Book 69: Finished.

"There is only one way to win hearts and that is to make oneself like unto those of whom one would be loved," (179).

I don't know if I can write my final thoughts on a book that has so deeply moved my emotions. I shall try, but I am not making any promises that this post won't be fully of gushing fan-girldom, or mild spoilers (nothing that will ruin the book for you, but I will say a few key plot points that happen within the first 100 pages).

I left off in my first post by saying that after Walter discovered Kitty's affair, he accepted a position working in the middle of the cholera epidemic to treat the illness' victims. Kitty had been an opportunity to go and talk to her lover, Charles. If he agreed to divorce his own wife and take care of her, Walter would let her go. If not, Kitty had to leave with Walter and go into the heart of the epidemic.

It isn't a surprise to the reader when Charles outright rejects her. What more would you really expect from a man who is already married and holds a high government position? I think I would have been shocked had he said, "Yes, Kitty, I will divorce my wife and marry you." I think we all know that if you are silly and stupid enough to have an affair with a married man, he will never leave his wife for you. Why would he? So I knew that Kitty would be traveling with her husband, who now seems to despise her, into the heart of the epidemic.

And you can imagine how much it hurts when, once there, they Fanes befriend another man in town, who knows Charles and his adultrous ways. And while I certainly didn't live Kitty and her unfaithfulness to Walter, it stung me when their new friend Waddington and Kitty have the following conversation about Charles:

"'She doesn't take his flirtations very seriously?'

'Oh, no, she knows they don't go very far. She says she'd like to be able to make friends of the poor little things who fall to Charlie; but they're always so common. She says it's really not very flattering to her that the women who fall in love with her husband are so uncommonly second-rate,'" (101-102).

Ouch, right? To think that this man loved you and would care for you, but to hear an opinion about yourself like that? Ouch.

At first I didn't feel sorry for Kitty. She brought this pain on herself and her husband. By having an affair and being unfaithful, didn't she deserve some kind of pain? But as the novel progresses, and the realities of the epidemic hit Kitty, she begins to grow up. Probably for the first time in her life, she begins to realize that she did wrong. She begins to see that Walter is a good man, too good for her.

"Waddington too thought highly of Walter. She alone had been blind to his merit. Why? Because he loved her and she did not love him. What was it in the human heart that made you despise a man because he loved you?" (125).

Kitty continues to change. Alone, with no one but Walter, she turns to a local convent to find peace in work. She tries to help those around her, and in turn, begins to change herself. The reader can see her struggles to understand what she did, the pain she caused herself and Walter, and we begin to hope for the ending we want. We want peace and happiness for both of them, don't we? We want Kitty to see that she had a great and glorious man in front of her the entire time, and that he is entirely deserving of her love.

"'You know, my dear child, that one cannot find peace in work or in pleasure, in the world or in a convent, but only in one's soul,'" (138).

I don't want to give away what happens, or the transformation that takes place in Kitty. But I was deeply moved by what happens, and in the manner of Maugham's writing. It is beautiful. If you want to read something that will truly move you down to your core, look no further than this.

"'Remember that it is nothing to do your duty, that is demanded of you and is no more meritorious than to wash your hands when they are dirty; the only thing that counts is the love of duty; when love and duty are one, then grace is in you and you will enjoy a happiness which passes all understanding,'" (206).

Book 69: First Impressions.

I forced myself to stop reading this novel long enough to write about my first impressions. If I hadn't stopped, I knew I would forget to mention how wonderful this novel is at a first glance.

I already know that I am in love with Maugham's writing. I cannot even begin to explain how beautiful it is. Every word, every sentence creates such glorious imagery and emotion that I want to cherish every page I turn. It is simply wonderful.

Before even beginning the novel, I made sure to read the preface. There I found this little passage I want to share with you,

"I think this is the only novel I have written in which I started from a story rather than from a character. It is difficult to explain the relation between character and plot. You cannot very well think of a character in the void; the moment you think of him, you think of him in some situation, doing something; so that the character and at least his principal action seem to be the result of a simultaneous act of the imagination. But in this case the characters were chosen to fit the story I gradually evolved; they were constructed from persons I had long known in different circumstances," (5-6).

Since I write a little on my own, I love to see how these authors craft their stories. I think that is one questions that all writers are asked: Where do you get your ideas? And I don't think there ever is a full answer to that question. Sometimes stories just happen, other times they are forced, and there are more times when a person pops into your head and says, tell my story.

