Product Description
Maugham found a parallel to the turmoil of our own times in the duplicity, intrigue and sensuality of the Italian Renaissance. Then and Now enters the world of Machiavelli, and covers three important months in the career of that crafty politician, worldly seducer and high priest of schemers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Now and then
Now and then I try out an author I haven't read in the past. And this was my first foray into W. Somerset Maugham.

I have to say this thin, well-written novel was a pleasant surprise, even if I am only giving it 3 stars. The story centers on Machiavelli, noted infamous historical figure, and a diplomatic journey to enter into a discourse with Caesar Borgia.

His companion for his journey is young Piero, a (seemingly) innocent admirer of Machiavelli along to learn and observe. Machiavelli is lulled into a sense of comraderie with his young companion, who flatters him along the way.

But Machiavelli bargains for more than he gains when he falls in love with a married woman on his mission, and enlists Piero's aid in realizing his overwhelming passion for this girl.

My only criticisms for the book are that with two such different plot-lines, it's difficult to determine why Maugham took such an apparent departure from his normal genre to write it.The development of Caesar Borgia is lacking, also, even if what is written is historically accurate...to have such a powerful character in your novel, it seems a waste not to develop them further.

Historical novel that works
This historical novel seems a digression from Maugham's normal run of work. As such, it effectively recreates a trip taken my Niccolo Machievelli, representing his native city of Florence, and a young aide, to negotiate with Cesare Borgia. Machievelli and Borgia's characers are realistically portrayed, along with the constant intrigue, deception and treachery as practiced among the powerful, and others, in the Italy of the city states. A sub-plot involving Machievelli's hoped-for seduction of his host's attractive young wife is also believable: he sees the affair as an extension of politics, and the reader is given a view of the views suffered by women of that bygone era. In sum, this book is definitely readable, and recommendable.

Historical Novel
Maugham writes a historical fiction story set in the early 1500's in Italy.He uses Renaissance-era politician / writer Machiavelli as his main character.Machiavelli is sent from Florence as an ambassador to a warlikeDuke.While working there he is in the middle of danger as theariousstates of Italy war with each other.

However, aside from his dispensinghis political wisdom, Machiavelli falls in love with the Duke's highestman's wife.Maugham has painted Machiavelli as a man loyal to Florence butwho is not immune to the pleasures of the flesh.Machiavelli usessuberterfuge and cunning to attempt to win the woman into bed.However,things don't work out exactly as he had hoped and his situation winds up tobe a comedy.

This is a colorful book and certainly different from manyI've read.I wasn't familiar with Italian Renaissance history (other thana cursory knowledge) and it hindered me.At times it was a bit hard tofollow.Machiavelli does have some words of wisdom, probably coming fromhis "The Prince" book that is still read today.He struck me asa licentious Confuscious.Maugham has strong writing skills however Ithink the background and political confusion turned me off.Maugham titlecomes from the fact that corruption, affairs, and such occurred back thenas they do today. ... Read more

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The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham

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Five complete and Unabridged novels including, Liza of Lambeth; Mrs Craddock; The Explorer; Of Human Bondage; and the Moon and Sixpence. ... Read more

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The third volume of Somerset Maugham's Collected Short Stories, introduced by the author, contains the celebrated series about Ashenden, a secret service agent in World War I. Based on Maugham's own experiences with the British Intelligence service in Switzerland, the stories are vignettes in which he dramatises both the romance and absurdity of espionage as well as its ruthlessness and brutality. Accountable only to 'R', Ashenden travels all over the Continent on assignments which entangle him with such characters as the traitor Grantley Caypor, the passionate Guilia Lazzari, and the sinister 'hairless Mexican'. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A look into another world in another time
Yet the writing is so full that we can feel part of this other world.

I came to this story by the back door. My first introduction to Somerset Maugham was through the movie "The Razor's Edge" (1946) staring Tyrone Power as Larry Darrell. I have no idea as to how much it was adapted from the book. Then in 1984 we watched Bill Murray as Larry Darrell. This film lost what magic the 1946 film had. So it was time to read the book. Yes I know very few films can do more than present the essence of a book. Turns out that even the older film wrote Summerset out of some of the scenes.

