Complete Short Stories, Volume 3

By: W. Somerset Maugham

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

In 1938 Maugham wrote, "Fact and fiction are so intermingled in my work that now, looking back on it, I can hardly distinguish one from the other." Maugham also wrote that most of his short stories were inspired by accounts he heard firsthand during his travels to the lonely outposts of the British Empire. His beautifully restrained prose allowed him to explore the tensions and passions of isolated white colonists without the use of cloying melodrama.

In volume three of this series, we present all of the remaining short stories which Maugham published after World War I and which he subsequently caused to be republished in various collections. The stories in volume three are:

• 1. The Buried Talent
• 2. French Joe
• 3. German Harry
• 4. The Four Dutchmen
• 5. The End of the Flight
• 6. Flotsam and Jetsam
• 7. A Casual Affair
• 8. Mr. KnowAll
• 9. Straight Flush
• 10. The Portrait of a Gentleman
• 11. Raw Material
• 12. A Friend in Need
• 13. The Dream
• 14. The Taipan
• 15. The Consul
• 16. Mirage
• 17. Mabel
• 18. Masterson
• 19. A Marriage of Convenience
• 20. Princess September
• 21. In a Strange Land
• 22. The Lotus Eater
• 23. Salvatore
• 24. The WashTub
• 25. Mayhew
• 26. The Happy Man
• 27. The Point of Honor
• 28. The Mother
• 29. The Romantic Young Lady
• 30. The Poet
• 31. A Man from Glasgow
• 32. The Lion's Skin
• 33. The Three Fat Women of Antibes
• 34. The Happy Couple
• 35. The Voice of the Turtle
• 36. The Facts of Life
• 37. Gigolo and Gigolette
• 38. Appearance and Reality
• 39. The Luncheon
• 40. The Unconquered
• 41. The Ant and the Grasshopper
• 42. Home
• 43. The Escape
• 44. The Judgement Seat
• And more....

©W. Somerset Maugham Royalty Trust (P)2013 Audio Connoisseur

What a treat!

Having listened to all three volumes of the complete stories, I am once again amazed by the talents of WSM. Were I an aspiring young writer, I would study his work as we figure painters study the draftsmanship of Degas and Klimt. He maintains intense focus, clear motivation, and never wastes a word as he captures character, dialogue, and situation. Times have changed, to be sure, but excellent technique endures, which is reason enough to study the masters.

The short story is a merciless, demanding mistress: one wrong move and there will be no end of trouble. When an author is a master of this medium, it shows his talents to best effect.

Some listeners have groused about Charlton Griffin's not being British. I don't mind that, though some of his pronunciations can be a little eccentric. His rich, world-weary voice is perfectly suited to the character of WSM's observations here. I highly recommend this series to students of human nature, good writing, and days gone by. Enjoy.

Great narrator!

What an amazingly wonderful reader. I will be looking forward to hearing more from him

Chapter headings

I must comment on the lack of chapter titles. Each of the three volumes have over 50 titles. It is inconceivable that the titles of the stories couldn't be included, instead of simply Chapter 49....etc. Really detracts from the value of the books. Apart from this complaint, the stories are excellent. I would have been satisfied without the effects but not a big deal.

Brilliant Performances of Wonderful Short Stories

William Somerset Maugham’s short stories are all so beautifully detailed that it is easy to imagine yourself in the midst of them. The majority of the stories in this volume are short (between three to seven pages) and, strange enough, some of them had characters from previous stories going off on their own tangents.

The greatest aspect of this audiobook, though, is Charlton Griffin’s performance. Each character, whether male or female, has a unique voice in the story so that there’s no confusion as to who is speaking. Mr Griffin did a fantastic job of getting into each character and playing them as if he was on a stage. He certainly deserve praise for his talent and use of it!

Just Wonderful!

First you have the source material: the finest short stories ever written in English. Maugham was such a keen observer of human nature, he made these stories lush and compelling. His turn of phrase is not to be matched. Small incidents take on great proportion. I have found no modern equivalent.

Then you have the narration. Mr. Griffin’s cultured tones are just the right representation of Maugham as an urbane storyteller. He does accent the voices of individual characters differently; some find this objectionable (particularly his voicing of female characters), but I find it adds to the flavor and helps keep it clear to me who is speaking.

There are occasional music accents. They are subtle and infrequent. Even though I’m not typically a fan of this, here it works, adding one more layer to the storytelling.

I am so happy to see these tales presented like this. Just wonderful work overall!