Monday, March 8, 2010

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham

I have quite a few classic and celebrated authors of the past on my shelf.  They are beginning to pop up on my list.  I feel it's important to my writing career to study what made these authors so popular.  They are written in an unfamiliar style telling stories of a lifestyle that is old fashioned and foreign in contemporary times. 
I bought The Painted Veil off Amazon after watching the movie on HBO.  I hadn't read any Maugham since high school so I thought this story looked interesting.  I'm also attracted to stories with a Chinese influence.  You'll see that more and more as I move through the list.  The Painted Veil has really nothing to do with China.  It's the story of poor shallow, Kitty who marries Walter in order to beat her homely, younger sister down the aisle. Walter takes her to Hong Kong where she falls in love with the charming and dapper, Charles.  Her loathing of Walter only grows in proportion to her ever increasing desire for the also married Charles. 
Knowing Kitty has been unfaithful, Walter takes her to a remote village in China to help fight a cholera epidemic.  It is here that Kitty finally grows up.  Walter indirectly shows her what a cad Charles is and that the true meaning of self worth is in the care and comfort of others.  Not until Walter dies, does Kitty come to know the influence he has made in her soul.  We watch Kitty find meaning and dimension in her life.  As readers we watch her come full circle as a woman from petty and shallow to loving and compassionate.  By the end we welcome Kitty into our hearts. 
The Painted Veil is a classic.  I rate this story 5 out of 5.  If you'd like to take a trip back in time, The Painted Veil doesn't disappoint. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Splintered Silence by Susan Furlong

Splintered Silence by Susan Furlong First off I have to say I happened on this book by chance.  My sister's name is Susan Leigh Furl...