Larry is back from the war (WWI). As with many of us he is left with nagging questions about why one person lives and another must die. This problem leads Larry to search for the answers. He turns down opportunities and takes up a lifestyle to help him find answers.This story is told or narrated by Somerset Maugham himself. In the book Somerset takes more of an active part in the story. Larry came as close as any of us to the answer, he seeks and we leave him much the same way one enters and leaves your life.

The Razor's Edge
Razor's Edge [VHS]

The Razor's Edge - Somerst Maughm
One of the finest books I have ever read. I masterpiece. I pure joy to read. ... Read more

Product Description
Arthur Burdon and Dr Porhoët walked in silence. They had lunched at a restaurant in the Boulevard Saint Michel, and were sauntering now in the gardens of the Luxembourg. Dr Porhoët walked with stooping shoulders, his hands behind him. He beheld the scene with the eyes of the many painters who have sought by means of the most charming garden in Paris to express their sense of beauty. ... Read more

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9 stories in black and silver hardcover. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Complete Short Stories of W. Somerset Maugham
One of my favorite authors - - I have read and continue re-reading them and never get tired of them.What a masterful insight into human nature! ... Read more

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Fact is a poor story-teller as Maugham reminds us. Fact starts a story at random, rambles on inconsequently and tails off , leaving loose ends, without a conclusion. It works up to an interesting situation, has no sense of climax and whittles away its dramatic effects in irrelevance. While some novelists believe this is a proper model for fiction, Maugham believes that fiction should not seek to copy life, but instead choose from life what is curious, telling, and dramatic, but keep to it closely enough not to shock the reader into disbelief. In short, fiction should excite, interest, and absorb the reader.

Ashenden: The British Agent is founded on Maugham's experiences in the English Intelligence Department during World War I, but rearranged for the purposes of fiction. This fascinating book contains the most expert stories of espionage ever written. For a period of time after it was first published the book became official required reading for persons entering the secret service.

The plot follows the imaginary John Ashenden who during World War I is a spy for British Intelligence. He is sent first to Geneva and later to Russia. Instead of one story from start to finish, the chapters contain individual stories involving many different characters. All of the people whom Ashenden meet during his travels have their own reason for being involved in the spy game, and each are more complex than they first look.

W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) wrote over 100 short stories in a long, multifaceted, successful and controversial career. His work has remained widely anthologied, and is, by any measure of commerce or canon, successful. Within Maugham’s large output, the stories published in Ashenden: The British Agent are of particular interest. They are seen as important in the development of the genre of espionage fiction, influencing writers such as Eric Ambler, John le Carré, and Len Deighton. The protagonist breaks with the tradition of the gentleman crime sleuth in order to cope with modern crimes no less than ungentlemanly criminals.

Customer Reviews (7)

VERY LOOSELY ORGANIZED, ALMOST NEVER SUSPENSEFUL, AND SUFFERS FROM A MAJOR QUALITY-CONTROL PROBLEM
In my hardback copy of ASHENDEN (1927), Maugham's "Preface" (1941) provides autobiographical background and discusses how life and art differ in his fiction, with some snide remarks about other modern novelists; his comments on plot seem to be largely derived from Aristotle's Poetics. (Ironically, THIS book does not have any sort of A-to-Z plot that holds it together.) All in all, ASHENDEN is very loosely organized, almost never suspenseful, and suffers from a major quality-control problem: although a few passages are really excellent, many parts are very long-winded and seem out of place in an espionage book; many others (including several whole chapters) seem like padding.

