I recently read the novel The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham. It had been on my radar for many years, ever since my brother read it for a university art class. Last year I read another novel by the same author, The Painted Veil, and loved it - so I figured I'd give this one a try.

Yes, it is good, but not quite as good as The Painted Veil. W.S. Maugham is a great author, and I very much like his writing style, but this story was just a bit too depressing for my tastes. I had thought it was about the life of the French artist Paul Gauguin, but that is not the case. Rather it is about the fictional artist Charles Strickland, and the story is just based on Gauguin's life. Unfortunately that means the main character is quite a jerk in the novel, and that didn't appeal to me very much. Yeah, call me a softie, but I prefer books and stories and movies that are uplifting rather than depressing. (It did remind me of a card game I bought a few years ago: Artistes Misérables - a hilarious game where the goal is to die as the most sick, broke and miserable artist!)

The point of the story, if there is one, seems to be that in order to be great at something you need to sacrifice everything. Maybe that's true, because it sure seems like a lot of really successful people have nothing else going for them, but if so I refuse to buy into that mentality. I mean, I'm already getting old so I am not about to sacrifice everything just to be super awesome at one thing, but also because I just have to believe that in some cases talent, kindness and love can win out and make somebody great too. I can hope can't I?

If you want to give this book a try, you can find an excellent free version at Standard eBooks.