Reviews

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham

honeypielovesbooksnthebeatles's review

emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I’m not sure, but I think Kitty is a very unreliable narrator.

isolte's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

emilyklm's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

macpau_'s review against another edition

3.0

El velo pintado no me ha llegado a calar del modo que lo hizo la pelicula. No es un mal libro, tiene algunos pasajes memorables y está bien escrito, pero hay algo en el que me molesta: la psicologia del personaje de Kitty, la protagonista, demasiado simplona y con algo de mal gusto. Ademas estuve buscando la redención por todo el camino, pero lo unico que encontre fue una cita al final sobre como las cosas seran diferentes, como DEBEN ser diferentes para las mujeres y como Kitty luchara por ello. La verdad es que no le creo ni pizca.

marinainthecastle's review

reflective relaxing

peterp3's review against another edition

4.0

This is a powerful evocation of a young woman’s feelings and her changing thoughts of what love really is. And the story draws you in very well to her experiences.
But there’s some rather racist language in describing the Chinese people. I can’t quite work out whether this is Maugham’s own unthinking prejudice, or whether he’s written it deliberately that way to express Kitty’s prejudices. Either way, some of the phrases are very jarring to a reader today.

suzid's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Angst ridden and considering it's so much about the British upper lip and hiding what you feel is full of emotion. This book explores how society can limit and stifle the real person. Living through real traumas slowly brings Kitty to understand more about herself and to decide to make the changes needed for a better life.

aliharvey01's review

5.0

This is a beautiful book, I really enjoyed it.

kainsbird's review

informative sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

catalogthis's review

For #7 of the 2017 Read Harder Challenge: Read a book published between 1900 and 1950.