The Kite by Somerset Maugham – one of my favorite writers, author of The Man With The Scar https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/05/the-man-with-scar-by-somerset-maugham.html and other magnum opera - 10 out of 10

 

The Kite by Somerset Maugham – one of my favorite writers, author of The Man With The Scar https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/05/the-man-with-scar-by-somerset-maugham.html and other magnum opera

 

10 out of 10

 

The kite is yet another phenomenal story from the magician Somerset Maugham…he was a god to me, when I was about twenty-two, I spent time in hospitals, and this Magister Ludi made those days and nights not just more bearable, but brought delight, bliss, and he has become one of my two top luminaries

 

Marcel Proust https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/09/la-prisonniere-by-marcel-proust.html is the other overwhelming creator, he is the proof that Penelope Lively was spot on – and she gave me the chance to worship, despite the fact that I am an atheist, there are a number of Gods – Writers that are worth admiring

‘The novelist has an infinity of choices, He chooses what is to happen, to happens, and in what way he will relate what happens, the picture he constructs is complete on its own terms…when he says this is the story and the whole story we must accept it…perhaps novelists are the only people telling the truth’ We find that In According to Mark https://realini.blogspot.com/2023/02/according-to-mark-by-penelope-lively.html

 

Herbert Sunbury appears to be the main character of The Kite, although we could focus on the Oedipal Complex, then The Kite might be the leading role, as representing the intense attachment to the mother, Beatrice Sunbury, who dominates her son, she controls all he does, including this obsession for flying the thing

The Kite is also representative of freedom, when the man flies it, it is a symbol of the infinite possibilities, flying, controlling the elements, the wind, rising above, so there is this other side to this complex narrative, which packs a lot, in just a few pages, and we can sympathize with the protagonist, and reject him

 

Up to the age of twenty – well, writing this I realize that even after that, spoiler alert, maybe for ever – the imposing mother has her way, and she is of the opinion – nay, conviction – that up to thirty, thirty-five, her boy, or any other, could not possibly know what he wants, so as he gives signs of rebellion, she is aghast

At one stage, he starts going out, and after a while, he says he wants to bring a girl home, to the protest, and anger of his parent -the female, again, as I write things, I sometimes come to see things from a different angle, we use a different part of the brain when we write, and it is furthermore a good exercise, the main reason why I do it

 

Mrs. Sunbury is questioning, and finds out that this woman has dropped something, Herbert picked it up -you fell for that thing, she comments – and then they agreed to meet again, he took her to the moving pictures (so this is where you have been going) and this has been going on for three months, if memory does not fail me

The overbearing mother does everything to make the visit an embarrassment, she sees that this is a ‘common girl’, not used with good manners, when a piece of cake falls down, she says ‘I am sure it is clean, I do not mind eating it’, to which the older woman comments ‘sure, it must be clean, but I will not have a guest eat that’

 

Beatrice Sunbury is arrogant, more than hostile, and makes the girl, Betty, feel terrible and she would say that to her friend, once they are out – the father, Samuel Sunbury, is more tolerant, but he is in no way the one to guide, set the direction of…well, anything in that household, he takes his orders from the boss of the place

Betty complains, Herbert is furious when he comes back into the house, and his mother says that ‘the simple woman will not come here again’, ‘you must reconsider that, because I asked her to marry me’, what with her so humiliated, suffering, I felt I had to ask her – this is crucial, because the man does not really feel love

 

In some way, he is pushed into a closer, or as intimate as possible a connection by his mother…I need to correct the previous, a simple way to amend that would be to edit, delete it, but why do that, when I can write about my own experience – remember, there is a spoiler alert, which tells you you should stay away…

Marriage is not the most intimate connection, take the example of a few hours ago (and this is the continuous experience of this marital bliss) when a car with 666 plates was parked in front of my garage, last night, and kept there until 11, when I sent to the president of the Association of Owners a message…

 

Saying what happened, and adding that the car has a special number, this prompted a rebuke from the spouse, who is somewhere out, along the lines of ‘was there a need, what special number, who laughs, silly jokes, I said the 666 is a sign, and then she says it is for you aka me’…she is always on the side of the other

I am always wrong, foolish, obnoxious, only this time I may have the last laugh, because this 666 was probably connected with another car, which is parked right on her ass, the wife can hardly park because of this friend of 666, and in that particular case, she is really infuriated, but you see, if it bothers me, it is legitimate, if it is an issue with you, then you are clearly in the wrong, whoever pissed you off is an aristocrat, good guy…so, Betty married Herbert, then left her job, he had a spilt with his parents (mother) and then returns to see them with this special kite, which becomes his obsession, leaves home, and then the wife destroys the kite

 

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.”