Rain by William Somerset Maugham – I have read this and other short stories by the wonderful author a couple of times, once in 2012 https://realini.blogspot.com/2012/12/rain-and-other-south-pacific-stories-by.html - 10 out of 10

 

Rain by William Somerset Maugham – I have read this and other short stories by the wonderful author a couple of times, once in 2012 https://realini.blogspot.com/2012/12/rain-and-other-south-pacific-stories-by.html

 

10 out of 10

 

Rain is one of the longer short stories, the audio version is only one minute short of two hours, and it is one of the best known, adapted for the big screen, the stage…it is poignant, exquisite, thought provoking, engaging, it has all the attributes of a wonderful read – it is for good reason that Somerset Maugham is one of my three favorite writers

 

This narrative (and most of the other works, indeed, Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/12/memoirs-by-kingsley-amis-author-of-take.html wrote about the fact that he edits his experiences, but does not invent new ones out of the blue) is based on real life encounters

We have passengers on this ship, that include Dr. Macphail and his wife, and Davidson (a missionary) and his wife (the story is told from Macphail's point of view), also Miss Sadie Thompson, she would be the lead in a film adaptation, while the missionary would have the most important male role, to which we have to add…The Rain

 

Because of an epidemic, their ship cannot leave – and we all know what lockdowns look like, we had to stay locked up in homes, only a couple of years ago – and they have rooms with a half caste man and his native wife, where tensions grow, between the religious family and the young woman, who is looking for fun

That is one way to put it, there is a contrast between the rigid, absurd attitude of Davidson and his wife, and Sadie Thompson, the latter wants to listen to music, there was a gramophone back then, we are talking about over one hundred years in the past, she is into Carpe Diem, more of the enjoy the moment, than the wait for the other world type

 

The Davidson couple are outraged by dancing, they wish anathema on the poor natives, who wear their traditional lavalava, and they engage in rituals, dances that are obscene to the fundamentalists – on that note, it is outrageous for yours truly to observe how evangelicals say they have these values, and yet, they support this demon

Orange Jesus aka Orange Felon has a one two in three chances of being president again, according to The Economist, the issue released today, and that is beyond scary and unbelievable, to say you have these principles, and then worship the devil, this is just disgusting and all I have is Contempt  https://realini.blogspot.com/2017/02/contempt-aka-le-mepris-by-alberto.html which is a magnum opus by Alberto Moravia

 

Davidson interferes and asks the governor to expel Sadie Thompson, on the grounds that her morality is dubious, or worse, she offends the ethics of the ‘good Christians’, and the local official obliges, so the poor woman has to leave for San Francisco, where she will be arrested and send to jail, she might have worked as a prostitute

When reading – well, listening to some great actor doing it – I was thinking that things, standards have changed, and the realized that have not, not really, and in so many places, not just Uganda, where they are not just retrograde in government, but outright sadists, I am getting back to America, which is not just about to elect, again, a moron…

 

They also have eejits on the Supreme Court, a majority of Republican leaders, and most of their cohorts are plain crazy, stupid or both – Hilary Clinton, who would have made a splendid president, was spot on when she spoke of ‘deplorables’, this is what they are, and the whole world has to deplore the cult that will fuck us up in November

Miss Sadie Thompson is aghast at what the missionary, through the governor, has done, but she will accept his visit, and there appears to be an epiphany, redemption or something, at least for a while, the magic could have worked, maybe it was the Hand of God, back to the routine ‘God works in mysterious ways’

 

Incidentally, that is how these scoundrels explain their votes for Satan, God had chosen him, and this is how they get that loathsome Supreme Court (their side of it), the rulings against abortion, in favor of guns, not when Hunter Biden is involved though, and all that fundamentalist stuff that they so crave, all for the eternal good life

For some time, Davidson appears to be inspired, in that his target becomes subdued, she could have been touched by the grace of the Almighty, albeit it is only a brief passing, the man spends time praying with her, somehow boasting about this transformation to the doctor, only it all leads to catastrophe and a gruesome event

 

Spoiler alert – if anyone is still here, that is, which seems so unlikely that to introduce a warning appears preposterous…look, people read these notes so closely, that they do not just leave after the first few words, which is what statistically happens for most of the time – the missionary is found dead, with his throat cut

Oh my god, would be the proper reaction, how could this be, did somebody take revenge, was it the young woman, but no, we are not left to speculate – although now I see that we could have a different version on this, why not consider a frame up – it was the deceased who did it, with a razor, in such a terrible manner

And it is so very much against their doctrine, if you kill yourself, you are out the game for paradise, right? But then Sadie Thompson says ‘You men! You filthy, dirty pigs! You're all the same, all of you." My interpretation is that repressed Davidson tried to have sex with her

 

 

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.”