The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia & On a Chinese Screen (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Andalusia to the Yangtze: Early 20th-Century East-West EncountersBy William Somerset Maugham
Length11h 59m
About this audiobook
The Land of the Blessed Virgin and On a Chinese Screen bring together Maugham's travel sketches of Andalusia and China, transforming observation into polished literary miniature. In Spain he evokes landscape, ritual, poverty, Catholic pageantry, and local temperament with Edwardian elegance; in China he offers brief, theatrical portraits of officials, missionaries, merchants, and expatriates. The prose is lucid, ironic, and impressionistic, situated between nineteenth-century travel writing and the modernist art of the fragment. William Somerset Maugham, trained as a physician before becoming one of the twentieth century's most widely read writers, possessed an unusually clinical eye for character and motive. His lifelong mobility, linguistic ease, and sense of being an outsider shaped these books. Visits to Spain in his youth and to China after the First World War supplied not merely scenery, but occasions for studying empire, faith, performance, and self-deception. This volume is recommended to readers interested in travel literature as literary art rather than simple reportage. Though marked by the assumptions of its age, it rewards critical reading through its elegance, wit, and psychological precision. It is especially valuable for those seeking Maugham beyond the famous novels and stories.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
GenreTravel
Length11 hrs 59 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateApr 10, 2015
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia & On a Chinese Screen (Annotated)
26XX
2Introduction
27XXI
3Author Biography
28XXII
4Historical Context
29XXIII
5Synopsis (Selection)
30XXIV
Show all chaptersShow less
6The Land of the Blessed Virgin: Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia & On a Chinese Screen
31XXV
7I
32XXVI
8II
33XXVII
9III
34XXVIII
10IV
35XXIX
11V
36XXX
12VI
37XXXI
13VII
38XXXII
14VIII
39XXXIII
15IX
40XXXIV
16X
41XXXV
17XI
42XXXVI
18XII
43XXXVII
19XIII
44XXXVIII
20XIV
45XXXIX
21XV
46XL
22XVI
47On A Chinese Screen
23XVII
48I THE RISING OF THE CURTAIN
24XVIII
49II MY LADY'S PARLOUR
25XIX
50III THE MONGOL CHIEF
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