I confess that when first I made acquaintance with Charles Strickland I never for a moment discerned that there was in him anything out of the ordinary. Yet now few will be found to deny his greatness. I do not speak of that greatness which is achieved by the fortunate politician or the successful soldier; that is a quality which belongs to the place he occupies rather than to the man; and a change of circumstances reduces it to very discreet proportions. The Prime Minister out of office is seen, too often, to have been but a pompous rhetorician, and the General without an army is but the tame hero of a market town. The greatness of Charles Strickland was authentic. It may be that you do not like his art, but at all events you can hardly refuse it the tribute of your interest. He disturbs and arrests. The time has passed when he was an object of ridicule, and it is no longer a mark of eccentricity to defend or of perversity to extol him. His faults are accepted as the necessary complement to his merits. It is still possible to discuss his place in art, and the adulation of his admirers is perhaps no less capricious than the disparagement of his detractors; but one thing can never be doubtful, and that is that he had genius. . . .
威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆(William Somerset Maugham,1874 -1965),英国小说家,剧作家,被誉为“故事圣手”。
生于巴黎,十岁前父母双亡,由叔叔接回英国抚养,因身材矮小,说话结巴,总被同龄人欺凌,性格孤僻敏感。
18岁在伦敦学医,后弃医从文。23岁时发表首部小说《兰贝斯的丽莎》,从此走上文学创作的道路。人生经历奇特,他做过助产,做过间谍,做过演员,做过救护车司机;他做过丈夫,做过情人,拒绝过女人的求婚,他的求婚也被另一个女人拒绝;他自称“四分之三喜欢女人,只有四分之一喜欢男人”。
在文学界,毛姆是一个优雅、老到、冷漠的人性观察者,几乎每一个人都能在他的故事中看到自己,这也让毛姆成为二十世纪炙手可热的作家。
他的后半生住在一座仙境般的别墅里,晚年几乎获得了整个欧洲文学界的一切殊荣。91岁时,逝于法国。
经典代表作:《月亮与六便士》《人性的枷锁》。
查尔斯·思特里克兰德的人生大致分三段:在伦敦、在巴黎(马赛)和在塔希提。毛姆花了最多的篇幅描述他在巴黎的一场大病和一次艳遇,而他在这一场遭遇里几乎扮演了一个完全的反面角色,他忘恩负义、毫无同情心和基本的礼貌教养,相对的,除了施特略夫的只言片语,作者对他的绘...
评分几个月前,我问一朋友生日时想收到什么礼物。他答曰:大美妞儿~我笑回:“书中自有千钟粟,书中自有黄金屋,书中自有颜如玉……”他不同意最后那句,旁征博引地回我:“……你说念个尼采念个权力意志……再整萨特啊……德里达啊……叔本华啊……洛克啊……祁克果……再鼓捣鼓捣...
评分毛姆是以高更的生活经历为参考,创造查尔斯·斯特里克兰德这个角色的,这点大家现在都很清楚了。原书成书于1919年,第一次世界大战刚刚结束,全欧洲迎来新秩序和希望的时代。当时的毛姆45岁,正值创作巅峰期,《月亮与六便士》是他在全盛期写下的杰作,亦是其作家生涯的最重要...
评分毛姆是以高更的生活经历为参考,创造查尔斯·斯特里克兰德这个角色的,这点大家现在都很清楚了。原书成书于1919年,第一次世界大战刚刚结束,全欧洲迎来新秩序和希望的时代。当时的毛姆45岁,正值创作巅峰期,《月亮与六便士》是他在全盛期写下的杰作,亦是其作家生涯的最重要...
评分——毛姆论伟大 “我所谓的伟大不是走红运的政治家或是立战功的军人的伟大;这种人显赫一时,与其说是他们本身的特质倒不如说沾了他们地位的光,一旦事过境迁,他们的伟大也就黯然失色了。人们常常发现一位离了职的首相当年只不过是个大言不惭的演说家;一个解甲归田的将军无...