Debauchery of W. Somerset Maugham

[@2msvalkyrie529]

His later years were a nightmare . All his " companions " and family members behaved like a pack of hyenas around a dying zebra as his faculties declined . He was betrayed - for financial gain of course - by all of them . His short stories displayed the highest level of understanding of Human Nature and yet he was unable to grasp how his own behaviour inevitably led to the ghastly final years he endured. ? As for being " persecuted " : like Noel Coward / Terence Rattigan Ivor Novello and countless others it was common knowledge that they were " gay " . The notion that they lived in fear of being imprisoned is quite ludicrous ! Regardless of all that : he ranks alongside De Maupassant ( his role model ) as one of the very greatest short story writers !

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Great comment!

[@marknewton6984]

A rough ending..

[@2msvalkyrie529]

And a sad one !

[@alidabaxter5849]

I can't stand the unbearable mispronouncing of Names, place names and just about everything by AI and I loathe the happy tearing to shreds of dead people that is carried out by people without a trace of their talent. Somerset Maugham had an extraordinary insight into the human condition, and lived at a time when being Gay was to risk imprisonment and total disgrace. He went to live abroad, not as a self indulgence, but because he had worked in the equivalent of the British Secret Service during the First World War (described in the Ashenden stories) and hated it's cruelty, deciding to leave England for good. He was incredibly clever, nearly twenty years older than Noel Coward, who always envied his ability to write brilliant short stories, which he attempted to emulate, and I don't care a damn what his sexuality preferences or habits were - are you setting about Pablo Picasso next, who was a monstrously uncaring and unfaithful womaniser? Maugham left us a wealth of novels and short stories in the most wonderful prose, with incredible insight into every sort and kind of human being, and I am enormously grateful for that. His private life was his own business.

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Suggest you get AI banned then AND there's a video about Picasso on this channel, seriously how stupid can you get

[@ritar.7836]

This is a beautiful tribute to this great English writer! A lot of insights. Maugham shaped my outlook - appearances are not the same as reality, there's a lot of hypocricy out there, not all is gold that glitters, but there are people with a heart of gold...

[@RadioWhoPoo]

@@ritar.7836 Thank you so much! Great comment :)

[@FiestaToros]

Bravo, great writer

[@castelodeossos3947]

Ha ha, believe it's common knowledge that SMaugham left England to live in France because his 30-year long boyfriend American boyfriend Gerald Haxton was banned from entering England, having once been arrested and tried there for homosexual activity. Also, SMaugham felt at home in France, born there, grew up there till he was approx. 10 years old, and of course, spoke fluent French.

[@ELIOSANFELIU]

"Of Human Bondage" and "The Razor's Edge" are so amazing novels¡¡¡Human condition is explored by W.Somerset M,.to show us our fragility and happiness choise¡¡

[@annchristine47]

Al reading is the worst thing to happen to humanity.It’s soul destroying.

[@polarbearsrus6980]

LMAO, spoiled, much?

[@philiphema2678]

I wish AI readers would learn the nuances of English and French speech, AI spoils the content of the story.

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Maybe you can send a petition to all of the AI developers in the world about that

[@michaelblankenau6598]

Don’t worry . It won’t be long and you won’t be able to tell the difference between AI and human narration .

[@user9xyz836]

​@@RadioWhoPooMaybe youtubers should stop using AI and return to the good old human narrators.

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Cool you going to write to KZbin about it? Or?

[@ContinentsEdge]

@@RadioWhoPoo very very funny. But some people are impervious to humor. What Italians used to call testa dura.

[@oldishandwoke-ish1181]

I love Somewrset Maugham's work, he described the human condition and did not hesitate to write about people of all social classes. He also recognised that - shock horror - women have sexual desires just as strong as men's. An interesting character who lived life to the full.

[@aevans-jl9ym]

Revolting. Buying a "12-year-old Siamese girl for the price of a can of condensed milk" puts him in the same category as Gary Glitter.

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Have to agree.

[@ContinentsEdge]

Yes. I couldn’t agree more. I used to be a fan of Waughams, but will try now to read a couple of his novels with open eyes. And I foresee my open eyes will alert me to many many ruthless exploitations of those around him. Do not dismiss me as an anti homosexual. I am humanistic, someone who dislikes those who exploit others, especially the young. He seems to have lived an exclusively sadistic life whose chief wish was to satisfy his own pleasure. No, I don’t believe I will reread his novels - his life story disgusts me too much.

[@paulalb-n2f]

Somehow he had time to write some of the best short stories and novels of the time, and of all time. If your refined sensibilities can't tolerate an opinionated KZbin video, by all means, go. It's your loss. ​@ContinentsEdge

[@ThePiratemachine]

Because of all those personal issues he was a great writer. Some of his stories are absolutely brilliant - appeal to me anyway

[@polarbearsrus6980]

Two of my favorite movies, Of Human Bondage and Razor's Edge with Tyrone Power (and I don't really care for Powell that much). The role was made for him. I only saw it a couple of years ago and loved it. Herbert Marshall does a great job with the Maugham character, too.

