And later, I waited for this beautiful moment of recognition between estranged husband and wife, in cholera-infested China: Sometimes we find the film adaptation of the book first. That's what happened to me, with W. Somerset Maugham's story of an ill-fated marriage, The Painted Veil. I saw the film many moons ago. She began to regain her spirits; she felt better and stronger. It had seemed to her that she could do nothing now but weep; but to her surprise, and not a little to her confusion, she caught herself laughing at this and that. It began to seem quite natural to live in the midst of a terrible epidemic. She knew that people were dying to the right and left of her, but she ceased very much to think of it. (146) Dr. Walter Fane is not a fool, but he is a complete fool when it comes to his love of this beautiful bobble of girl who has never had to have a serious thought in her life. Even intelligent people can be blind in the ways of love. He knows Kitty doesn’t love him. He knows why she is desperately marrying him, and yet he must have believed that, given time, he can convince her that he is worth loving. Walter is a bacteriologist who has a job in Hong Kong he's leaving for in the autumn. Kitty has little idea what that means, but knows that with Doris marrying in November, Kitty could be on her way to the Far East while her sister's lavish wedding is taking place. Two years later, Kitty is pleased by Walter's doting on her with gifts or attention, but also bemused, with few if any other husbands she observes deferring so politely to their wives. Walter shuns social events and has few friends. Kitty is bored in Hong Kong until she meets Charlie Townsend at a tea party and is instantly charmed by the tall, dark, handsome and married politician.

Even still, it is the moment I became less forgiving of her character and the direction the book was taking. I would have liked her to have still more sympathy and love for her family, became more transparent with Waddington and, finally, resist Charlie -- even one last time. She didn't change as much as I had hoped. Steady on, old girl," Charlie said. "A chap says a lot of things he doesn't mean with his trousers down. You go off with Walter; cholera isn't so bad as long as you don't get it. Must bolt!" numai 3 luni, o femeie frivolă devine un monument de cumințenie și virtute. Metamorfoza frumoasei Kitty Garstin se petrece mult prea repede ca să fie întru totul convingătoare. Nimeni nu se modifică radical într-un trimestru (sic!), chiar dacă muncește într-o mănăstire de călugărițe misionare, venite din Marsilia, într-un oraș bîntuit de molimă, iar soțul ei, doctorul Waler Fane - la care oricum nu ține, fiindcă nu-l înțelege -, moare eroic de holeră.

Retailers:

NOVEL VS FILM: While the novel provides more insights on Kitty's inescapability from her past mistakes and repeated sinning against her will, the movie (directed by John Curran and filmed in Guangxi, China) ends ina redeemed Kitty living a life of repentance and atonement following the death of her beloved husband when he contracts cholera. After Walter’s burial, Kitty decides to leave China. At the end of the movie, five years later, when Kitty runs into her former lover Charles at the flower shop in London and Kitty's five year old son Walter Jr. asked who Charlie was, Kitty replied: “no one important”. That says a lot. Therefore, these tiny details points towards the following: Walter was indeed the father of the child. If that’s the case, then the ending of “The Painted Veil” is a bit less depressing. Although, Walter was no longer in Kitty’s life, there was a part of him that will always stay with her. As much as I disliked Kitty at the onset of this book, she grew on me. I came to see her as an imperfect human, a product of her privileged upbringing and societal expectations. Similarly, I came to see some of Walter's flaws. He wasn't entirely a victim as I believed, early on.

For a while, Kitty had hoped Walter might improve, but once she had succumbed to Charlie Townsend's assured athleticism she could no longer fool herself that Walter was anything other than a short, ugly, charmless nonentity.Walter would depart their bungalow early each morning and come home late, leaving Kitty to indulge her overwrought fantasies. How she longed to die and yet to live! But as the days passed she began to spend more time with Waddington exploring the village, and found herself reaching a new level of understanding. How shallow she had been up till now! Certo, si può interpretare la cosa come forma di vendetta diretta a fare di Kitty una nuova Pia de’ Tolomei. Ma io preferisco la prima ipotesi.

Kitty is vain, pretty and foolish. Walter adores her, but her feeble head is turned by a British expatriate, Charles Townsend, a notorious womanizer who is stationed in Shanghai. This classic tale of love and betrayal is set in the early 1900s: Kitty Garstin accepts Dr. Walter Fane's marriage proposal because she didn't want her sister to beat her to the altar. However, in this second issue (Fig 2), Maugham cleverly adapted these location names and henceforth referred to them as ‘Tching-Yen’, ‘Pleasant Valley’, ‘The Mount’ and ‘Lushan’ respectively. All references to ‘Canton’ (Guangzhou) have also been removed due to its proximity to Hong Kong. Even though Maugham had changed the names to avoid allegations, he later admitted in 1934 that he was indeed inspired by the events witnessed during his voyage to China, which directly led to the creation of this book and raises the question of whether this kind of censorship was necessary at all. Of course it was stupid for them to have retired to her bedroom after tiffin, but how hateful it was that neither she nor Charlie was free! What a ghastly woman Dorothy was! A good mother and an able Assistant Commisioner's wife, yes! But so old!

What to know

There are two poetry references that should be looked up. At one point, Walter says, “The dog it was that died.” That is from a poem by Oliver Goldsmith, written in 1766- “An Elegy on the death of a Mad Dog.”