Mr. Know- All by Somerset Maugham - another look at the same story is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/04/mr-know-all-by-somerset-maugham.html - 10 out of 10

 

Mr. Know- All by Somerset Maugham - another look at the same story is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/04/mr-know-all-by-somerset-maugham.html

 

10 out of 10

 

Somerset Maugham is one of two writers that I admire most, the other is Marcel Proust https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/04/le-temps-retrouve-by-marcel-proust.html who gave readers the sublime A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu, the best chef d’ oeuvre that I know of, and placed at number one by luminaries

 

Mr. Colada or Kelada – for some reason, I also attribute Ma to him – is the one who Knows All, and he is to stay in the same cabin with the narrator, on the voyage between San Francisco and Yokohama, and the story teller is not happy about it – it could be some hint of racism, maybe outright discrimination, but we shall see

Mr. Know All has drinks with him, in spite of the prohibition on board, and asks the narrator what would he like, Martini, or Whisky, and he indicates the pockets in which he has the alcoholic drinks – he says that all passengers should know, because he has ilimited resources, and he will prove rather boisterous and somewhat difficult

 

That is to begin with, for he could be the one to prove The Thin Slicing Theory, The Harding Effect wrong in this instance – they are both detailed in the psychology classic Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/05/blink-power-of-thinking-without.html by Malcolm Gladwell...

Mr. Colada says that he has looked at the tables, and he has chosen seats for both cabin mates, at the same table, which prompts the narrator to say (or write) ‘I did not like Mr. Colada’, and he says it twice, repetition meant to make readers understand the intensity of the feeling, and be surprised later, when things change

 

Let us put in a spoiler alert, to be safe and roam on alien pastures, ramble, put in the ending – after all, this is part of Far Eastern Tales https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/10/flotsam-and-jetsam-by-somerset-maugham.html - it is short, and exhilarating, but I cannot write just about the first page, or I could, but then the note has finished

Passengers are somewhat annoyed by the exuberance – let us say again that it surely had something to do with the fact that this character had a different skin color, and though he insisted that he is a British citizen, the narrator is maybe bemused, skeptic anyway, and wants to keep the distance, until he will see the truth

 

In fact, we could see this short story as anti-racist, proving how the prejudiced – I would put in here members of the cult of Orange Jesus and the like – are dead wrong, because when you have a large enough group of humans, you will get the good, the bad, the ugly, monstrous, no matter where they are from

 

At the table, one couple is important for the plot, Mrs. Ramsay is a beautiful lady, who has joined her husband, after the two had been apart for one year, and she has a string of pearls at her neck, just as Mr. Know All talks about the trade, saying that this is his expertise, he travels between Yokohama and America…

There are culture pearls now, presumably, fake ones, artificial, but he can tell the difference, always, for instance, he tells Mrs. Ramsay that she can be assured that her string will never lose value, it is one of the best he had seen, and it must be fifteen thousand dollars from a retailer, or double that in New York, in a shop…

 

Her husband is amused, arrogant, mocking, showing contempt for the all-knowing expert, and says that he is wrong, his wife had bought these pearls for thirty dollars, and the two are going to bet on it next, one hundred dollars, only Mrs. Ramsay protests, saying the spouse could not possibly gamble on a sure thing…

Oh, yes, he will, if somebody is so anxious to give him the money, and then they give Mr. Colada the artificial pearls, he looks at them, has a big smile, looks so sure of himself, we see that it is clear for him, only just as he is about to show off, he looks at Mrs. Ramsay, who is terrified, her face is anxiety and anxiety and…

 

Mr. Know All admits to being mistaken, he takes out one hundred dollars and gives it to the triumphant husband, and then all the passengers refer to the incident, tease the expert, make jokes, and the self-assured British citizen has to take all this heat, mockery, and Contempt https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/02/contempt-aka-le-mepris-by-alberto.html

However, after the dust settles, one night – maybe the same evening, but it is not as if this is terribly important – an envelope is pushed under the door, and it is addressed to Mr. Colada, who takes it, opens it, and inside there is no paper, letter, or anything, but a bill of one hundred dollars, which is the key to the secret

 

Perhaps you have guessed it – that is, if you are still here, which would be inexplicable on two counts, the spoiler alert, and then the other factors, this is not relevant, exquisite – the money came from Mrs. Ramsay, and Mr. Know All says ‘if I had a wife like that, I would not leave her alone, in New York, for one year’

Well, words to that effect, but I would say that it was also the character of the husband, it was good that he did not have the shadow of a doubt, thought that the pearls were just thirty dollars, artificial, but then, on the other hand, he was so damn wrong, for they were real, extremely expensive, and the wife had been cheating on him, if that is the word…

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.”