Oh, dear. That would me me, I guess.... in 1978 the New York Review of Books dismissed him as “the mahatma of middlebrow culture”, and even his friend Glenway Wescott considered Maugham “beloved by unliterary, unofficial, unacademic humanity”.
Debbie and I saw a fine production of The Constant Wife a couple of years ago. It didn't strike either of us as dated. The audience loved it. And it sold out. I also don't agree that matters metaphysical and spiritual were beyond Maugham's capabilities. He's quite good with Catholics (especially ones like Elliott Templeton). The mother superior in The Painted Veil is quite well-drawn. Maugham yearned for faith but could not bring himself to make an act of faith. That gives him a peculiarly acute viewpoint.
Frank, I'm wondering if the comments you quoted stemmed, at least in part, from the success and the popularity Maugham enjoyed in his lifetime ... there are still those who draw a an un-crossable line between popular/commercial success and 'genuine' artistry.
ReplyDeleteI've heard that he once described himself as 'the first among the second-raters,' or something like that.
Me? I always found him first-rate.
I have always found him first-rate, too, Jeff, especially the short stories. And yes, he ranked himself as being in "the very front row of the second rate," which was not all that modest, since the first rate meant people like Homer and Shakespeare.
ReplyDeleteIt never occurred to me that Maugham needed defending. Do Graham Greene and John Steinbeck need defending, too?
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a great jealousy masquerading as disdain among the NYRB-types who can write a condesending essay but not tell a story or create a memorable character.
"Literary" has to hit these marks:
*solipsistic POV
*present tense (to support the solipsistic POV by ensuring lack of perspective)
*suburban setting
*complete absence of anything happening - of course: it's the suburbs! - to explain the ironic angst caused by the boredom and lack of perspective
Ugh. I'll take Maugham or Greene every time.