William Somerset Maugham

done by Golubeva J. Kossolukina L.

William Somerset Maugham

25.01.1874 - 16.12.1965 To write simply is as difficult as to be good.

William Somerset Maugham is known as a short-story writer, having a deep psychological insight into the human nature. His methods of character-depicting, both direct and indirect, create vivid personages, seeming true to life. Usage of different stylistic devices and expressive means proves Maugham’s being expert in his field.

PLAIN PROSE STYLE

There are three rules for writing a

novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what

they are.

The writer’s style is said to be ‘hackneyed’ in the sense that it is full of colloquialisms and time-worn clichés. In The Razor’s Edge, for instance, the reader comes across phrases such as ‘sardonic grins’, ‘sinking hearts’ and ‘disparaging glances’ which sound insipid and drab. Besides, Maugham’s narration is said to lack in metaphors and similes and sounds, at times, banal and platitudinous. Often the reader feels he is listening to him rather than reading him. In short, one gets the impression that Maugham “was either writing down to the reader or could do no better” (Morgan, p. 343).

Examples of stylistic devices“The Moon and Sixpence”

A good rule for writers: Do not explain overmuch.

Metaphor“When a man falls into the water it doesn’t matter how he swims, well or badly: he’s got to get out or else he’ll drown.” |Strickland|

“It’s the policeman in our hearts, set there to watch that we do not break its laws. It’s the spy seated in the central stronghold of the ego.” |narrator|

Some typical examples of Maugham’s

Grey clouds chased one another across the sky.” |narrator|

“His life was strangely divorced from material things, and it was as though his body at times wreaked a fearful revenge on his spirit.” |about Strickland|

“You have no more spirit than a mongrel cur. You lie down on the ground and ask people to trample on you.” |Strickland about Stroeve|

Simile“he is as helpless as a fly in a spider’s web. It’s as though someone had cast a spell over him.”

“… he came back, fawning like a clumsy dog, though he knew that his only greeting would be the blow he dreaded.” |narrator about Stroeve|

“he was like some wild creature of the woods, resting after a long chase…” |about Strickland|

“to blame him for not feeling them as for blaming the tiger because he is fierce and cruel.” |about Strickland|

Anaphora“He bombarded me with questions. He sat me down in a chair... He could not leave me alone. He was heart- broken, because he had no whisky...” |narrator about Stroeve|“It made his great nose protrude more arrogantly; it emphasized his cheek- bones; it made his eyes seem larger.” |about Strickland|

Another critic’s opinion.

Graham Greene once called him “a writer of great dedication” and Victor Sawdon Pritchett termed him “the most readable and accomplished short story writer of the serious kind alive.” He was content to write in a way that matched his limited purposes as a story teller and his style came in handy to churn out volume after volume of prolific narration. His style may not be inspiring or even impressive, but it is full of warmth, simplicity and sincerity that appeal to the reader, especially the non-native reader of English fiction.

Maugham himself had no illusions about his style. He admits that his style is “flat, plain and pedestrian.” He says: “I knew that I had no lyrical quality. I had a small vocabulary and no efforts that I could make to enlarge it much availed me. I had little gift of metaphor; the original and striking simile seldom occurred to me. Poetic flights and the great imaginative sweep were beyond my power.” Elsewhere he says as though apologizing for his plain writing: “We do not write as we want, but as we can.”