william somerset maugham the moon and sixpence

It is more likely that the novel contains a mixture of elements which Somerset Maugham was able to observe and absorb in the artistic milieu of the first quarter of the twentieth century, particularly in Paris. There is no need to look into Gauguin's life. The moon and sixpence is a novel about artistic genius: it aims to show rather than tell what true genius is.The novel is said to be loosely based on the life of Paul Gauguin, but this is really rather immaterial and unimportant. At one point the highest-paid author in the world, Maugham led a remarkably eventful life without sacrificing his literary talent. During and after the First World War, he worked for the British Secret Intelligence Service as a spy in Switzerland and Russia, writing of his experiences in Ashenden: Or the British Agent (1927), a novel that would inspire Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. Although married to Syrie Wellcome, Maugham considered himself both bisexual and homosexual at different points in his life. The latter, an autobiographical novel, earned Maugham a reputation as one of the twentieth century’s leading authors, and continues to be recognized as his masterpiece. Over his 65-year career, he experimented in form and genre with such works as Lady Frederick (1907), a play, The Magician (1908), an occult novel, and Of Human Bondage (1915). Emboldened by its popular and critical success, he dropped his pursuit of medicine to devote himself entirely to literature. There, he published Liza of Lambeth (1897), his debut novel.

After completing his degree, Maugham moved to London to begin medical school. In Germany, he had his first affair with an older man and embarked on a career as a professional writer. He struggled to fit in as a student at The King’s School in Canterbury and demanded his uncle send him to Heidelberg University, where he studied philosophy and literature.

Born in Paris, he was orphaned as a boy and sent to live with an emotionally distant uncle. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer.

William somerset maugham the moon and sixpence