The Gentleman in the Parlour: A Record of a Journey from Rangoon to Haiphong: Vol IV (Itineraria Asiatica: Burma) - Softcover

Maugham, W. Somerset

Softcover

ISBN 10: 9748299589 ISBN 13: 9789748299587

Publisher: Orchid Press Publishing Limited, 2016

Synopsis

The Gentleman in the Parlour is Maugham's tale of travel through Burma, Indochina and Siam in the 1920's, told with all of the empathy and sharp-eyed observation of human nature for which the author eventually became legendary. The idea of the journey had come on a voyage from Colombo, from a fellow passenger who had spent five years in Kengtung, and who "said he would sooner live there than anywhere else in the world." When Maugham asked him what it had offered him, he replied, "contentment." And Maugham captured, in his own inimitable style, the spirit of the people and places he chose to describe.

About this title

About the Author:

William Somerset Maugham was an English author, playwright, and doctor best known for the semi-autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage. Orphaned at a young age, Maugham was raised, unhappily, by his uncle, who urged him into a medical career despite his talent and interest in writing. Maugham gave up his career in medicine after his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, sold out its initial printing in several weeks, and next ventured into playwriting with Lady Frederick, which was such a success that by the following year Maugham had four plays running simultaneously. Maugham worked for the British Secret Service during the First World War, travelling all over the world before making his home in the south of France after Second World War and using his experiences as inspiration for new stories. Before his death in 1965, Maugham published many more successful novels including The Letter and The Razor s Edge, both of which were adapted into feature films. Maugham has been remembered as one of the most influential and successful writers of his era, and is believed to have been the highest paid author of the 1930s.

About this edition

• Publisher: Orchid Press Publishing Limited
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 9748299589
• ISBN 13: 9789748299587
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 254