Throwback Thursday: A Nod to Somerset Maugham

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JUNE 2010

I am currently reading The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham, one of the great writers of the last century. My first awareness of Maugham was in 1964 when our family moved to Bridgewater, New Jersey, in Somerset County. One day while I was in the car with my mom in Somerville, we drove very slowly down a street with a row of old houses with porches. She slowed to a near stop in front of one, and said, "Somerset Maugham used to sit on that porch." She said it in that tone of which even though I was but eleven I knew meant something significant.

Maugham was 91 when he passed away the following year at his home in France.

There's no question that Maugham was a gifted writer. Reading The Painted Veil, one becomes intensely aware of his ability to describe in microscopic detail the inner workings of the human heart. I also think he is gifted at putting into words many of the thoughts and feelings we often conceal because we're too considerate. The seamless manner in which inner workings of the heart intersect with plot in this story is impressive.

Maugham was one of the highest paid -- if not the highest paid -- writers of the 1930's. In that pre-television era he was able to connect with readers who agonized while waiting for the next segment in his serialized novels and short stories.

His father and grandfather were lawyers, and as an uncertain youth he spent some time studying for a medical career. This Wikipedia note helps one to not only understand Maugham's ability to portray the cholera epidemic in The Painted Veil, but perhaps gives insight into why the Anton Chekov, himself a doctor, was such a master story teller:

Some critics have assumed that the years Maugham spent studying medicine were a creative dead end, but Maugham himself felt quite the contrary. He was able to live in the lively city of London, to meet people of a "low" sort that he would never have met in one of the other professions, and to see them in a time of heightened anxiety and meaning in their lives. In maturity, he recalled the literary value of what he saw as a medical student: "I saw how men died. I saw how they bore pain. I saw what hope looked like, fear and relief ..."

Maugham carried the burden of being a homosexual at a time when it was less acceptable, a factor that complicated his life. He was not known to be a cheerful man. On one occasion while among the literati in Mexico City he departed for some other destination with his young partner. D.H. Lawrence famously remarked, "He wasn't happy here and he won't be happy there."

My two favorite Maugham short stories are The Verger and Mr. Know-All. Each has a payoff worth pursuing. The latter can be found in Volume I of The Complete Short Stories of Somerset Maugham. The Verger will be discovered in Volume IV.

Contrarian Observations, January 3, 2025

"The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which took place last October and was rebroadcast on ABC on New Year’s Day, is a reminder of why rock and roll doesn’t need a hall of fame."
--Tom Nichols, Staff Writer, The Atlantic

From the "Knocking Over Sacred Cows Dept." A humorous takedown of a Boomer institution: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Should Not Exist.

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I have been recently introduced to a new source of climate-related common sense, a substack called Energy Talking Points by Alex Epstein. Here is an insight.

"It’s an irrefutable but little-known fact that as the world has warmed 1° C, humans have become safer than ever from climate danger. The rate of climate-related disaster deaths—from storms, floods, temperature extremes, wildfires, and drought—has fallen 98% in the last century." 

Machines powered by abundant energy have allowed us to:

• master drought danger via irrigation and crop transport,
• master temperature danger via heating and A/C,
• master storm danger via building resilient infrastructure plus storm warning and evacuation systems

Read & Share: Three Undeniable Facts About Climate
https://alexepstein.substack.com/p/3-undeniable-facts-about-climate

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That's all for today. Think about it.

B&N Observations and a few notes about Hannah Arendt's The Origins of Totalitarianism

There was a time when visits to Barned & Noble were regular features of my monthly, and sometimes weekly, routine. Now, it seems, it has been a while since I spent an hour in a bookstore. 

Yesterday I did jst that, getting a feel forthe ambiance generated by shelves of books.

The big surprise was how large the religion section was. That's because a large percetage of Christians purchased their books through Christian bookstore 30 years ago. 

According to data from the Christian Booksellers Association, there were 75% fewer Christian bookstores in 2020 than there were in the 90s. The demand for Christian literature and study guides didn't disappear, and stores like B&N expanded their shelves to accommodate.

Here are a few other books that caught my eye yesterday.

And this one.

I believe I first became aware of Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) through a Sociology of Mass Movements class that I took in college. The idea of the class was more interesting than the class itself which was taught by a TA from India who read the lessons in a flat, non-engaged manner. 

Nevertheless, we were introduced to a variety of authors and ideas that we could explore on our own, and the topic has remained of interest even if the instructor was forgettable. (The textbook, however, was equality as boring as the instructor.)

Hannah Arendt's "The Origins of Totalitarianism" was considered a seminal work that analyzed the rise and nature of totalitarianism in the 20th century. Originally published in 1951, the book remains relevant, offering insights into the origins, characteristics, and consequences of totalitarian regimes.

Arendt begins by tracing the historical roots of totalitarianism, arguing that it emerged as a response to the breakdown of traditional forms of authority and social order in the modern world. She identifies imperialism, racism, and the decline of the nation-state as key factors that paved the way for the rise of totalitarian movements in Europe. The book then delves into the anatomy of totalitarianism, examining the ideologies and structures that underpin such regimes. 

