A String of Beads by William Somerset Maugham – author of The Vessel of Wrath – my note on that tale is at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-vessel-of-wrath-by-william-somerset.html where scores of other books are reviewed - 10 out of 10

 

A String of Beads by William Somerset Maugham – author of The Vessel of Wrath – my note on that tale is at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-vessel-of-wrath-by-william-somerset.html where scores of other books are reviewed

 

10 out of 10

 

The premise of A String of Beads reminds me of another story by Somerset Maugham Mr. Know – All – which I reviewed at https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/04/mr-know-all-by-somerset-maugham-another.html - Mr. Know All is, as the nick name suggests, one that thinks himself an expert, and he is one…

 

In both stories we have a string, and an evaluation that is more than surprising, given that the ladies who wear the jewels are not from the upper, rich class, and therefore could not afford expensive pearls, so when Mr. Know All makes an estimate that sounds exorbitant of the string which Mrs. Ramsay wears, we are surprised

The husband laughs at the price tag, counters that it could not be, and even bets on the accuracy of his figure, making the expert – Mr. Colada is involved in the trade with pearls, so he better knows what he talks about – take a close look at the fake (as the spouse sees them) pearls to change his mind, or else lose the money

 

Initially, Mr. Know All smiles, seeing that he was correct in the estimate, but then he sees the horror in Mrs. Ramsay’s eyes, and then modestly he retracts, gives the one hundred dollars (about one thousand today, probably) and admits his mistake, only to receive an envelope with the money a bit later, from the woman, presumably

He has been a perfect gentleman (we used to push around a tasteless joke, and a short one, with ‘I am a gentleman, what the fuck’, something like that, in our tongue, it has to do with the penis, that is used more often than fuck, for a reason that could surely be analyzed, if it is not already) and preferred to lose money

 

In A String of Beads, Count Borselli plays the role of Mr. Know All, at this party, he is the one who says that the String is worth fifty thousand pounds, maybe half a million today, and it is at the neck of Miss Robinson, who is a governess, and in that position, she could never have acquired that amount of money in an honest way

Evidently, there are situations that could not be explained, except using supernatural causes, or more earthly ones, such as embezzlement, corruption – next door to me, there is a pool, they have luxury cars, and for some decades, it was based on salaries near the level that Miss Robinson had, coming from the public sector

It would take five hundred years or more to put aside the meager salaries, and then buy all those lavish amenities, only there are illegal benefits, when you are the one who approves constructions, you could make a ton of money, when ready to cross the line, which is what happened here, in a big way, opulence and tacky taste

 

The governess says the paid fifteen shillings for that extraordinary String of Beads, and there is an explanation, different from what happened with Mrs. Ramsay, in the story aforementioned, that lady had had a lover in New York, and Mr. Know All concludes that a husband should not let the wife alone for so long…

Miss Robinson however, explained the string in a more mundane way, she took the cheap string to have a little adjustment, and one clerk made a mistake, so that she was given that expensive one, which caused consternation, it was her luck, or her ruin, depending on how you see it, for she receives a check for a few hundred pounds

 

As a reward for her honesty probably, and as compensation for the fact that they take back the beads they have given her, nevertheless, she decides to take the money and run (just joking) to enjoy herself, contrary to advice which would have her put this large sum (again, maybe over ten thousand today) in the bank

When in Paris, she spends lavishly, then she is in the company of a man from Argentina (if I am not wrong on this) who is rich, they live like royalty for some months, then she drops him and she is with another wealthy fellow, a Grek one this time, she has a Rolls (Royce, surely) and lives in the lap of luxury, also a Jethro Tull song

 

One woman says she is ‘ruined’, in the sense that she has chosen the wrong career, she is now one of the (if not The) most…actually, I went on to check and ‘she's far and away the smartest cocotte in Paris’, which is to be admired, from my point of view, they are called sex workers today, and I am using the services

This admission (which is strategically placed here, where nobody comes to read, so I have both the advantage of confessing somehow, and ‘clearing the conscience’, and knowing it will not have repercussions, after all, in Sweden, the one soliciting is breaking the law, the sex workers are not prosecuted) is liberating

 

Ideally, we should all have sex, which is healthy, rises levels of happiness, it is good exercise and so much more, with the best circumstances, with people we love and they feel the same, but that is not happening, right, so we need alternative solutions, masturbating, finding bonds for sex only, and why not, going to see Miss Robinson

I mean, what is the consort of Orange Jesus, we could wonder, and by obnoxious conclusion, which proves what a god damn awful fella I am, is that we have here a case of somebody like Miss Robinson, or others like her, deciding to have just one client, whether she is lucky in that choice, remains another matter, for I see that hooligan as one of the worst monsters alive, disgusting, if rich, but then she is not the most intelligent human on earth either…

 

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.”