Maugham and Russia

[kozubskaya]

Hi guys! i have my thesis work around Maugham, his staying in Russia and how it influenced his works in particular "Cristmas holidays" and some others.
Does anyone have information about this fact? or some materials? coz in russian language it is really few things to be read
waiting for your posts
thanks in advance
Mary

[Emil Miller]

Hi guys! i have my thesis work around Maugham, his staying in Russia and how it influenced his works in particular "Cristmas holidays" and some others.
Does anyone have information about this fact? or some materials? coz in russian language it is really few things to be read
waiting for your posts
thanks in advance
Mary

Hello Mary,

As an old Somerset Maugham afficionado, I hope I can help with your question if it's not too late for your thesis.
Maugham's interest in Russia started with his reading of the great russian
writers of thye 19th century e.g. Dostoievsky, Lermontov, Tolstoy etc. etc.
During the first World War, when he was serving as a secret agent for the British, he was sent to St Petersburg with a huge sum of money to try to prop up the Kerensky government which was under assault from the communists.
He failed but managed to escape by boat to Sweden and later he came across russian expatriots who had fled to Paris where he spent much of his time after the war.
This forms the basis for his novel Christmas Holiday in which one of the main characters is a Russian refugee. Russia also features in Mr Harringtons Washing; one of the stories he wrote for his novel Ashenden based on his experiences as a British spy. Forget James Bond, its childish rubbish written for overgrown schoolboys, read Ashenden if you really want to know what it is like being a secret agent.
Obviously, Maugham's contact with Russia ceased after the revolution as he was persona non grata in that country but his knowledge of Russian literature was profound and he counted Russian writers among the best he had ever read.
I hope your interest in Maugham extends beyond your thesis and you get a chance to read other works by this much travelled writer whose style is instantly recognisable to anyone who knows wonderful writing when they read it.