Arendt distinguishes between two forms of totalitarianism: Nazism in Germany and Stalinism in the Soviet Union. Despite their differences in ideology, both regimes shared common features, including the use of propaganda, the cult of personality, and the suppression of dissent to consolidate power and control over society. (Sounds a lot like the direction we in America are headed today, does't it?)

Central to Arendt's analysis is the concept of "the masses" and their role in enabling totalitarian rule. Her ideas here dovetail with Eric Hoffer's observations as detailed in The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements. Arendt argues that totalitarian leaders exploit the atomization and alienation of individuals in mass society, manipulating their fears and desires to create a sense of collective identity and belonging. Through the use of propaganda and terror, totalitarian regimes seek to eradicate individuality and autonomy, turning citizens into mere instruments of the state. (Sheeple.)

Arendt also emphasizes the weaponization of hatred and the scapegoating of marginalized groups as tools for consolidating power and fostering social cohesion within totalitarian societies. (I'd be curious as to how Arendt, Orwell, Hoffer and their contemporaries would view the extreme polarization that has occurred here over the past 20 years.)

In the final section of the book, Arendt reflects on the enduring legacy of totalitarianism and its implications for contemporary politics. She warns against the dangers of authoritarianism and the erosion of democratic norms, urging vigilance and resistance against the forces that threaten to undermine freedom and human dignity.

Closing thought: What are the dynamics of oppression that we see at work today. Is your view of the future Utopian, Protopian or Dystopian, and why?

I've Invented a New Word (And Why You Should Care).

I've Invented a New Word for 2023: Herdwinked 

When I Google it, I come up blank, so it may be original. Should I patent it? I use it like this:

When a majority of people in a large group believe something that is not true, that has been promulgated by propaganda or mass media, they have been herdwinked. The new word combines "hoodwinked" with "herd think" to describe the process of mass formation psychosis. 

Related Words:

Herdwinked--  A Hoodwinked Herd of Sheeple 

Heardwink: When people hear propaganda and accept it as true.

Examples abound.

Nickname for Propaganda: Weapon of Mass Manipulation

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Why should you care? You'll find my answer in this article here:

He Who Controls the Narrative Controls the People

Flashback Friday: 4 Lessons for Writers from The Rise and Fall of F. Scott Fitzgerald

His first achievement.

This past week I listened again to Professor Elliot Engel's lecture called The Rise and Fall of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Actually, I enjoyed it so much I listened to it twice in a row, even though I'd also heard it and wrote about it in 2008. It is insightful as regards the life of a major American writer, but it is also instructive for those who feel impelled to write today.

There were many takeaway's for me personally during this more recent listen. Here are a few of them.

1. Highest paid short story writer
I knew he was the highest paid short story writer of his era, but I didn't know why. Two factors came into play that caused this to happen. First, he wrote about the Roaring 20's in such a way that teenage girls read the stories to learn how to dress and act and all the rest. Second, two major publishers of short fiction got into a bidding war for his manuscripts. He went from being a no-name writer of little worth to a $4,000 a week writer whose name on the cover guaranteed sales. Lesson: The odds of this latter event ever occurring again are slim. The odds of this happening to most of us who write stories are nil. You're more likely to get struck by an asteroid.

Great book but weak sales.

2. Despite its fame today, Gatsby sales were a flop
Fitzgerald and his eccentric wife Zelda loved the high life. The problem was that once the cash-spigot got turned off, they never learned how to save or live frugal. And as famous as he had become, for some reason the book didn't sell well. Professor Engel stated that The Great Gatsby is the most popular novel today among high school students, but in its time sales were a flop, in part due to critical reviews. Lesson: If you are a writer hoping to sell lots of books, keep your expectations realistic.

3. Timing is everything
Fitzgerald wrote about the Jazz Age. He even coined the word jazzy which did not exist before. Unfortunately, when his follow up to Gatsby was published America was in the throes of a great depression. Tender Is the Night was another big fail. Lesson: To quote the Beach Boys, "Catch a wave and you're sittin' on top of the world." Fitzgerald's wave had passed. The sun had set on the jazz age and he was left floating in the middle of an empty copper sea.

4. What you say can hurt you
Even though his latest didn't sell and Fitzgerald was struggling to make ends meet, he still managed to get a little cashflow by selling stories. This all came to an abrupt end when he agreed to a three-part series that was published in Esquire called "The Crack-Up". He never published another story again. He was too hot to handle. Lesson: We live in an era where authenticity is valued highly, but complete candor isn't as welcome as the pundits would have you believe. It's wise to be circumspect. 

Here's the opening paragraph of Fitzgerald's The Crack-Up.

Of course all life is a process of breaking down, but the blows that do the dramatic side of the work -- the big sudden blows that come, or seem to come, from outside -- the ones you remember and blame things on and, in moments of weakness, tell your friends about, don't show their effect all at once. There is another sort of blow that comes from within -- that you don't feel until it's too late to do anything about it, until you realize with finality that in some regard you will never be as good a man again. The first sort of breakage seems to happen quick -- the second kind happens almost without your knowing it but is realized suddenly indeed.

You can read the rest here.

Download the entire lecture here.

Trivia: When Fitzgerald died his total net worth was $700.

Question: What was your favorite book that you read in high school English class? 

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Originally published in August 2014