SPOILER ALERT: TO DEMONSTRATE THIS POINT, I'M WRITING A SUMMARY OF THE BOOK:

Chapter 1 ("R."): Ashenden, a writer, meets the head of the British Secret Service and is recruited. Chapter 2 ("A Domiciliary Visit"): Returning from a mission to his hotel in Geneva, Ashenden finds Swiss police in his room; he easily thwarts them but wonders who has informed against him; similar to his "Preface," fiction and life and beginnings, middles, and ends are mentioned, with sniping at some writers of modern fiction. Chapter 3 ("Miss King"): Ashenden is called at 3 a.m. to the bedside of Miss King, the dying English governess of two Egyptian princesses, but she has had a stroke, and he is unable to get any message from her before she dies; if it is read alone, this chapter amounts to an Unsolvable Puzzle. Within the total book, either this episode must become relevant later, or Maugham is doing exactly what he has criticized other writers of doing. (Rather than give my own answer, I will let other readers of ASHENDEN think about this and decide which it is).

Chapters 4, 5, and 6 form a unit. Chapter 4 ("The Hairless Mexican"): R. sends Ashenden to Italy on a new mission with General Carmona (aka the Hairless Mexican, a flamboyant and peculiar spy who is the type that Ian Fleming and others would later imitate in their works); their mission is to get papers that a Greek is going to pass along to the Germans. Chapter 5 ("The Dark Woman"): During their journey to Italy, the Hairless Mexican tells Ashenden about a woman he deeply loved but whose throat he cut, believing her to be a spy working for the Mexican government; then they discuss the conventions of Detective Fiction. Chapter 6 ("The Greek"): The Hairless Mexican murders the only Greek on the ship, and he and Ashenden search for the papers but find none; Ashenden finds a telegram waiting for him, and they go out to eat (Maugham has a good scene in which the Hairless Mexican dances with women, Zorba-like); Ashenden decodes his telegram at the railroad station and learns, ironically, that the Greek spy was delayed by illness and that the wrong Greek has been killed; thus far, this is the best chapter.

Chapters 7 and 8 form a unit. Chapter 7 ("A Trip to Paris"): Ashenden gets a new mission: take the lover of an Indian freedom fighter to the border of Switzerland as bait to kill this man; Ashenden admires the opponent greatly, but R. calls the man a "greasy little [N-word]"; Ashenden surmises that R. reads "shilling shocker" detective fiction, speculates on R.'s apparent discomfort in high-class settings, and notes that some woman has given R. some roses for his office. Chapter 8 ("Guilia Lazzari"): After several exchanges of letters with Guilia Lazzari, the Indian freedom fighter falls into the trap but commits suicide with poison; Guilia Lazzari asks for her dead lover's watch, a gift which had cost her 12 pounds; this is a very good chapter.

Chapters 9 and 10 form a loose unit. Chapter 9 ("Gustav"): Gustav is a Swiss businessman who was writing model reports for the British--only they were totally worthless, since he never left home to get information; Ashenden gives him a small assignment: get information about a Brit living in Switzerland who is working for the Germans. Chapter 10 ("The Traitor"): Ashenden, claiming to be an ill member of the Censorship Department, makes the acquaintance of the Brit who is a traitor (and his German wife and ugly little dog); the German spymaster falls for the bait and sends the traitor back to England to work in that department; instead, the traitor is executed (I wondered why, instead, he was not given false information to feed to the German spymaster); this is a long and well-written chapter, showing some of the complexity of a few people and closing with a sad scene of the traitor's wife realizing that her husband is dead, when the man's dog howls as she leaves the post office with no letter from him.

Chapters 11, 12, and 13 form a loose unit. Chapter 11 ("Behind the Scenes"): Ashenden is sent to a country herein called "X" to stay in touch with people who might start a revolution; while there he learns that the American ambassador is miffed that the British ambassador has not sat down with him over a drink to discuss matters; Ashenden passes this tip to the British ambassador, who is grateful and asks Ashenden to come dine with him; this is a very short chapter; in what seems a subordinate manner, a Galician Pole who helps Ashenden is mentioned (this man will be a central figure in chapt. 13). Chapter 12 ("His Excellency"): In a long chapter, the British ambassador tells Ashenden about his love affair with a coarse, ignorant female acrobat (whom he sometimes beat up) before his marriage, and his life-long regret that he broke it off and married a woman he did not love; some of these details are as vivid as those of Philip's infatuation with Mildred in Maugham's novel OF HUMAN BONDAGE, but what place does this tangential material have in a book about espionage during WW I? Chapter 13 ("The Flip of a Coin"): Ashenden, walking to meet the Galician Pole mentioned in chapter 11 about a mission to blow up a German munitions factory and its many Polish civilian workers, looks up at the "frosty stars"; when he meets the man, he cannot think clearly enough to make a decision and, after pondering the cosmic futility of men's lives--his own and the British ambassador's included--he abdicates responsibility and tosses a coin to "decide" whether the mission goes ahead or not; we are not told which way the coin landed: in one sense, an Unsolvable Puzzle is created by this chapter's ending; however, this chapter probably is an instance of "Didactic Fiction" about the nature and purpose of "Life."

