Douban score of Moon and Sixpence: 8.7
The reading guide is great. It is mentioned that Mao Mu preached that "spirit is greater than matter and individual is greater than society". In fact, he himself has made great progress in material life. My point is that after realizing that reality has a certain material foundation, we still retain the realm of pursuing spirit.
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Moon and sixpence (13000 words in depth, 206 additional notes) (Chinese version)
William Somerset Maugham
Guide reading
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Mao Mu clearly knew from the beginning that modernism, like realism, romanticism and rationalism before, was only the product of historical development to a certain extent; Of course, it is more novel, but this does not mean that its artistic value is higher than other schools. This can be seen from the second chapter of the Moon and Sixpence in your hand: now the war has come and brought a new atmosphere. Young people believe in gods we have never heard of before, and now we can see clues about which direction our younger generation will go.
The restless young generation has entered the room after realizing their own strength. These people rushed in and took our seats. The air was filled with their noisy shouts. Some people who don't respect their elders spoof the noise of young people and try to prove that their time is not gone; They shouted like the most energetic young people, but the slogan was so empty; They are like old sluts, trying to regain the illusion of eternal youth by dressing up and coquetry. Those smarter predecessors have generously stepped aside. There is a little tolerant ridicule in their helpless smiles.
These people remember that when they stepped on their ambitious predecessors, they were so shouting and swearing; They also foresee that these warriors with torches will give up their seats one day. No one can make the final decision. When Nineveh flourished, even the new gospel became the old gospel. Those impassioned people think that what they say is unheard of by their predecessors, but they don't know that such a cliche has been said hundreds of times, and even the tone of voice is similar. The pendulum swings back and forth. This process will always go back and forth.
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Use the above quotation to vividly describe the atmosphere of the literary world at that time, and then take George Crabbe, a poet in George's time, as an example to make a counterattack in a sense: sometimes, a person can live to enter a new era after his own years, and then curious people can see the most peculiar scenes in human comedy.
For example, who would think of George Crabbe now? He used to be a famous poet. At that time, everyone praised his genius with one voice, which is rare in a more complicated modern society. He studied under the alexander pope School and wrote many moral education stories in rhyming double lines. Later, when the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars broke out, many poets sang new songs. Mr krebs still uses double lines to write his moral education stories.
I think he must have read the poems written by those sensational young people, and I imagine he will think those poems are poorly written. Of course, most of them are really poorly written. But Keats and Wordsworth's ode poems, Coleridge's poems and Shelley's masterpieces have indeed opened up a spiritual realm that no one has explored before. Mr krebs is a thing of the past, but he still writes his moral education stories in rhyming double lines.
I have browsed the works of the younger generation at random. Perhaps there will be more enthusiastic Keats and more extraordinary Shelley among them, and they have published masterpieces that will last forever. I'm not sure. I admire their beautiful writing, and I admire their cheerful style. Although these young people are very young, they have made great achievements. It would be a joke to treat them as budding people. However, despite their many works (their vocabulary is very rich, as if they began to study Roger's Linz Canon in the cradle), I didn't read anything new: in my opinion, these people have more knowledge than cultivation.
I can't stand their eagerness to pat me on the back and their passion to throw themselves into my arms. I think their mood is a little pale and their dreams are a little boring. I don't like them. I'm an antique. I will continue to write moral education stories in two lines. But if I have other hopes besides entertaining myself, I am a hopeless fool. This kind of self-talk is actually the key to understanding The Moon and Sixpence.
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On the surface, The Moon and Sixpence tells a deviant story. As most readers know, the prototype of the protagonist Charles strickland is the post-impressionist painter paul gauguin, who was born in despair and died of grief.
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The most common misunderstanding is that Charles strickland, the incarnation of paul gauguin, is regarded as the protagonist of the novel; Judging from many documents I have read, most commentators think so. Based on this false assumption, they severely criticized The Moon and Sixpence: Strickland's characters are not real, and his motivation to abandon his family for art has not been reasonably explained.
However, Mao Mu had no intention of writing a biography for Strickland. What he wants to do is "continue to write moral education stories in two lines". Since Mao Mu regards George Crabbe as his own situation, the "two-way street" here is of course realism. As far as characters, background setting and narrative plot are concerned, the Victorian color of The Moon and Sixpence is not difficult to identify.
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No matter in which part, the narrator occupies an absolute core position. Strickland never appeared directly from beginning to end, and his life story and inner activities were completely presented by "I" through reports, observations, guesses and explanations. In other words, the protagonist of the novel is and can only be the first-person narrator.
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The voice of the narrator, that is, the tone of the novel, is cautious and restrained. We can see that whenever the narrator forms an opinion or judgment about someone or something, he will immediately reflect on himself and even say "all my guesses are groundless". The Moon and Sixpence has repeatedly proved the necessity of this caution and restraint.
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Such a sharp contrast is not only to increase the pleasure of reading, but also to pave the way for the moral revealed in the last paragraph of the novel. At the end of The Moon and Sixpence, Mao Mu wrote: I have a biblical proverb on my lips, but I didn't say it, because I know that the clergy think it is a bit blasphemous for the laity to invade their territory. My uncle Henry has been a vicar of Whit Stable for 27 years. In this case, he would often say that the devil always quotes scripture at will. He remembered that he could buy 13 good oysters for a shilling.
