The Moon and Sixpence
An enjoyable book which isn't too taxing but runs deep. Narrated by an educated and presumably a man of comfortable means the tale tells of a stockbroker who suddenly abandons wife and kids to become a struggling, nay starving, artist in Paris and then makes his way to Tahiti. He is presented as an awful and selfish character who has no empathy for anyone else and indeed seems to go out of his way to upset and ridicule friends and acquaintances. Our (anti) hero settles down into a seemingly idyllic existence in Tahiti where his non-conforming attitude seems to be more acceptable than in Europe, until he is brought low by a terrible disease and passes away. Of course his paintings then become much sought after and expensive. If this sounds a bit obvious then the story is not so and in fact the narrator recognises the risk of this. Rather than the physical story the (spiritual) character of the protagonists comes through strongly and whilst nearly all are slated by the narrator in the end we have a sympathy for their faults. If that's what they are. The book doesn't explain the title but after finishing and a spot of googling I find that it relates to a character from an earlier Maugham book who was "so busy yearning for the moon that he never saw the sixpence at his feet."
Overall a story that gripped me and finished in a weekend cycling tour in Normandy. Me, not the story characters. Not bad for a book from a free book store. Free as in no payment, rather than the independently free alternative bookshops from a few decades ago who charged for books. Paying for art and literature would be anathema to our hero and it's perhaps fitting that I picked up a free copy printed 60 years ago by an author who died 50 years ago.
