Footprints In The Jungle by Somerset Maugham – author of many wonderful short stories https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/04/mr-know-all-by-somerset-maugham.html and acclaimed novels, one of my favorite writers - 10 out of 10
Footprints In The Jungle by Somerset Maugham – author of
many wonderful short stories https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/04/mr-know-all-by-somerset-maugham.html
and acclaimed novels, one of my favorite writers
10 out of 10
Somerset Maugham has been my absolute favorite writer,
alongside Marcel Proust, and his soties and novels have brought joy and solace
starting some forty years ago, even when I was in hospital for an ulcer, but
also because I have had some scheme regarding my studies, during the rule of
Ceausescu, someone like Putin
This story takes place in Malaya, as it was called then,
which probably encompasses Malaysia today, and maybe Singapore, I think I have
read that the two have been part of the same colony, and then they separated,
with their independence, the latter is much more prosperous, however outré and
small, dwarfed by the much bigger Malaya
We are taken along by a policeman, who joins the narrator
and a couple for game a bridge, the other two are Mrs. Olive Cartright and her
husband, Theo, she is very astute, gifted, in control, and she wants to make a
pair with her spouse, saying ‘it is no fun to win money from each other’, she
has an indefinite age, and is very interesting
Somerset Maugham has some very original propositions here
‘it not what the man does, but what he is that matters’, or maybe we should say
the policeman in the narrative, who may not share the same perspective with the
narrator, albeit we do have a very strong opinion on that, from another fantastic
book
In According to Mark https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/02/according-to-mark-by-penelope-lively.html
by fabulous Penelope Lively, we read that the writer is something of a God, he
has the absolute power over the plot, the personages, what is happening to them
‘perhaps novelists are the only people telling the truth’
Cartright seems to be living in the shadow of his wife, and
indeed, as we get along with the tale, we see that the first impression is not wrong,
and when I say that, I think of the psychology classic Blink the Power of
Thinking Without Thinking https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/blink-power-of-thinking-without.html
There is the Herding Effect, also the Thin Slicing Theory
and Malcolm Gladwell has written an impressive work, and he also has the
equally astounding Outliers, where we find about the ten thousand hours of
practice, over ten years, which means three hours every day, will get you to
the very top, if other ingredients are there
The Cartrights have a daughter, Olive, and they are
considered an asset to the community, even if some do not agree with too much
talking at cards, and the woman is chatting, the policeman then tells the narrator
about the past, how Mrs. Cartright had been married to a man named Reggie
Bronson, the best looking in the region
Theo Cartright had had some very bad luck, and was left
without means, so he had to appeal to other men, for a job and support, alas,
he did not find anything, and eventually, he also asked Reggie Bronson, and the
latter was so generous as to say ‘come to our place, you live here’, words to
that effect, and then even gave him an allowance – they had been friends, and
then many were left in the cold, even in that tropical climate
Spoiler alert, they would even say at some point…but let us
get there later – Reggie Bronson was a sweaty man, with the mind of a school
boy, he is going with money at one point, through the jungle – hence Footprints
in The Jungle – and then he gets killed, and this becomes a sort of
psychological, mystery novel
They come to the club, where Olive is with Theo Cartright,
and then they see that Reggie Bronson is missing, and later, the policeman
arrives with the news ‘your husband has been wounded’ and at this news, she is
aghast – I cannot help it, it is because she was told the man was wounded that
she is so scared
When she finds he is in fact dead, she starts crying, but
because she is relieved that there is no danger there, the spouse of the doctor
tells her to be careful, and not tire herself too much, she is pregnant, but it
is not the child of the husband, it could not be, spoiler alert number two – he
would know that the infant was not his
‘He had been so kind to them, they could not tell him, so
they killed him’, that is what will come to light, but for a long time, the
murder is a puzzle, Reggie Bronson is found dead, in the jungle, half his head
is shot off, the money, watch are missing, and so it is presumed that he was
the victim of a robbery, the killers escaped
Only some time later, at a pawn shop, a Chinese man comes
with a watch, that is identified and ergo, they think they have their murderer,
and take him for interrogation, which leads to the truth, the poor fellow had
been walking in the jungle, and so the watch in the foliage, and so they get
back there for further investigation
They do find the money, and the pieces are placed together,
since this was not the motive, it must have been something else, it was a
‘crime of passion, or, as already stated, the lovers could not face Reggie
Johnson, with his magnanimity towards them, and tell him that this child will
be born, thus revealing the affair and philandering
They had to kill in other words, which sounds so absurd, and
somewhat amusing, in a funereal way, I mean, the man was better off dead, then
alive and a cuckold, really, that was your logic…and then these are such nice
people, playing bridge and all that, with the conclusion ‘it is not what they
do, but what they are…
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and
invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a
million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world
– as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the
Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have
the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it,
other than the exercise per se
There is also the
small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its
Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant
sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a
lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse,
all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the
staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a
longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have
an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a
smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as
you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has
fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people
are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions
are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas,
climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike
reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even
getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human
greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny,
so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest
pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are
greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's
nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good
book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in
peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
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