somerset maugham

I was recently introduced to the novels of Somerset Maugham and have really enjoyed it. First, I read The Razor's Edge. The Razor's Edge is about rich Americans living in Europe prior to and during the Great Depression. It is an interesting look at the society of that time and people's search for meaning and happiness in all kinds of different, and mostly wrong, places. The characters in this book are rich, dynamic, and very compelling, but I found the plot a little slow even for my taste. Then I read The Painted Veil. Having loved the movie, I looked forward to reading the book and was not disappointed.

The movie came out in 2006 and stars Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. It is definitely the best love story I have seen in a while and is absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend it.

The book follows the movie almost exactly until the end. And even though it is certainly not as happy, I must say that I loved the book as much as I loved the movie but for different reasons. The movie is compelling because it tells a beautiful love story between Kitty and Walter. An ill-matched couple from the start, Kitty, the socialite, and Walter, the bacteriologist, hit rock bottom when Walter finds out that Kitty has been having an affair with am English diplomat in Hong Kong. Walter refuses to allow Kitty a divorce and requires that she follow him into a cholera epidemic in rural China. In the movie, Walter and Kitty begin working alongside one another in a convent and slowly grow in respect, friendship, and then love for one another. But the book is quite different.

The book examines Walter and Kitty's relationship much more realistically and is more about the effects of sin and heartache and the weight of forgiveness than it is about love. Even though it was not romantic at all, I found the story in the book very compelling as Kitty begins to search for meaning in a world where she is surrounded by death and is eventually forced to start over all alone in the world.

You absolutely must see and read The Painted Veil. I got through it in about a week and was sad when I finished--always the sign of a good book--but both books are worth reading.