Readers familiar with the Bible should be able to guess that the unspoken scripture of the narrator is obviously the phrase "Don't judge others, lest you be judged" in Matthew and Luke, or "Don't judge a book by its cover" in John. The Bible repeatedly warns mortals not to judge each other, which is reasonable, because the mutual understanding between people is often superficial, limited and one-sided, and only an all-knowing and all-powerful God can make a fair judgment, if such a God really exists.
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Even Amy Strickland, who obviously hates him, is just a few well-meaning ironies. Don't judge others casually. This ancient truth from the Bible echoes Mao Mu's "old-fashioned" self-orientation at the beginning of the novel. In a sense, "The Moon and Sixpence" is a response to the bad critics at that time, reminding them not to rush to judge: since Charles strickland, who is vulgar at first glance, is actually a great genius painter, similarly, the shackles of human nature and "The Moon and Sixpence", which seem to fall into the realistic stereotype, may also be brilliant masterpieces that will be passed down to future generations.
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But don't judge others casually, it doesn't mean that you don't have your own views and positions. Mao Mu's viewpoint in The Moon and Sixpence is that spirit is higher than matter, and individual is greater than society. This anti-secular and anti-traditional position is the key point for generations of readers to cry, because after all, ordinary readers do not understand the historical evolution of novel as a literary genre, nor do they understand personal grievances in the literary world.
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It is hard for the world to understand that Charles Strickland resolutely gave up the comfortable middle-class life and was willing to live a hard life without food and clothing. He even resolutely left his wife and children and betrayed his friends. According to the traditional moral concept, he is a complete jerk. But in the end, he is a great hero who won the sympathy of the author and readers and made great contributions in the field of art. In the fiftieth chapter of the novel, the narrator tells the anecdote of two doctors who were born in the same school but had diametrically opposite fates: Abraham, who had excellent medical skills, listened to his inner call and left his superior position in London to become an ordinary quarantine officer in Alexandria; Carmichael, who was less skilled than others, was lucky enough to replace the vacancy left by Abraham and become a celebrity with high spirits.
After telling this story similar to the legend of Richland in Huste, the narrator puts forward two thought-provoking questions: Do what you want to do most, live in a comfortable environment, and get peace of mind. Is this bad for you? Is it successful to become a surgeon with an annual income of tens of thousands of pounds and get married as soon as possible? There are two completely different answers to these questions about the ultimate meaning of life, and the name of the novel just reproduces the opposition between them.
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Philip Carey, the protagonist of The Chains of Human Nature, is "as fascinated by the moon in the sky as many young people are, and turns a blind eye to sixpence under his feet". The moon symbolizes the lofty ideal pursuit and wonderful spiritual realm, and also symbolizes that Strickland left London and Abraham went to poverty in Egypt. Sixpence, a small coin, represents worldly gains and losses and petty profits, and also represents the luxury that carmichael is proud of. How to choose between the moon and sixpence, the narrator is inconclusive, only cautiously saying: I think it depends on how you view the meaning of life, on what you think you should do for society, and what you should ask of yourself.
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But don't mistake Mao Mu for a believer in henry david thoreau. In fact, he does not object, and even attaches great importance to material comfort.
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1 9 0 7 became famous and lived a luxurious life from then on.
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In his later years, he settled in a seaside villa in the south of France, covering an area of nine acres, and he can enjoy the blue waves of the Mediterranean at any time. This is also an important reason why Mao Mu's novels are difficult to understand accurately. Some writers are as literal as words, and what they write is true. Some writers are hidden, and their works are all fabricated voices. But Mao Mu always easily switches back and forth between fiction and reality. Without careful textual research and in-depth exploration, you will never know how much meaning a seemingly simple text contains. For example, in Chapter 46 of the novel, it is written that the merciful God has appointed some men in the world to live a single life, but some of them actually go against this wish because of their own reasons or irresistible external factors. No one in the world deserves more sympathy than such a married bachelor. This passage seems to bemoan Captain Nichols' misfortune, but it has never been Mao Mu's self-pity. The year before writing this passage, that is, 1 9 1 7 in May, a trip to the South Pacific with Guy Gerald Huxton just ended. Mao Mu succumbed to the constraints of conscience and reluctantly married the recently divorced Celie Benado. he
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However, the most vivid expression of Mao Mu's peak writing art is a passage that has been quoted before, that is, the last two sentences of The Moon and Sixpence: My uncle Henry has been a parish priest in Whitstall for 27 years. If this happens, he will often say that the devil always quotes scriptures at will. He remembered that he could buy 13 good oysters for a shilling.
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At the age of ten, he was taken to Whit's stable by his uncle Henry Mao Mu. Whit Stable is a small town that produces all kinds of seafood in Kent, southeast London. At its peak, it transported more than 60 million oysters to London every year, so it has the reputation of "O y s t e r o p o l i s". Early Victorian oysters were very cheap, only 4 pence a dozen, which was an important source for the poor working class to supplement protein.
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Henry Mao Mu died as early as 1 8 9 7, and only the author can "miss" those days in 1 9 1 8. Therefore, this sudden ending has two important meanings. The first layer means echoing the opening; That decade was the peak of Victorian literature. This passage once again emphasized Mao Mu's cherish and persistence in realism, thus ending the whole novel full of nostalgia. The second layer means to follow the above; The previous paragraphs describe how cool skinny Amy strickland and her children are. While sympathizing with Strickland's lack of family care, the author can't help feeling that her life experience is almost as lonely. He missed the day when he could buy thirteen first-class oysters for a shilling, because his parents were still alive at that time, which was the only light and shadow he enjoyed in his life.