Tia Hotel

If I choose a favorite writer from foreign novelists-

I think it's Mao Mu.

As a cross-century English novelist, william somerset maugham is a legend. He was first known to the audience for his plays, such as Mrs. Frederick and The Explorer, and then gradually started the peak of his writing career.

His novels often attack the dark society directly, analyze the good and evil of human nature directly, and have distinct realistic criticism color. Because of this, he is called "Mo Bosang of England".

If I had to choose one of Mao Mu's favorite works-

I think it should be the moon and sixpence

As Mao Mu's earliest internationally renowned novel, The Moon and Sixpence, with the achievement of "selling nearly 65438+ ten thousand copies in eight months", established his lofty position as a "best-selling novelist".

In this work, Mao Mu uses the moon to symbolize lofty ideals and spirit, and sixpence to imply the reality and matter corrupted by money. By telling a seemingly eccentric and unconventional painter story, he showed us the fierce collision between ideal and reality.

If I had to choose a favorite character from The Moon and Sixpence-

Charles strickland, I think.

As the hero of the story, the most attractive thing seems to be him.

Charles strickland, a stockbroker who lives in London. He has a respected position, a well-off family, a hospitable wife and smart and sensible children. He is a big man with good features and doesn't get along well with people. In the eyes of others, even in the eyes of his wife, he is undoubtedly a rigid and boring man.

However, it is such an ordinary person who could have enjoyed life, but after seven years of marriage, he resolutely abandoned his wife and children at the age of forty, left a piece of paper and went to Paris, and began to pursue his artistic dream enthusiastically.

"I have to draw, I can't help myself. If someone falls into the water, it doesn't matter whether his swimming skill is good or bad. He either struggled to climb out or drowned. "

Strickland seems to be crazy. He abandoned his wife and children, luxurious food and lived in a shabby little hotel in Paris. He didn't trim the edges all day, he didn't trim the edges, and he concentrated on painting. He fell into an ideal world and enjoyed himself.

It is hard to imagine that a person who has reached the age of 40 and made achievements in a certain field will have such courage and courage to put aside everything and start over for a dream that could not be realized when he was young.

In the eyes of ordinary people and the narrator "I" in The Moon and Sixpence, it is understandable that young people are willing to take risks and sacrifice for their ideals. Because their lives are still long and they are still young, they have the opportunity and capital to take risks. But for middle-aged people with families like strickland, this road is undoubtedly ridiculous. Because his life is complete enough, it is neither worthwhile nor fruitful to start a new stove.

However, despite this, strickland is still full of passion. For him, maybe losing is the beginning of owning, what's more, in his heart, he never cares about the final result. What he pursues is only a noble painter's dream, not contaminated with the world.

For Strickland's sudden awakening, there is no clear and reasonable motive in the book. Many people say it is illogical and criticized by many readers and even critics. But in fact, from another angle, this irrationality makes Strickland more rebellious and more in line with his bohemian character.

The Irish writer Oscar Wilde once said that loving yourself is the beginning of a romantic life.

Strickland is such a self-centered person. Only love yourself, only love the painting you love. As for the rest, he loves nothing.

He doesn't love any woman.

At first, Strickland abandoned his wife who had been with him for more than ten years without pity, and even wanted to introduce her to a new husband. When he came to Paris, he met Blanche, the wife of his friend Dextrov. Blanche had a bad opinion of this rude man from the beginning. When her husband insisted on taking sick Strickland home to take care of her, she finally gave in to him, although she was very reluctant.

Strickland, on the other hand, aroused a strong desire to conquer because of Blanche's dislike of him. In the end, he won and Blanche fell, but he just used it as a tool to satisfy his personal desires. Even if Blanche finally committed suicide, he had no regrets.

He doesn't love any friends.

Strickland's world is lonely, and this loneliness is his own choice. Dirk Stroeve has always been his blind admirer, helping him in life from time to time. This friendship, despite the hatred of taking away his wife, still exists, but he never appreciated it.

Everyone in the world is lonely. So is strickland. No one can understand his paintings, no one can really understand the colors and symbols he depicts, and no one can pry into his inner world. It is precisely because of this that he is willing to imprison himself and not accept the so-called confidant.

He does not love any moral conscience.

"You obviously don't follow the rules. You should obey the rules and make your behavior conform to the universal laws. "

"I haven't heard this sentence, but it's nonsense."

Strickland is a person who completely ignores other people's opinions. He only cares about himself and regards ethics as nothing. In this society where everyone must obey the rules, "general ethics can't restrain him at all." He is like a gladiator covered in oil, and you will never catch him. "

There is no doubt that in Strickland's world, spirit is higher than matter and ego is higher than society. He is an anti-traditional and anti-secular existence, like a monster, which is frightening and helpless, but also admirable and yearning. In this secular world, too many of us have become slaves of conscience and life, and it is difficult to live like him.

"I always feel that most people spend their lives like this, as if something is missing. I admit the social value of this life, and I also see its orderly happiness, but there is a strong desire in my blood, longing for a wilder and more unrestrained journey, and my heart is eager for a more thrilling life. "

Strickland left Paris for Tahiti for a more exciting life. Here, he is also very poor, and he also insists on painting. He never sells paintings. Under the matchmaking of Tialei, the proprietress of Flower Hotel, he married Aita in the store and had children, which was only to give his painter's dream a sufficient material foundation.

Three years after marriage should be the happiest day of Strickland's life. Away from the wooden house around the island, a virtuous and gentle wife, where he can finally concentrate on painting. It's a pity that nature tricked people, and he was infected with leprosy, an incurable disease of that era.

In the last few days of his life, he suffered from illness, but he still didn't forget to draw, even when he was blind. Fortunately, God has mercy on him. Before his death, he finally created a world-famous painting.

Strickland should be the lucky one on the road of pursuing his ideal. Although he left his name after his death, he finally realized his lifelong wish. It's a pity that he left his last words and asked Aita to burn the painting. Since then, there has never been his most proud painting in the world.

"He created a world and saw the beauty of that world. Then he destroyed it with arrogance and contempt. " Like the 40-year-old man who gave up everything for his ideal, Strickland remained that wild and uninhibited until his death.

He never needs anyone's approval. He paints only to express the world he sees in his heart. This kind of pure self-obedience can't be achieved by anyone.

I have always liked a slogan about the moon and sixpence: the world is so long and fleeting. Some people see dust, others see stars.

There is no doubt that Charles Strickland was a man who lived in idolize all his life. For the sake of his ideal, he was willing to endure the vagaries of fate and never wavered. He is a well-deserved idealist fighter.

However, in reality, not everyone has the determination and courage to return to art like Charles Strickland. There will always be people willing or forced to bow their heads and pick up sixpence scattered on the ground. Is this life meaningless?

On this question, Mao Mu has given the answer in the book:

"I think it depends on how you look at the meaning of life, on what you think you should contribute to society and what you should ask of yourself."

Obviously, although the hero in Mao Mu's novels is a "madman" who is willing to die for his ideal, he never denies the meaning of another life. The ultimate value of the moon and sixpence, no matter what choice you make, can only be measured by your own heart.

So, even if we choose sixpence, or if we choose the moon but don't get what we want, we don't need to care. As the book says:

"Only a few people in the world can finally realize their ideals. Our life is simple and simple. We have no ambition. If we are proud, it is because we are proud of thinking about the fruits of our labor with our hands. Some people think that the happiness of labor is empty talk, but it is not for me. I deeply feel the meaning of this sentence. I am a very happy person. "

Finally, I hope we can all be happy people, whether we pursue our ideals or look at reality.

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