The Colonel’s Lady by William Somerset Maugham - - one of my favorite writers, author of Rain https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/06/rain-by-william-somerset-maugham-i-have.html and other fabulous stories - 10 out of 10
The Colonel’s Lady by William Somerset Maugham - - one of my
favorite writers, author of Rain https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/06/rain-by-william-somerset-maugham-i-have.html
and other fabulous stories
10 out of 10
The Colonel’s Wife is not just a mesmerizing tale – all the
works of Somerset Maugham are for yours truly – but it is also somehow
feminist, and let me be ‘the one telling you how it is’, just like Chili Palmer
in Get Shorty https://realini.blogspot.com/2020/04/get-shorty-by-elmore-leonard-aka.html
and I am joking, evidently
Nevertheless, what we have here is a man, the colonel from
the title, who is made to look ludicrous, with his retrograde (but almost fully
embraced at the time, some one hundred, or maybe one hundred and fifty years
ago) views, he is convinced that there are (most, or all) things that men can
do, but women are prohibited
It all starts when he sees his wife, Eva Peregrine,
receiving a package, which contain a number of books, all the same, written by
Eva Katherine Hamilton, which was his spouse’s maiden name, for they are her
work, and when the colonel asks about the cost of having them made, she says
she sent the manuscript to an editor…
And he had it published, furthermore, this is a success, it sells
as if it were a novel, and not just a collection of poems, most in blank verse,
the husband is asked about the book, and he expresses some positive opinion,
however, it is not his cup of tea, and has not really looked into it with interest,
at least until sometime later…
He is the epitome of the country squire – as I saw him, and
up to a point, which comes strait out of another favorite magician of mine,
Evelyn Waugh https://realini.blogspot.com/2018/07/scoop-by-evelyn-waugh-adapted-for-bbc.html
has this character, Lord Copper, who owns a newspaper, The Daily Beast
When Lord Copper asks a question, he tends to get two
answers, one is definitely, for a truthful reply, and another, ‘up to a point
Lord Copper’ is used for what members of the cult of Orange Jesus in America
call ‘alternative facts’, or people with common sense see as plain lies – so
back to the Colonel now…
He hunts, enjoys the perfect home – he will wonder at some
stage what would he do without Eve, who keeps the house for him, no trouble with
servants or anything – but finds the spouse dull, unattractive, and hence he
keeps a mistress, Daphne, and travels to London to have coitus with her, go out
for lunch and enjoy his status
It is Daphne who asks if ‘his wife is the one everybody
talks about, the writer of that acclaimed book’, she knows this critic, who
said that it is a wonderful accomplishment, he wrote an elated review, and Eve
thanked it for it, and readers are enchanted, so is the man in the book shop
that gives the husband some details
Even the most prominent aristocrat in their area is
thrilled, he asks Geroge Peregrine about his wife not coming to a party they
invited her to, and then she will say that they did not invite the husband
along, so she refused, however, people are talking about the affair that the
poet has had with a much younger man…
She will be published in America, and they want her photograph,
which is puzzling the colonel, who sees her as passee, she has lost her charm,
but wait, she did not have any charm, even years ago, not to him anyway, which
brings me to another one of the many flaws and shortcomings of this man, who
did not see value where somebody else venerated it
And now that few, if any are still on this page, I can make
the parallel with myself, in that I have not appreciated my spouse enough (not
even now actually) and tend to see that she is not fair, leaves me at home with
these two macaws that I have to care for all day long, in about ten days she
leaves for Amsterdam…
And for three full days I will baby sit these noisy,
overwhelming babies…you see, that is what I do, complain, just like that damn
colonel, who has an affair (I do not, per se, but I use sex workers instead) but
does not see that the woman has the same rights, and that was rather the rule
back then, so we have to see him in perspective
This brings to mind The Coolidge Effect, named after an
anecdote involving the American president of that name, who went to a farm with
his wife, and she asked about this rooster, who jumped on hens, how many times
does he do that, the answer being maybe some fifty times per day (or maybe
hour?) so she said…
Tell that to Mr. President, who, upon finding out, asked in
his turn if it is the always the same hen, to which the reply was no, it is
always a different one, ergo The Effect that has his name, and which explains
in part, the attitude of Colonel Peregrine, who saw himself as free to have an
extra marital affair, all the same inappropriate for the spouse
He even sees the lawyer who is also a friend, and a shooting
partner, to consult him over the matter of this love of the wife, asking if he
knows who the man was, the friend has no idea, but is of the opinion that there
is nothing to do about it, after all, the much younger man is dead now, and
what will be the point
You only confront Eve with this, if you want her to leave
you, because that is what she will do, and the frustrated husband sees that he
does not want to do that, indeed, he does not know what he could do without
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.”
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