A novel is to be read for enjoyment and the reader is, therefore, their own best critic and they know what they enjoy and what they don't. So, in other words, the author has no expectations that you should enjoy the novels he has chosen and, as this is a critical approach to the novels, he does not simply extol their virtues, but gives reasons why he thinks they are important and worthy of his list.
Maugham takes it for granted that readers already know the novels he is writing about - authors writing during his time thankfully felt no need to "dumb down" their writing and assumed their readers were capable of as great an understanding as the author. However, if you are considering trying some of these novels then do not let that put you off, as much that he writes about will certainly increase your enjoyment and understanding of the books you decide to choose. The novels Maugham looks at are:
Henry Fielding and "Tom Jones"
Jane Austen and "Pride and Prejudice"
Stendhal and "Le Rouge et le Noir"
Balzac and "Le Pere Goriot"
Charles Dickens and "David Copperfield"
Flaubert and "Madame Bovary"
Herman Melville and "Moby Dick"
Emily Bronte and "Wuthering Heights"
Dostoevsky and "The Brothers Karamazov"
Tolstoy and "War and Peace"
There is also a very interesting and informative introduction about the Art of Fiction, plus a conclusion in which Maugham mischieviously imagines how the authors would behave were they to meet at a dinner party, before summing up why he has chosen these particular novels. There is a short biography of each author featured, along with the piece about that particular novel by them. Overall, this is a really interesting, informative and well written work - as you would expect from Maugham, who never disappointed with either his fictional or non fiction works. Excellent and highly recommended.
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ハムなしソーセージ
Contrary to popular belief, he is very objective.
Reviewed in Japan on 3 October 2012