THE MOON AND SIXPENCE
Have you ever thought of leaving your job, family, home, friends, in short, your whole life to pursue your passion? Have you ever done it? Well, Paul Gauguin did. The book is inspired by his life and W. S. Maugham wonderfully present it to you.
Genre: Novel, psychological fiction, biographical fiction
Author: W. S. Maugham
Charles Strickland, a conventional stockbroker, abandons his wife and children for Paris and Tahiti, to live his life as a painter. Whilst his betrayal of family, duty and honor gives him the freedom to achieve greatness, his decision leads to an obsession which carries severe implications. Inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin, The Moon and Sixpence is at once a satiric caricature of Edwardian conventions and a vivid portrayal of the mentality of a genius.
I started the book with great expectations. You may find the book a little difficult to follow in the beginning as it starts from the death of Charles Strickland. But soon the author comes to the day when he first saw him and how ordinary he was. The book is a classic and you may take time to adjust with the language, but as you soon you do it is impactful. The author clearly establish his life in London, a nuclear happy family, had an elite wife and two lovely little children. Being a stockbroker also made him quite wealthy too. Leaving your life and to take up something you haven’t done before requires, I don’t even know, how much courage.While Strickland was relentlessly criticized and despised for his life decision he didn’t pay much attention to it and did what he did for himself and purely himself. He didn’t care a penny about anyone else, including his family or love interest (even for a while). He constantly criticized people’s choices for love and lust while paying almost no attention to woman in his life. The author when meets Strickland in Paris, he was poor. Extremely poor and was living in dingy apartment. The change of scenario in his life will definitely stop you from doing something so foolish yet brave.
Author narrated Strickland’s character in an unfiltered way which would make you love him for his passion and fearlessness but also loathe him for his arrogance and stubbornness. My best loved scrap from the book is the arrogance of Strickland despite his pitiful circumstances. He was determined and focused to his love for art. The author only short lived in Paris and moved, but he followed Strickland footprints after his death to Tahiti and tells you how he didn’t changed. How he always kept painting and had a hard time managing his expenses. He didn’t get much of recognition during his life for his paintings of what he received after his death.
I also loved the character of narrator’s friend, Stroeve. Though naïve but goodhearted man, who did his best and beyond to help Strickland and loved his wife with all his heart. I liked the short monologue on how men and women love differently. There are plenty of life lessons and wisdom presented by the narrator and gives you a more vivid and realistic picture of Strickland’s life. All in all it portrays you true achievement in life and how he went through doing things which made him happy and put everything else, including his own life at stake.
