The Narrow Corner - (Vintage International) by W Somerset Maugham (Paperback)

About the Book

"The Narrow Corner" is a classic tale of the sea by one of the 20th-century's finest writers. [Maugham's] prose is so compact, so economical, so closely motivated, so skillfully written that it rivets from first to last.--"Saturday Review of Literature."

Book Synopsis

Filled with adventure, passion, and intrigue, The Narrow Corner is a classic tale of the sea by one of the twentieth-century's finest writers. Island hoping across the South Pacific, the esteemed Dr. Saunders is offered passage by Captain Nichols and his companion Fred Blake, two men who appear unsavory, yet any means of transportation is hard to resist. The trip turns turbulent, however, when a vicious storm forces them to seek shelter on the remote island of Kanda. There these three men fall under the spell of the sultry and stunningly beautiful Louise, and their story spirals into a wicked tale of love, murder, jealousy, and suicide.

Review Quotes

"Maugham is a great artist.... A genius." --Theodore Dreiser "An expert craftsman . . . His style is sharp, quick, subdued, casual." --New York Times "[Maugham] has given infinite pleasure and left us a splendor of writing which will remain for as long as the written English word is permitted to exist." --Daily Telegraph "The modern writer who has influenced me most is Somerset Maugham"--George Orwell"Maugham remains the consummate craftsman . . . [Hid prose is] so compact, so economical, so closely motivated, so skillfully written that it rivets from first to last." --Saturday Review of Literature "It is very difficult for a writer of my generation, if he is honest, to pretend indifference to the work of Somerset Maugham. . . . He was always so entirely there." --Gore Vidal

About the Author

W. Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874. He trained as a doctor in London, where he started writing his first novels. In 1926 he bought a house in Cap Ferrat, France, which was to become a meeting place for a number of writers, artists, and politicians. He died in 1965.