South Sea Tales by Somerset Maugham (1950. Perma Books. ASIN B000KU89E4)
I found myself at the Litman Camp on Elsie Lake in Ontario. I’d finished a collection of short stories I brought with and ended up perusing the bookshelves of the main cabin for something to read between walleye fishing, watching storms, taking sauna, and doing chores. I pulled this collection of Maugham’s stories about life in the orient down and began to read. There’s no question about it: If you’ve never read The Razor’s Edge or Of Human Bondage, these stories, really novellas in size, are a great place to inoculate yourself with a bit of Maugham. “Rain”, one of Maugham’s most famous short works, starts off the collection and sets the theme for many of the eight stories in this book. Maugham, a thoughtful, deeply intuitive writer, sets up a psychological conflict in each of the pieces.
The length of these tales is perfect for leisurely entertainment. My favorite story in the collection isn’t “Rain”, the piece most often cited to reveal Maugham’s talent as a master of short fiction, but “Red”, an evocative, titillating, sensual mystery of a stranger’s past revealed in bits and pieces over the duration of the story. A literary strip tease, if you will.
There are numerous configurations of these stories available from the usual retail suspects but all of the variations contain gems of writing that will entertain, enlighten, and amaze. The Perma version of the collection happens to be a pocket-sized hardcover; perfect for tucking into a back pocket and taking out on the lake.But whatever version you decide to read, South Sea Tales is sure to engage your mind and your heart. Consider this short passage from “Rain”:
When he was on deck next morning they were close to land. He looked at it with greedy eyes. There was a thin slip of silver beach rising quickly to hills covered to the top with luxuriant vegetation. The coconut trees, thick and green, came nearly to the water’s edge, and among them, you saw the grass houses of the Samoans; and here and there, gleaming white, a little church.
Take a gander at the photo below and decide for yourself. Doesn’t it look like I’m engrossed in the book?
4 and 1/2 stars out of 5.
The author reading Maugham during a break from fishing.
