THIS SYMBOL AT THE ENTRANCE TO W.
SOMERSET MAUGHAM'S
VILLA IS A MOORISH SHIELD AGAINST EVIL.
IT APPEARS AS AN ORNAMENT AND TALISMAN
IN SUCH FAMOUS BOOKS OF HIS AS OF HUMAN BONDAGE,
CAKES AND ALE, AND THE MOON AND SIXPENCE.
CAP FERRAT, WHERE HIS HOUSE STANDS,
REACHES OUT FROM THE FRENCH RIVIERA TO THE MEDITERRANEAN.
MAUGHAM'S LIFE IN LITERATURE AND IN DRAMA
GOES BACK TO THE GREATS OF MODERN ENGLISH LETTERS:
KIPLING, SHAW, ARNOLD BENNETT,
MAX BEERBOHM AND SCORES OF OTHERS.
HERE MAUGHAM CONVERSES WITH HIS FRIEND, ALAN PRYCE-JONES,
FORMER EDITOR OF THE LONDON TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
AND NOW A LONDON DRAMA CRITIC.
IT'S JUST THIRTY YEARS, WILLY, SINCE I FIRST CAME AND STAYED
WITH YOU IN THIS HOUSE AND I SUPPOSE THAT THIRTY YEARS AGO
YOU WERE JUST ABOUT THE SAME AGE THAT I AM NOW.
HAVE YOU FOUND THAT LIFE BECAME MORE INTERESTING,
MORE FASCINATING BETWEEN, SAY, FIFTY AND EIGHTY?
I SHOULD SAY THAT ON THE WHOLE I DON'T KNOW MUCH MORE
ABOUT LIFE THAN I KNEW THIRTY YEARS AGO.
AFTER ALL, REMEMBER THAT THIRTY YEARS AGO
I WAS ALREADY AN ELDERLY MAN.
I AM CONSCIOUS OF THAT MYSELF BUT I AM HOPING THAT
ONE DOES LEARN A BIT MORE IN THE DECADES TO COME.
NO, I THINK PROBABLY AS ONE REACHES MY ADVANCED AGE
ONE CARES MUCH LESS THAN ONE DID WHEN ONE WAS YOUNG
WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF ONE.
YOU'VE JUST MADE A LONG JOURNEY THROUGH THE FAR EAST;
NOW DID YOU TAKE A NOTEBOOK WITH YOU?
DID YOU MAKE ANY PLANS FOR USING THAT JOURNEY?
NO, NO, INDEED NOT. WHEN THE PRESS DISCOVERED
THAT I WAS GOING TO TAKE THIS JOURNEY,
ON ALL SIDES I HAD MUNIFICENT OFFERS TO WRITE ABOUT IT
BUT I REFUSED EVERYTHING.
I JUST WANTED TO GO TO ENJOY MYSELF BUT FOR SOME REASON
THE PRESS DESCRIBED IT AS A SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY
AND IT WASN'T ANY MORE SENTIMENTAL THAN
GOING DOWN TO BRIGHTON FOR A WEEKEND REALLY.
DID YOU TAKE A LOT OF BOOKS WITH YOU?
DO YOU NOW READ A GREAT DEAL?
OH, I ALWAYS TRAVEL WITH A LOT OF BOOKS.
YEARS AGO - I MEAN 35, 40 YEARS AGO -
I USED TO TRAVEL WITH A HUGE BOOK BAG FULL OF BOOKS.
IN FACT I CALLED A STORY THE BOOK BAG.
AT THAT TIME ALL MY STORIES WERE PUBLISHED
IN THE COSMOPOLITAN BY RAY LEUNG AND THE BOOK BAG
WAS THE ONLY STORY I WROTE HE EVER REFUSED.
HE WROTE TO ME AND SAID "I'VE GONE FURTHER WITH YOU
THAN WITH ANY OTHER AUTHOR BUT WHEN IT COMES TO INCEST
I HAVE TO DRAW THE LINE."
IT MUST HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFICULT, WASN'T IT, TO DECIDE
WHICH FORM TO ADOPT WHEN YOU HAD AN IDEA FOR A PLOT?
OH, I DON'T THINK IT WAS AT ALL.
IDEAS COME TO YOU ALREADY WITH A CERTAIN SHAPE
AND YOU USE THEM EITHER TO MAKE INTO
A NOVEL OR SHORT STORY OR PLAY.
BUT SOMETIMES YOU VARIED A LITTLE BIT.
I REMEMBER AT THE BEGINNING OF CAKES AND ALE YOU SAID
YOU JUST THOUGHT OF IT AS A VERY SHORT STORY
AND THEN IT TURNS INTO THIS WONDERFUL NOVEL.
I SUPPOSE THAT HAPPENED IN THE ACT OF WRITING?
IN THE ACT OF WRITING, YES.
AS ONE WROTE ONE THOUGHT OF MORE AND MORE THINGS.
IT IS EASY, REALLY, I HAVE NEVER WRITTEN
ANYTHING SO EASILY OR WITH SO MUCH PLEASURE.
HOW ABOUT OF HUMAN BONDAGE
- WAS THAT A VERY DIFFICULT BOOK TO WRITE?
WELL, YOU SEE, IT WAS WRITTEN NEARLY 40 YEARS AGO,
MORE PROBABLY. BECAUSE I REMEMBER
I CORRECTED THE PROOFS IN FLANDERS
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR, SO IT MUST HAVE
BEEN WRITTEN TWO OR THREE YEARS BEFORE THAT.
