Faith and Love
Returning for their work in the pacific islands located North of Samoa, Mr. and Mrs. Davidson, christian missionaries, have to spend some unexpected time in Pago-Pago. There, in close contact with a couple that they meet in the trip, the Macphails, they have to deal with a distinctly young Lady, Miss Thompson. Thompson habits were not the kind of the Davidsons found appropriated, with prompted Mr. Davidson to adress the situation. What follows, in a well crafted and concise narrative, is a description of the paradoxes of human behavior. Sin and sanctity, faith and works, freedom and guilty. All these notions emerged in this short story. ( )

This is the second Maugham book I've read this year. I really love his character building and overall story building. Once I started reading this I realized that I had seen a play based on this story. It's the story of Sadie Thompson, a fallen woman, and her encounters with a stern and judgmental missionary in Pago Pago.

I really need to make a point of reading at least one of Maugham's novels next year. ( )

Enjoyable, easy reading short story concerning the efforts of an upright minister to reform a prostitute. Previous reviewers have described the book well. A good read for those who enjoy short stories. ( )

My third audio book, and I really enjoyed it. It differed from the other two by being a truly awful, unprofessional recording: words stumbled over, words mispronounced, strange falsetto voices for the women. However the story was written by a master, and that made a huge difference.

Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain was the first audio book I listened to. She's a writer strictly for the times; I can't see her books being read fifty years from now. Tom DeBaggio's Losing My Mind, his memoir of his deteriorating life with Alzheimer's had the benefit of all his years as a journalist, he really could write. But W. Somerset Maugham, is a modern master of the short story and novella, and the full virtues of his ability to situate in time and place the characters, making that time and place an integral part of the story overcame any shortcoming that the audio recording had.

The story is simply about the hypocrisy, snobbishness and frailty of people, and how they justify it. The characters are strongly drawn and speak for themselves, no characteristion by the narrator is necessary (or desirable). The ending is quite shocking, but on reflection, not unexpected. A work of genius. ( )