Maugham has many representative works, such as "The Moon and Sixpence" and "The Shackles of Humanity", but compared to these novels, I prefer his biographies and essays, such as "Maugham's Reading Essays", "Writer's Notes".
"Somerset Maugham's Reading Essays" is my favorite among Maugham's works. It brings together Maugham's comments and review of European and American literature, discussions on philosophy, detective novels, and poetry creation, as well as some comments on Discuss and comment on the life experience, family background, creative path and works of famous writers. After reading this book, I can't help but be trembled by Maugham's extensive knowledge, feel happy by his gossip and humor, and feel helpless but happy to accept his sharp tongue. This may be Maugham's That's the charm.
Maugham said, "Before recommending a book, the first thing I consider is whether the book is readable." Then you can rest assured that this book is very readable, as if the author is talking to you. And the conversation is erudite, humorous and cheerful, which makes people benefit endlessly.
01 A surprising book list
There are so many new books published every year, and the spiritual wealth left by our predecessors is also countless, but everyone who loves reading will still know how to read. Faced with this dilemma: There are too many books and you can’t decide what to read next? In fact, life is finite and time is short. Reading good books is the serious thing. Reading "Maugham's Reading Essays" can help you get out of this dilemma. In this book, you will find a surprising list of books.
Maugham listed many titles in this book, such as "Wuthering Heights", "In Search of Lost Time", "War and Peace", and "Candide". They are all from first-rate writers. Not only that, he also concisely explained the reasons for recommending each book: either the language is gorgeous, or the idea is novel, or the plot is compact... Some books may be wonderful in a certain part, Maugham in The book points out that in some books a certain character is very outstanding and is vividly portrayed by the author, and Maugham also made a special recommendation. Maybe some of the books he recommended are really not in line with your usual reading habits, but if you eliminate those, you will still be left with a long book list.
02 Wonderful Literary Review
I originally read this book with the purpose of learning reading and writing skills and experience, and it has proven to be very rewarding.
This book is also a literary review. Even though Maugham emphasizes many times in the book that he is not a critic, his comments on each work are really wonderful.
He commented on Descartes: "Reading his works is like swimming in a lake with clear bottom. The translucent ripples are pleasing to the eye." He commented on "Wuthering Heights": "This This book is unparalleled... When reading ordinary novels, no matter how fascinating, you always realize that it is just a story, but reading "Wuthering Heights" has no such feeling at all, it is more like experiencing the brokenness of life. "It's cracking and painful." He also commented on "Walden": "I didn't feel boring when reading this book, but I didn't feel happy either."
"You are not just looking at a painting. , you are reading with your entire personality - with your emotions, habits, life experiences and instinctive likes and dislikes. "This is Maugham's view of appreciating paintings in the book, and this is actually his habit of appreciating books. He is a mortal, and he reads books, people, and the world with his own instinctive love and hate. Maugham's comments on these classic works were humorous, satirical, praising, or derogatory. Although biased, he expressed his true views in the most perfect sentences. His comments are sincere and beautiful, and are worth learning from both his attitude and diction.
Written at the end: If you are interested in the gossip of literary writers, then you must not miss this book; if you are worried about how to write wonderful literary reviews, then this book is for you The best book; finally, if you don’t know what books to read, don’t hesitate to read this book!
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