But I think that in this case, it means a lot that the story came first, because this is a powerful kind of story, and one that is so incredibly moving. It opens on a scene with Kitty Fane and her lover, hiding in a room as the doorknob is twisted and turned in attempts to open it. When the moment passes, Kitty is certain that it was her husband checking on her. Her lover thinks she is overreacting and soon leaves.

The problems and history begin there. When Kitty was a little younger, she always had men around her, courting and loving her. She was never in a hurry to marry, but when her younger sister fell in love and landed quite a catch, Kitty felt the urge to marry as well (and before her sister). That is when she settles for Walter Fane, a man who is very much in love with her, but not a perfect match. Where Kitty is flighty and social, Walter is much more serious and intellectual.

They move away to Hong Kong for Walter's work, and that is when the affair starts. So determined not to see any of the good in Walter, Kitty find little faults that bother her. She dwells on them and soon falls for Charles Townsend, a higher up in the colonial government.

It is the fact of Kitty's swelling on Walter's inevitable faults that has really impacted me. My mother always told me growing up when I was dating, and as things got serious with Matt, that you cannot change a person to be who you want them to be. Their little faults and habits will always be there. You must learn to accept them or move on. This passage (long) really captures that. Here Walter is confronting Kitty,

"'I had no illusions about you,' he said. 'I knew you were silly and frivolous and empty-headed. But I loved you. I knew that your aims and ideals were vulgar and commonplace. But I loved you. I knew that you were second-rate. But I loved you. It's comic when I think how hard I tried to be amused by the things that amused you and how anxious I was to hide from you that I wasn't ignorant and vulgar and scandal-mongering and stupid. I knew how frightened you were of intelligence and I did everything I could to make you think me as big a fool as the rest of the men you know. I knew that you'd only married me for convenience. I love you so much, I didn't care. Most people, as far as I can see, when they're in love with someone and the love isn't returned feel that they have a grievance. They grow angry and bitter. I wasn't like that. I never expected you to love me, I didn't see any reason that you should, I never thought myself very lovable. I was thankful to be allowed to love you and I was enraptured when not and then I thought you were pleased with me or when I noticed in your eyes a gleam of good-humored affection. I tried not to bore you with my love; I knew I couldn't afford to of that and I was always on the lookout for the first sign that you were impatient with my affection. What most husbands expect as a right I was prepared to receive as a favor," (66).

This passage just got me when I was reading and I had to stop and breathe before moving on. I don't know how Walter could be with a woman who clearly doesn't love him, but still love her as much as he does. I could never be in a relationship like that, and I am so glad that my own marriage is filled with a lot of love and communication. But you have to respect Walter for trying as hard as he can to accept Kitty, with her faults, and sacrificing pieces of himself to make it work.

Because isn't that what you do for someone you love? You sacrifice things for their happiness to make it come first? I think so. And Walter knows that. But Kitty is so young and selfish that she doesn't know that.

So when a few pages later her own heart is broken by the equally selfish Charles Townsend, I don't feel for her. I don't even feel for her when Walter packs her things and takes her into the heart of the cholera epidemic in China. Perhaps now she will realize that you cannot be selfish in a relationship or is doomed from the beginning. Of course I don't know what will happen, but I have an idea.

And with that, I need to go finish.

Book 69: The Painted Veil and Book Stats.

Title: The Painted Veil

Author: W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

First Published: 1925

My Edition: Vintage International (Seen at left)

Pages: 246

Other Works Include: The Magician (1908), Of Human Bondage (1915), The Razor's Edge (1944)

I had to replace one of the titles on my book list, since I had a repeat. James Joyce's "The Dead" is a short story found in The Dubliners, so there was no reason to have it on my list twice. Since I had nothing by Maugham on my list, I asked Amanda at The Zen Leaf for her recommendation on which Maugham title to add. I had never read anything by him before and since she has reviewed quite a few of his titles, I figured she would know where to begin.

She suggested The Painted Veil as a great place to start instead of the more well-known Of Human Bondage, so on to the list it went! When I went to go get a copy, I read the "blurb" and knew I needed to read it right away. There is something about this novel that is calling to me. I love the main character's name, Kitty Fane, and the setting in Hong Kong. I am expecting great things from a book that is "...a beautifully written affirmation of the human capacity to grow, to change, and to forgive."

Have you read anything by Maugham? What did you think?