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Author W. Somerset Maugham booklist (click here)

Book Review By Jack Goodstein
The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham

This story is based on the life of French painter, Paul Gauguin. The hero is called Charles Strickland. He is a seemingly ordinary broker, until at the age of forty he leaves his wife and child to go to Paris to become a painter.    He meets a Dutch painter who helps him, but then he seduces the painter's wife and deserts her. She commits suicide.

Strickland leaves Paris and eventually goes to Tahiti, where he lives with a native woman and their children. He continues painting and finally contracts leprosy. As a final act he paints his last masterpiece on the walls of his hut. His last wish is that the hut be burned down.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - 1900-1920's
Life of a profession:
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Job/Profession/Status story Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status:
Age: - long lived adults
Ethnicity/Nationality

Main Adversary
Identity: - society

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 5 ()
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK - France
Island? Yes
Island: - Pacific Islands

Writing Style
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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