the moon and sixpence

A broker of the British Stock Exchange, who already had a solid career and status, and a happy family, was obsessed with painting, as if "possessed by the devil", suddenly abandoned his home and went to Paris to pursue his ideal of painting. No one can understand his behavior. In a foreign country, he not only suffers from poverty and hunger physically, but also suffers mentally in order to find ways of expression. After some bizarre encounters, the protagonist finally leaves the civilized world and escapes to the isolated island of Tahiti. He finally found the tranquility of his soul and an atmosphere suitable for his artistic temperament. He lived with an aboriginal woman and created one masterpiece after another that shocked future generations. Before he contracted leprosy and became blind, he painted a great work representing the Garden of Eden on the walls of his house. But before his death, he ordered the Aboriginal woman to burn the painting after his death. Through such a geek who pursues art wholeheartedly and has no understanding of human nature, Maugham explores thought-provoking issues such as the emergence and nature of art, the relationship between personality and genius, the contradiction between artists and society, and so on. At the same time, this book also arouses people's thinking on the topic of getting rid of the shackles of the world and escaping from the secular society to find a spiritual home, and the description of the natural folk customs of the small islands in the South Pacific is also fascinating. After "The Moon and Sixpence" came out, it became a sensation in the literary world for its fascinating plot and profound writing, and people rushed to read it. In the novel, Maugham uses the first-person narration method to narrate the whole story through the mouth of "I". the attention of readers around the world.