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Complete Short Stories, Volume 3

By: W. Somerset Maugham
Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
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Publisher's summary

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
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    What listeners say about Complete Short Stories, Volume 3

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    • Overall
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    Hooray For Somerset Maugham

    Charlton Griffin was splendid narrator for this just as he was for Volume 1 and 2. I often thought that the author himself was reading these. My mother also was thrilled by this collection!

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    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!

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    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!

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    Highly entertaining!

    I love W.S. Maugham’s short stories! In my humble opinion, no one could write the way he did with such observations and precision with his colorful, fascinating and humorous writing styles! I read his short stories years ago and recommended them to friends and family. Listening to Charlton Griffin’s narration brought the stories alive, and I enjoyed them tremendously once again. Occasionally, I listened to some parts of the stories more than once, just to make sure I didn’t miss any nuances. I also read the written stories after listening to them to refresh my memory. I was able to see how my reading might have missed some of the colors that Mr. Griffin brought out in his spoken interpretation. After finishing one story, I would not go straight into another, as I needed some time to digest the flavor of the stories.

    What I don’t understand is the way audiobooks arranged volume I, II and III, compared to the short story collections volume 1, 2, 3 and 4. Maugham wrote in his preface that he put particular stories together for each volume, as if making his own music playlist. He intended his stories to be read in a specific order. Even if we did not understand their arrangement, we should respect his creative ideas and hold our own opinions to ourselves.

    The Volume III is far too long. I could not find the list of the titles after 44, yet there are 12 stories more! Maybe it was a commercial decision. It would have been better if the spoken stories followed the order of the written stories and volumes as Maugham intended. I had to hop around all four printed volumes to follow the audiobooks volumes. This is the only thing that I did not like from this series.

    Nonetheless, I love Maugham’s writing and Griffin’s performance! I will continue to listen to more books by both of them. Once I run out of Griffin’s Maugham audiobooks, I will look for other audiobooks narrated by Griffin. I did not agree with some of the reviews about Griffin’s performance. Maybe the reviewers do not understand how Griffin captures the essence of Maugham's characters so well. Whatever the reasons, people should realize that his narration is part of the performance. It’s an art.

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      5 out of 5 stars
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      4 out of 5 stars
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    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.

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    Great narrator!

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

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    Complete list of Short Stories

    Any additional comments?

    It’s an amazing collection. If you have read Short stories volume one and two, you almost can follow the evolution of the author mind as he grew old. For those that like as I do to know what they are buying, what to expect and to enjoy going back to the stories that they really like, here is the complete list of the short stories in this third volume:
    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
    45. Sanatorium
    46. Louise
    47. Lord Mountdrago
    48. A String of Beads
    49. The Promise
    50. The Verger
    51. The Social Sense
    52. The Colonel’s Lady
    53. Episode
    54. The Kite
    55. The Treasure
    56. Winter Crews

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    • Overall
      5 out of 5 stars
    • Performance
      5 out of 5 stars
    • Story
      5 out of 5 stars

    Splendid Stories Told Splendidly

    Maugham understands human nature with great perception and wisdom. Plus, he displays the best of the storyteller’s craft.

    If you’re in the mood for a diverse collection of fine tales set all across the globe and at different times during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this is the ticket for you.

    Charlton Griffin gets an A-plus for his narration.

    Fine, all around.

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    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.

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      4 out of 5 stars
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      4 out of 5 stars

    Another Griffin ruined reading.

    I repeat my comments on Volume 1 of the Griffin readings. I haven't listened to Volume 2.
    For me the reading was ruined by excessive and irrelevant 'music' (sometimes only beats or noise patterns or sound effects) that preceded each story, the 'music' dribbling even into the first sentences. The reader was adequate but I found the music distracting, annoying and certainly unnecessary. The introductory music and sound effects lasted for more than 1 minute for the first story in part 1 of volume 3. Sampling other stories and volumes produced similar outcomes. I returned this purchase to Audible.

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