The Three Fat Women of Antibes by Somerset Maugham – another look at this tale is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-three-fat-women-of-antibes-by.html these are my favorite stories - 10 out of 10

 

The Three Fat Women of Antibes by Somerset Maugham – another look at this tale is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-three-fat-women-of-antibes-by.html these are my favorite stories

 

10 out of 10

 

I have just finished reading Far Eastern Tales https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/04/neil-macadam-by-somerset-maugham-author.html and I am moving along to other magnum opera, from the same flamboyant, fantastic writer, continuing with short stories, embracing them for a second time, and then maybe some of the novels

 

Neil Macadam was one of the astounding narratives, wherein we have this young man, a replica of The Idiot https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-idiot-by-fyodor-dostoevsky-one-of.html by the phenomenal Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Prince Mishkin visiting the Far East, where he meets this Russian woman

Darya is married to Angus Munro, the museum custodian where Neil aka Mishkin will work, but the Russian falls in love with the handsome Scot – at least this is what she says, it may be boredom, infatuation, sexual arousal, a good number of things – and things get complicated, because the hero is a virgin

 

Innocence, purity has to fight with lust, passion and exuberance, and when the Prince rejects the advances of the luscious Russian, she frightens him, she would use blackmail and tell her husband that she had been assaulted – she has some proof, when she tried to get carnal, she bit him, and in response, he kicked the intruder

Let me try and return to The Three Fat Women Arrow, Beatrice and Frank, rich, interesting, voluptuous, assertive, they share a weight problem, albeit we would tread carefully here today – that is if we had people reading this, they would get furious, insult, how dare you use demeaning terms, ‘fat shaming’ and the rest

 

With few, if any, reaching these lines, I could write whatever I want, nobody will bother anyway, and besides, I am overweight myself, though with the new regime of running more than one hour, I am told there will be weight loss, soon, if not, there is Wegovi, if that is the name of the new miracle drug, prohibitively expensive for now

There is trend now to ‘clean’ some books, eliminate the offensive language – for instance, Huckleberry Finn https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-adventures-of-huckleberry-finn-by.html would need a lot of work, if the n word is to be out, for it is used multiple times, these were the times, and fat was on written pages also

The Three Sensuous Women spend time in Switzerland – if I am not making this up, just now – they see a doctor, who is instructing them on diet, and they plan on getting over to The Antibes, on the French Riviera, and they will have a cook, serve meals that are easy on their line, and enjoy the company of men, young ones

 

They are just fine with everything – I was tempted to say, and here it is, on the page, who will not exult in the beauty, sunshine, richness of that famous coast, but then I remembered the psychology classic Stumbling On Happiness https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/06/stumbling-on-happiness-by-david-gilbert.html

This was written by Harvard Professor Daniel Gilbert, who looked at the myths of happiness, and we can add one right now, oh, living on the French Riviera must be so exhilarating, people think they would be happy, if only they were moving to California, a Pacific, Caribbean Island (or the Antibes) but it turns out, they are wrong

 

There is a phenomenon called The Hedonic Adaptation, which means that once you get to one of those places, you get used with the splendid weather (now that we have climate change, it is more complicated, such places have hurricanes, floods) palm trees, and then notice the downsides, prices, power cuts…

In the paradise of Antibes The Three Voluptuous Ladies are doing well in the company of each other, but they play bridge, and you cannot do that with three players, so Frank invites Lena, who is now a widow, her husband had deceased, just a few months before – anticipating, the Three Women will be somewhat aghast that she eats so much…

 

That is not good, in front of craving companions, but when you have just lost your spouse, it is inexplicable (they say) -also, craving is the source of misfortune, according to many, perhaps most philosophies, Nirvana is reached when you wish for…nothing else, you have no more cravings – so it is a tense situation

As soon as Lena arrives, she wants something simple to eat, and that means some butter, croissants and she will be interested in some cream, which are caloric bombs, and what the other three would so much want to indulge in themselves…then the guest says her doctor has said she is to have…Martinis, which are anathema for the party

 

Champagne in the evening, that is all the things that The Three Fat Women of Antibes want, but cannot have with their diet, their weight, the visitor is exalting in, right in front of their weeping (metaphorically) eyes, and they are furious and say it, at night, when they get together and express their outrage at this unbearable situation

To add insult to injury, the eating lady is a champion at bridge, she wins and gets the money from the others with her skills, and when the whole thing is finished, the Three start eating with gusto, something that might have happened anyway, guest or no guest

 

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.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

intent on losing weight, stay at Antibes on the French Riviera. They are on a strict diet. They like to play bridge, and Frank invites her friend Lena to make four at bridge. Lena's liking for fattening food causes tension among the other three. After she leaves, Beatrice, having had to watch Lena eating for a fortnight, gives in and starts eating the same; the others follow suit.