October 18, 2002

"The Moon and Sixpence" by W. Somerset Maugham: Charles Strickland, husband, father, and seemingly average middle-aged London stockbroker, suddenly skips on the mundane in order to move to Paris and be an artist. Wait, it gets better.

Leaving his wife of seventeen years and his two children behind without the slightest hint of warning, and having never before displayed any inclination towards painting, Strickland is consumed by his art and his passion for beauty. Nothing else matters. While in Paris he busts up another's marriage, drives a woman to suicide, and lives hand to mouth only by the grace of others. He's a heartless, brute of a man concerned solely with the artistic visions in his head. Most think he's a fool, in both life and technique. He never finds fame. His paintings are considered ridiculous.

Penniless yet unyielding, Strickland escapes to Tahiti and finds salvation. It's there, in the midst of a tropical paradise, that he feels at peace. He lives amongst the natives, transferring the beauty around him to canvas, until Death finds him in a most revolting fashion.

The story of Charles Strickland was inspired by the French master Paul Gauguin. While it's not a true biography, the differences are trivial at best. Aside from changing his nationality, Mr. Maugham did little to disguise his true subject matter.

In a stroke of genius, Maugham uses an unnamed narrator, a young writer who first encounters the artist through a chance friendship with Mrs. Strickland, to relate the story. This is vital. The narrator's friendship with the wife ensures that Strickland's dastardly behavior towards his family is never sugar-coated. His relations to others are never seen as anything but cruel. Yet, at the same time, the distance created by the narrator removes any emotional conflict. He is still able to stand apart from the events and witness Strickland as an object of great interest. The motives driving the man become what's important, not merely the results of his actions.

Gauguin, for his single-mindedness and artistic resolve, has long been a fascination for this humble reviewer. I've never fled to Tahiti, but I have spent entire afternoons outside of my room. It's the rare liquor store that delivers. Anyway, Charles Strickland is an amazing character and one that Maugham brings to vibrant life through the use of inventive storytelling and unique structure.

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"A Good Man Is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor: A good story can be hard to find, too. This collection of shorts features 10 tales often using religion as a backdrop. The best of these is probably "Good Country People" which tells of a one- legged woman setting out to seduce a young bible salesman. Yeah, i know, that old story! Others of note include "The Life You Save May Be Your Own," which has a drifter taking advantage of an old woman and her deaf daughter; "The River," about a young neglected boy searching for acceptance; and the title story that throws a vacationing family into the path of a rogue killer who only finds pleasure in meanness.

This is a difficult book to rate. There can be no questioning Ms. O'Connor's talent, she has that in spades. It's just that short stories are tricky. They either speak to you or they don't.

70 Proof holds up Dorothy Parker as our ideal. She's the best. Then you've got your "Nine Stories" by Salinger and the works of Fitzgerald. We did give Ambrose Bierce four shots the last time out, but that was due mostly to the greatness of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and the fact that the majority of his stories deal with death, courage, and honor; three things we either admire or lack. Here, none of Ms. O'Connor's characters really demand favor. They're all Southern, God-fearing folks of considerable ignorance. I reckon that could be the point. But these are the kinds of stories they'd make you read in high school because old smart people thought they were clever.

Yet the more I consider the stories, the less I hate them. If you've never read any of her other work, check out this book just to experience Ms. O'Connor's style of writing. Pay particular attention to the stories mentioned above. The rest can be skimmed. With the time saved, go read some Dorothy Parker.

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