12.28.08
Maugham’s Christmas Holiday
After dipping in the arduous depths of Mann, I vowed to read something lighter as a breather and thought that I could get away with a romantic Parisian adventure, but one which was also uncompromisingly outside the sphere of chick-lit. So what perfect time to cull master storyteller W. Somerset Maugham’s Christmas Holiday from my shelf! Carla Bruni’s music even suitably accompanied the brighter prelude of the story, but the mood sombered when Charley, an English young man intending to have a grand Christmas vacation in Paris met Lydia, a wrecked Russian woman on his first night. Then I discovered that this was not the romantic holiday I had in mind, but the sort that has “the bottom of your world fall out.” Regardless of my realization, I began to appreciate the book for its penetration into the darkness of humanity. At the end I was convinced that Maugham really is a master storyteller - not mainly because of his style in narrative but through his perception of humankind.
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I felt like Charley the protagonist, who was initially shielded from the brutal realities of the world until an immediate encounter with a battered soul. What affects me deeply is the similar eye-opener I experienced several years ago through a particular friend who showed me that not all families are as intimate as mine, that not all fathers love their families the way mine does, that within a family it is possible to experience violence, betrayal, and divers kinds of evil that in my knowledge were limited to the movies and fictitious stories. Both my friend’s and Maugham’s tale continues to leave a nagging impression that allows me to perceive life on a deeper degree.
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Surprisingly, Christmas Holiday complements to my views pertaining musical expression. Earlier in the book, Lydia criticizes Charley’s piano rendition of a Scriabin. She said something about it not being “Russian”. In the latter pages, after Charley’s moving experience with the Russian spirit, he played the Scriabin one more time and his father commented that the latter performance was different; “You get a sort of tremor in it that’s rather effective.”
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Experience, experience… it is what completes us as musicians, it is what consummates us as humans.
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sopraninigabi said,
December 28, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Meewa! I found “EDEN’S OUTCASTS!” haha and I, too, started reading it in the hopes that I would find uplifting, inspiring moments similar to the lighthearted ones found in Little Women.
Boy oh boy. The book turned out radically different from my expectations.
I think some experiences are better learned vicariously (through conversations, or reading), rather than actually going through it. While it would undoubtedly be edifying, sometimes the price to be paid is too high.
Miracle ♪♫ said,
December 28, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Ohhh! It’s great to know you found the book so soon, Gabi! =D
I think the importance of these experiences that you are pertaining to is that we should not go through them per se for the sake of experience, but at the same time, be not blind and indifferent towards these matters (simply because we are comfortable where we are), and reach out to those who are involved in such difficulties. That way, we are sort of experiencing these by being aware and sincerely concerned.
mika said,
December 29, 2008 at 1:09 pm
waaah, i only saw your reply in your post on musical expression now. shall you find me someone to break my heart? hahaha, several people have been suggesting i get a girlfriend (keith is one of them!) hmm, i don’t know, i’ll let that time come naturally. crushes are enough (or too much?) for me right now! :P
i agree, we need experience to complete us. i wonder how much richer my experiences with music will be when i’m old and grey. will i hear things i’ve never heard before? how exciting!
Miracle ♪♫ said,
December 29, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Hmmm… lemme visit UP first and then offer my suggestions. haha =P
While some people may not agree on experience being the “best” teacher, it is still a very good teacher. hehe =)
Ah! Today, you’re wiser beyond your years already. When you’re gray and old, I reckon that you will be a most musical and sagely old man, Mika.
I’m sure we will hear sounds we have never heard before… imagine what music would be like in heaven!