Chapters 14, 15, and 16 form a final loose unit. Chapter 14 ("A Chance Acquaintance"): Ashenden, on a new mission in Russia, travels with an American businessman who talks constantly during their 11-day train ride across Russia; this seems to have little direct connection with the plot pertaining to espionage. Chapter 15 ("Love and Russian Literature"): The narrator makes self-conconscious reference to "these stories" and the characterization thus far of Ashenden, indicating that Ashenden has a "tender" side that has not yet been represented; Ashenden's brief love affair with a married Russian woman (5 years before the Russian Revolution) is recounted in a silly satiric manner; they went to Paris to test whether they would be compatible, and she, who ate scrambled eggs every morning, told him yes, but he, who detested those eggs, escaped to New York instead; the structural point of this long digression is solely to introduce this woman. Chapter 16 ("Mr. Harrington's Washing"): Ashenden's mission fails when the Bolsheviks take control; the talkative American, Mr. Harrington, insists on getting his washing before leaving the city and is found lying dead on a street by the Russian woman and Ashenden, still clutching his laundry; this ending seems to be an attempt to create a feeling of pathos in readers, but for me it does not succeed.

As I remarked above, this book is very loosely organized, almost never suspenseful, and suffers from a major quality-control problem: although a few passages are really excellent, many parts are very long-winded and seem out of place in an espionage book; many others (including several whole chapters) seem like padding. However, Maugham DOES have a good vocabulary, and most readers would do well to keep a large dictionary nearby.

The Adventures of a Secret Agent
This book is based on Somerset Maugham's experiences as a British secret agent during the Great War. The facts were changed to make interesting fiction. The `Preface' does not tell that the British government tried to ban this book. It was adapted for a stage play, then was filmed in the 1930s by Alfred Hitchcock. The book is much better than the movie, but the movie ("The Secret Agent") is worth viewing. The stories seem real enough to originate from true events. You can also catch hints as to Maugham's character in these stories. The first chapter tells how Ashenden ("black chamber"?) was recruited as an agent.

Ashenden's first job seems to be as a Paymaster, giving funds to agents for their work. [This separates divides up the work so no one sees the big picture and can tell little.] Then he takes part in an operation to capture an Indian who sought independence for his country. ["A spy who falls in love is worthless" from the 1932 film `Mata Hari'.] Ashenden investigated the agent "Gustav" in Basle who provided reports of exceptional quality. Then Ashenden visited Lucerne on another mission; he helped an Englishman return to England. Days later his dog began to howl. Ashenden hears a long story about passion and vanity from "His Excellency". "The Flip of a Coin" tells how a secret service will not approve of certain undercover actions.

Ashenden was sent across the Atlantic to New York, across the country to San Francisco, then across the Pacific to Yokohama. Another boat sailed to Vladivostok, then a long train ride to Petrograd. His companion was John Quincy Harrington, a unique character. In "Love and Russian Literature" Ashenden learned about a person at breakfast. The last chapter tells something about life and death in 1917 Petrograd. Then the book just ends, as if some chapters were censored.

How did Colonel "R." recruit Ashenden, who was familiar with Europe? He probably suggested the alternative was to be drafted into the army and sent to the front. This book does not have the fictional action of a book by Ian Fleming, who had a similar background as a traveling newspaper reporter. "Things are not always what they seem."

bought this at a vintage bookstore on recommendation of store owner
Very wonderful writing and not that I know anything about the reality but it does seem realistic.