[@granthurlburt4062]

Thanks for posting. A fascinating man. I've seen it written that he took great care of life and indeed lived to a great age, and that had he pushed himself a bit more he might have written a work of genius. He was a great writer but not a Joyce or a Waugh. I am quite happy to re-read him every decade and listen to his recorded books even more frequently.

[@RadioWhoPoo]

So glad you enjoyed it.

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Yes. He was modest about his talents and rated himself " in the first rank of the second raters "..I That's probably too harsh..? His style is just effortless .

[@donjoaoresort8565]

You think Joyce’s Ulysses is a great work?

[@FiestaToros]

If we talk about the “Dubliners”, especially “The dead”, yes Joyce is a great writer, the rest is rubbish in my opinion even if innovative but not readable, I would burn the Ulysses for another great book by Hemingway or Maugham. Thanks for the comment

[@mr.m8123]

How much worse can AI get? Ths bot cannot prounce words correctly, plus some of the pictures of the villa Mauresque have been altered. There are many, many inaccuracies in this video, which seemed little more than a cheap distortion of a man's life. You would think that the bot/producer could at least get the date of death right; they were off by two years. There are several excellent biographies of Maugham, certainly they are more accurate and less sensational. Homosexuality was a crime in England at this time; that was the real problem, not homosexuality. Could this bot narrator be any more flat and insipid?

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Sodomy isn't a human right, cry more

[@RadioWhoPoo]

@@maargenbx1454 Impossible to take any criticisms from a group who believe sodomy is the highest human right, please cry more.

[@RadioWhoPoo]

@@justaplainspokengirl Go back to Mexico :)

[@RadioWhoPoo]

@@seanmac-ku5ui Aww likewise! Byee

[@kimberleyblair3392]

❤😊Thanks friend!❤

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Always happy to have you!

[@cynthiafritze7418]

His homosexuality explains a lot. I’ve been listening to his short stories on KZbin and he doesn’t seem to like women very much.

[@RadioWhoPoo]

He was very attached to his mother, that's the only female connection that seems to have been loving

[@TheBigMclargehuge]

I knew he was gay when I read the razor's edge. He describes a female character looking with desire to another man as being ugly. Not sure I'm interested in hearing what someone with this much irrational bias has to say.

[@jackjones8363]

The man was a genius, who cares about the rest? He certainly picked a beautiful place to live - Cap Ferrat) I lived just a round the corner, at 36 Boulevard Durandy, ] but I was born way after his great parties, which is just as well...Decade dance...

[@RadioWhoPoo]

He was a degenerate predator. Cope

[@mell6398]

Such a beautiful part of the world. You must be doing very well, to afford to live there! What beautiful weather.

[@jackjones8363]

​@@mell6398That was back in the 80s, but I moved to Indonesia and haven't regretted it...

[@mell6398]

@@jackjones8363 Nice, wish you well stranger!

[@martin5504]

I hope ai gets better, it’s still at the inhuman stage.

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Many notices about AI development are at regulations.gov , encourage you to check it out

[@rozalialuks6583]

A genious!

[@Phyllida-r7n]

Spelling?

[@1969lumbee]

wow.

[@brittclausson3221]

Rude-yard Kipling 😂

[@ByJimineeItsBREXIT-z2k]

Was he aggressively gay as in Frankie Howard or Huw Edwards?

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Yes he was

[@ByJimineeItsBREXIT-z2k]

@@RadioWhoPoo I wonder if many young straight men were accosted in such a way.....and felt shocked and stunned? And absolutely bemused at such intimidating behaviour from another man?

[@billdauphine951]

I wonder if they called him "Bill" ???

[@davidroberts6108]

Actually, from what I've read from his biographies he was called "Willie" by his friends.

[@kellyanquoe]

The Beats got nothing on Maugham

[@scotsexile1]

I´ve read virtually everything Maugham wrote and several biographies and find this tabloid approach to his life with no sourcing of the statements absurd. Obviously he was not a pleasant individual and was homosexual but to accuse him of debauchery???

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Check the sources in the description thx

[@2msvalkyrie529]

Read his biography.! It's pretty eye opening . His coterie of " friends / lovers " fell upon him like a pack of hyenas round a dying zebra as he neared the end of his Life . Literally , anything not nailed down was stolen and flogged for cash...! Very sad..

[@RedRobin1212]

@@2msvalkyrie529 I’d love to read it, which one did you read this in?

