Beyond the Letters

Biographies are generally a non-fiction genre, for even though they have some place for imagination and emotionality within them, they are mostly a collection of facts presented in an attractive way. But many writers, especially modern ones, try to reconsider this quite old genre and give a new life to it. Here I will tell you about some novels that depict images of famous people, and whose main aim is not to tell the story of someone’s life but to let the reader see these personalities through the author’s eyes. 1. Miss Charity by Marie-Aude Muriel Loosely based on the life of Beatrix Potter this little comedy however managed to create a very credible image of the acclaimed children author. Beatrix Potter was a talented writer with her own unique vision of the world and her own ideas about woman’s position in society. Living in highly conventional Victorian society, she dared to state that any woman could be more than just a wife or a housekeeper. The book is written in th...

My acquaintance with Somerset Maugham began long long ago and I can proudly say that his books are for me the proof of the fact that sometimes what teachers make us read is not only useful but also fascinating. I’ve met quotes from his novels in English textbooks of all kinds and his adapted stories were among my first proper English reads. In the university we read his novels and analyzed them from the point of view of stylistics, lexicology, grammar and literary studies. One should become sick and tired of any texts seen so often but strangely enough, I’ve come to really love his stories and now I see Mr. Maugham as an old friend who can always cheer me up. So after a series of experiment with Booker prize nominees and some extremely postmodern things it was good to pick up  The Razor’s Edge . and remember my student years. The novel is a nice piece of writing all soaked with  the interbellum mood , one of the later works of Maugham (and therefore a bit uncharacteristic ...

Like any of Maugham's novels Cakes and Ale is a combination of many different stories. It is the story of the youth of Willie Ashenden, the story of a writer (Edward Driffield) and his family and literary life, the story of another writer (Alroy Kear) who is trying to compose the biography of Mr. Driffield and finally this is a story of Rosie, one of the best female characters of this Somerset Maugham (to my opinion). All this stories are closely connected together, the lines of these lives meet, cross each other and are tangled an knotted together building a curious web called life. What I like about Maugham's books is the characters. The plot may be not very exiting or intriguing and a little bit slow-flowing too, but the characters are always bright, well-drawn and very memorable, the author never draws them as absolutely positive or negative, they are all people, only people with their virtues and vices. It is very debatable whom to call the protagonist of this book...

Many people have come to reading this novel after they saw the film based on it which, in my opinion, is a huge mistake. The film depicts a love story, which is very beautiful and deep and meaningful but still it is just a love story.  And reading Maugham's novel people still see this love story which is only one side of it. Now let me explain you what I saw in "The Painted Veil" and why I enjoyed it immensely. There is one peculiarity about all Maugham's novels which I truly like alongside with his marvellous style and deep insight into the souls of his characters, and that peculiarity is the title.  The title which is always a clue to the understanding of the whole novel.   And this is he case with "The Painted Veil" too. "Lift not the painted veil which those who live Call Life" - these beautiful words are the first lines of a sonnet of P.B. Shelley. The sonnet says that often the picture of life we see is but a painted veil ...