A Master of Characterization
"Ashenden" by Somerset Maugham is one of the grandfathers of the spy fiction genre. In reality, it's not really a novel, but eight short stories featuring Ashenden, a novelist-secret agent during WWI. Each story is unique, some focusing on the violence and duplicity of the secret world (e.g., "The Hairless Mexican," "Guilia Lazzari," and "The Traitor"). Others are less about espionage than quiet character studies (for example, the final story, "The Sanatorium," has nothing whatever to do with spying, but is set in a tuberculosis sanatorium and--though a it's a bit sentimental--is a brilliant character study of the patients and, in particular, of those who find love in the midst of adversity). I found it deeply touching.

I must admit this the first I've read of Maugham and was impressed with his ability in a single paragraph to get to the very essence of a character (perhaps the best example being his vivid characterization of the funny, but tragic Mr. Harrington in "Mr. Harrington's Washing"). Each of Maugham's characters are distinct and finely drawn.

Maugham at one time analyzed himself as in the first rank of the second rate writers. He may not be Dostoevsky or Cervantes, but he was a fine writer who deserves to be read-I think it's more accurate to say he's in the second row of the first rate writers.

I only found out about "Ashenden" from one of the terrific essays of Michael Dirda (the reviewer for the Washington Post) in which he constantly brings to light lost classics.

"Ashenden" is readable, convincing, and (despite its WWI setting) relevant to the events of today. The secret and desperate world of war and espionage will be with us forever it seems; Maugham's themes are timeless and his writing is a model of clarity.

This is a lost classic that should be read.

ATMOSPHERIC
Ashenden was particularly admired by Raymond Chandler, and that is what first interested me in it. It is the story, based on Maugham's own experience, of a British spy in the first world war. The 'story' is more a series of separate episodes, and I can easily imagine why it appealed to Chandler -- as well as the laconic detachment of the writing, there is almost a feel of Hammett here and there, notably the episode of the Hairless Mexican. Much of the action centres round Geneva, a city I personally like, and there is a peculiar fascination in the voyage of the lake-steamer going in and out of the war-zone as it alternates between Switzerland and France. This kind of spy did not have much in common with the heroes of Len Deighton or John Le Carre -- the job reminds me more of how J K Galbraith described the life of an ambassador, ninety percent boredom and ten percent panic, like being an airline pilot. It has its grim side too as you would expect. One of the most memorable pieces is the story of the traitor Grantley Caypor. Some years ago Ashenden was serialised on the BBC, with Caypor superbly played by Alan Bennett. What that production did not even try to reproduce was what happened at the moment of Caypor's execution, unforgettable in Maugham's cold prose. ... Read more

Product Description
1926. Maugham, English novelist, short-story writer, and playwright is best remembered for his novel Of Human Bondage. The Casuarina Tree contains six stories by Maugham including: Before the Party; P. and O.; The Outstation; The Force of Circumstance; The Yellow Streak; and The Letter. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing. ... Read more

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Literature. A nice vintage copy. Number # 50533. Original price 50 cents. The famous novel about a woman who violated God's Seventh Commandment: "Thou shalt not commit Adultery." ... Read more

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Two volume set of The Complete Short Stories of W. Somerset Maugham including: Volume 1; East and West, 955 pages, 30 stories. Volume 2; The World Over, 681 pages, 61 stories. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Short Perfection
The art of the short story is in decline these days.Maugham had the medium in the palm of his hand.Even if the subject matter of the stories in question isn't your particular cup of tea, he manages to pull you in with his incredible character development.You could read any one of his shorts in about a half an hour, which makes them ideal when you want to "kill some time".Years ago, a friend lent me his copy, which I never finished before I felt guilted into returning to him, but it spurred me to locate my own copy.Once you have experienced the first few of Maughams masterpieces, you will be addicted.Just a warning. ... Read more

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Four short stories by Maugham and the screenplays that they became as they appeared in the British film Quartet. A Nice was of doing things. The white dustjacket has some mild foxing and a few tiny tears. Vg+/vg. ... Read more