num_pages: 187
description: Based on the life of Paul Gauguin, The Moon and Sixpence is W. Somerset Maugham's ode to the powerful forces behind creative genius. Charles Strickland is a staid banker, a man of wealth and privilege. He is also a man possessed of an unquenchable desire to create art. As Strickland pursues his artistic vision, he leaves London for Paris and Tahiti, and in his quest makes sacrifices that leave the lives of those closest to him in tatters. Through Maugham's sympathetic eye, Strickland's tortured and cruel soul becomes a symbol of the blessing and the curse of transcendent artistic genius, and the cost in humans' lives it sometimes demands.
language: English
title: The Moon and Sixpence
titlecomplete: The Moon and Sixpence
characters: Dirk Stroeve, Blanche Stroeve, Charles Strickland
genres: 20th Century, Art, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Novels, Literature, Classics, British Literature, Fiction, France
ratings_count: 23405
places: Paris, London, England, Tahiti
publisher: Alan Rodgers Books