[@2msvalkyrie529]

@rosedewinter5633 Rose : it was The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham. By Selina Hastings . Generally accepted I believe as being as accurate as such books can be. It's a bit of an eye opener but in no way diminishes my regard for his talent If anything I admire ( and perhaps "pity " him more. Your name hints more at Tennessee Williams ?. I believe HIS private life raised a few eyebrows too...He has a lot in common with Maugham I think. PS Should be irrelevant but I am heterosexual..

[@paulalb-n2f]

Try Maughm in his own words, "The Summing Up." Highly entertaining, and not the least bit unpleasant.

[@raleighsmalls4653]

Kubrick is PISSED !

[@houseofscott5259]

Wait what?!?

[@henrikwolff5081]

People actually had sex with each other, which of course remains shocking. If you are still interested in reading Mr. Maugham, I liked Ale and Cakes, Rosie und die Künstler, auf Deutsch.

[@andrewjordan4193]

This is truly dreadful. As someone who has read most of Maugham's works as well as two biographies of him the video is both nonsense and homophobic (Maugham was of course bisexual). PS He was a fascinating man who acted as a spy for the UK government in Russia (there at the time of the revolution). He spoke several languages and was also a qualifed doctor of medicine. In the early part of the twentieth century he was the most successful playwright in the UK and often had at least two productions on in the West End at the same time.

[@RadioWhoPoo]

WAH WAH WAH your globalist heroes are actually degenerate whores

[@cynthiafritze7418]

He cares not for his teeth

[@Playsinvain]

Debauchery? What’s a Bauch?

[@RadioWhoPoo]

dictionary.com

[@Nagolobo2023]

😂😂

[@lauralaladarling3775]

As with another commentor, this AI narrator's appallingly incorrect pronunciation of English and French words are jarring and horribly distracting, to say the least. The content, however, was extremely interesting, thank you.

[@JL-dw4jd]

Beyond belief, Frenxh town of Nice pronouned as in " nice icecream"

[@danetteperez3863]

What a twisted mind and person he was.

[@RadioWhoPoo]

He really was.

[@nledaig]

Robo-voice

[@lawLess-fs1qx]

mangled by AI. Brutal.

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Write to the government about it regulations.gov thx

[@elenagill-yn7sw]

He was a spy... A spy as smart and unique for any agency in the world to be lucky to have him as an agent. + the greatest WRITER of his epoch as well...

[@RadioWhoPoo]

The British government wasn't exactly pleased with his reports of the Allies firing on their own in France.

[@paulalb-n2f]

​@@RadioWhoPoohow about a link to this? Need specifics. And anyway, when is any government happy with bad publicity, leaked inflammatory information? And since when is spying considered debauchery? Start again. AI hurt this presentation.

[@davidtroy1522]

I was going too read one of his books. After this? Yuk!

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Tons of better authors out there....T.S. Eliot, Yeats, Fitzgerald... !

[@brendabadih8855]

Agreed. I appreciate his writing but as a woman l sense a distain, subtle jealousy many homosexual men have toward real women. Debauchery cannot escape the pen of a debauched life. Yes there are many excellent sources of literature. Even if entertainment is what drives your love of reading. Maugham was not a cheerful person but had much of the unhappiness and self persecution of one whose view of humanity is tainted by abhorrent vice. This lifestyle cast a somewhat disguised grimness over his perception of all classes in his writing. Recently while refinishing a door l listened to several of his stories. Something vital is lacking. Genuine compassion, depth of empathy, a Christian heartfelt embrace of the working class and the oppressed. I have reread several novels and I highly recommend them. Robinson Crusoe, Ben-Hur, everything by Thomas Hardy, George Eliot, George Orwell. Humans, not even great authors are perfect people. But for my remaining years l shall choose to nurture my heart, and love of humanity. Not celebrating our foibles, instead recognizing them and those who overcome. I love to read the Bible. Recommend it to everyone. ✝️

[@TaharkahX]

I find several racist quotes and themes in his work.

[@jcfal1708]

De, pause, cadence. need I say more

[@Playsinvain]

You forgot a conclusion

[@RadioWhoPoo]

You literally worship Satan.

[@Playsinvain]

@@RadioWhoPoo ….lol. Ok. I’m very bad at it, I’m sure.

[@karengrooms4968]

I think I got about a third of that dreadful commentary, stop using AI bloody awful pronunciation, and no full stops

[@RadioWhoPoo]

Write to your government about it full stop

[@deborahcrawford9079]

I’m jelaous

[@jenniferbond5771]

Hes a sicko

[@RadioWhoPoo]

He really was.

[@billdauphine951]

Love the Art...not the Artist...❤..

[@j.w.2391]

I dont think I would have like Maugham as a person...but I cant deny his Mastery as a Novelist and Dramatist. It is a shame that for a Gay man, Maugham was paradoxically Very Racist. Many of his plays are saturated with Whyte Hegemonic discourse.

[@ValeskaTruax]

He also didn't seem to like women very much either.