AND IN THAT PARTICULAR CASE I HAD RECOLLECTIONS
WHICH TORMENTED ME AND I DID WHAT I ALWAYS DO
IN SUCH A CASE - I WROTE THEM OUT IN A BOOK
AND AFTER THAT THEY CEASED TO TORMENT ME... SIMPLE.
YES, BUT IT'S SUCH A WONDERFULLY COMPLEX, LARGE BOOK.
I WONDER IF THAT CAME STRAIGHT THROUGH YOUR
NATURAL PROCESSES OF INVENTION OR RECOLLECTION
OR WHETHER IT INVOLVED A LOT OF WORKING OUT.
OH, I DON'T THINK SO. I THINK IT CAME STRAIGHT THROUGH.
WHEN YOU WERE A YOUNG MAN YOU WERE A MEDICAL STUDENT
AND THEN A DOCTOR, WEREN'T YOU?
I WAS INDEED, AND I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT
DURING THOSE FIVE YEARS I WAS AT ST. THOMAS' HOSPITAL
I LEARNED EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT HUMAN NATURE.
BECAUSE NORMALLY, AS WE KNOW, PEOPLE WEAR A MASK,
BUT WHEN THEY ARE ILL AND AFRAID TO DIE
THEY DROP THE MASK AND YOU SEE THEM AS THEY ARE.
AS FAR AS BOOKS GO, AM I RIGHT IN THINKING THAT YOU
PUT MOBY DICK AND HUCK FINN AND LEAVES OF GRASS
ABOVE ALL THE OTHERS?
YES I THINK SO, I THINK SO, AND EXCEPTING
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS IS EXTREMELY NEAR.
YOU ARE AN ADMIRER OF HEMINGWAY.
I AM A GREAT ADMIRER OF HEMINGWAY.
I'VE READ I THINK ALL HIS SHORT STORIES AND ALL HIS NOVELS
AND I THINK HE IS A VERY GOOD WRITER INDEED,
AND HE'S ALWAYS READABLE.
YOU KNOW SOME BOOKS ARE EXCELLENT
WITHOUT BEING READABLE, HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT?
HOW ABOUT WILLIAM FAULKNER?
WELL, I ONLY KNOW HIS SHORT STORIES, WHICH I LIKE.
THEY'RE GOOD BUT I HAVEN'T READ HIS NOVELS.
WHAT IS INTERESTING IS THE ABSOLUTE DIVERGENCE
OF OPINION BETWEEN FAULKNER AND YOURSELF IN ONE RESPECT
BECAUSE YOU'VE LIVED MOST OF YOUR LIFE
OUT OF YOUR HOME COUNTRY AND HE'S LIVED
MOST OF HIS LIFE IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI.
DO YOU REGRET HAVING LIVED SO MUCH ABROAD?
WELL, YOU SEE, I NEVER REALLY HAD A HOME
BECAUSE I WAS MADE AN ORPHAN AT A VERY EARLY AGE
AND I'VE BEEN EITHER HUSTLED AROUND
AND GONE ABOUT PLACES OF MY OWN FREE WILL
ALL OVER THE WORLD AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER.
AND YOU DON'T HAVE THE FEELING OF HAVING, SO TO SPEAK,
CUT YOURSELF OFF FROM YOUR GRASS ROOTS
BY LIVING IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE
RATHER THAN LIVING IN THE SOUTH OF GREAT BRITAIN?
OH, THAT IS ENTIRELY DIFFERENT.
I WOULDN'T HAVE EVER SETTLED HERE IF I HADN'T REALIZED
THAT MY WRITING CAREER WAS COMING TO AN END.
I DON'T THINK A WRITING CAREER EVER COMES TO AN END.
IT HAS COME TO AN END.
I WILL BELIEVE THAT WHEN I SEE IT.
DO YOU EVER SUFFER FROM SELF DOUBT, OR DO YOU KNOW
FROM THE BEGINNING THAT YOU CAN DO JUST WHAT YOU WANT?
OH NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, THE FIRST WRITING IS UNSATISFACTORY
AND I WRITE IT AGAIN.
I GENERALLY WRITE IT THREE TIMES UNTIL
I'VE REACHED A POINT WHERE I SAY TO MYSELF
IT MAY BE ALL WRONG BUT IT'S THE BEST I CAN DO.
AND YOU DO THIS BY HAND?
ALL BY HAND.
WHEN YOU WERE AT THE HEIGHT OF YOUR OUTPUT DID YOU ENJOY
WRITING FICTION AS MUCH AS WRITING THEATER, FOR EXAMPLE?
YES, I THINK SO.
DO YOU KNOW, IT WAS AWFULLY HARD IN THOSE DAYS TO GET
A PLAY PRODUCED - I'M SPEAKING OF FIFTY YEARS AGO AND MORE
BECAUSE THE THEATER WAS IN THE HANDS OF
THREE OR FOUR MEN WHO WROTE A PLAY
ONE EVERY YEAR AND FOR AN OUTSIDER TO COME IN WAS,
WELL, EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.
BUT YOU DIDN'T REMAIN AN OUTSIDER FOR LONG.
WELL, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT.
FOR ABOUT 15 YEARS I'D WRITTEN PLAYS THAT
NO MANAGER WOULD ACCEPT AND THEN WHEN I WAS 34
ONE OF THESE PLAYS WAS ACCEPTED BY PURE ACCIDENT.
INSTEAD OF LASTING FOR SIX WEEKS IT LASTED OVER A YEAR
AND WITHIN THREE OR FOUR MONTHS
I HAD FOUR PLAYS RUNNING IN LONDON.
