The Moon & Sixpence
W. Somerset Maugham
156 pages, Paperback
ISBN: 1570020167
ISBN13:
Language: English
Publish: 909907200000
20th CenturyArtBritish LiteratureClassicsFictionFranceHistorical FictionLiterary FictionLiteratureNovels
Based on the life of Paul Gauguin, The Moon and Sixpence is W. Somerset Maugham’s ode to the powerful forces behind creative genius.
Charles Strickland is a staid banker, a man of wealth and privilege. He is also a man possessed of an unquenchable desire to create art. As Strickland pursues his artistic vision, he leaves London for Paris and Tahiti, and in his quest makes sacrifices that leaves the lives of those closest to him in tatters. Through Maugham’s sympathetic eye Strickland’s tortured and cruel soul becomes a symbol of the blessing and the curse of transcendent artistic genius, and the cost in humans lives it sometimes demands.