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Far Eastern Tales cover art

Far Eastern Tales

By: W. Somerset Maugham
Narrated by: Robert Powell
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Summary

Far eastern Tales is a collection of Maugham's short stories, all born of his experiences in Malaysia, Singapore, and other outposts of the former British Empire. The stories included on this recording are Footprints in the Jungle, Mabel, P & O, The Door of Oportunity, The Buried Talent, Before the Party, Mr. Know-all, Neil MacAdam, The End of the Flight and The Force of Circumstance.
©2014 Audible, Inc. (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Far Eastern Tales

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Evocative of the age but a bit depressing

Somerset Maugham's a wonderfully observant writer and Robert Powell has a beautifully modulated voice and a superb grasp of accents, so I was really looking forward to this audiobook. The stories are certainly evocative of the age (1920s), the steamy Far Eastern locations, and the insulated British way of life in those colonial outposts. Unfortunately I found the themes in the majority of these tales to be rather depressing: loneliness, marriage break-ups, murder and cowardice. So although I found many of the stories interesting, I won't be listening to this again.

One star off immediately because the audiobook's been lazily chopped up into 1-hour segments, which makes it impossible to find the start of each story.

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35 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Social history

I read most of these stories 40 years ago and they were considered deeply unfashionable, all the more so now. What a pleasure to hear them read by the excellent Robert Powell, who has exactly the right voice for them.

We can’t wipe out our colonial past, despite revisionist historians, and Somerset Maugham is as good as it gets when writing about this period. Don’t judge him by today’s more enlightened views. How will we be judged by future generations I wonder?

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Literature from another age

Stories of people from another time in a different place - a time and place that no longer exist. Good literature does not recognize this and these stories are as fresh and as interesting as when they were written. They are about people, well crafted and interesting in any circumstance. Love them or hate them, Maugham bring life to very human beings.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Far Eastern Tales (Unabridged)

Spell-binding story-telling in the inestimable tones of Robert Powell.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Lovely, and Long 'Short' Stories

This collection is great. It captures the art of what I think WSM did best - rather extended short stories. They are mostly long enough to really build the plots, create many characters, and lead you through a proper story, but end with you wanting a bit more. This collection covers a lot of ground: love, marriage, honour, and adventure - often with a bit of humour.

The narration from Robert Powell perfectly matches the period and the settings. Very good.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully narrated, a real storyteller

I love Somerset Maugham he tells stories so beautifully. I don't care if they're out of fashion or non PC. They are of the time and therefore historically interesting and well crafted. Ultimately they tell the story of the human condition with all its failings and frailties. I first read Maugham over 40 years ago and they are still captivating. Robert Powell is a brilliant narrator. His voice is pure magic and he enunciates clearly and with great emotion. I enjoyed it so much I looked for other readings from him but there were none that interested me.

Sit back and enjoy and be transported to the Far East in another era.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Held my attention throughout . Maugham is not read much now but his style is timeless

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • 04-03-20

Lovely insight into the Empire!

These stories were amusing, tragic and interesting from a historical perspective. Well written and read.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Maugham - Peerless as ever

Robert Powell narrated the collections of Maugham’s superb short stories which work marvellously as Audio books.
Five Stars seem paltry for the compassionate yet mercilessly insightful tales leaving Human Nature quite naked as usual.

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3 people found this helpful

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

Excellent

I really enjoyed these stories. I have not really read much of Somerset Maugham, but I was quite captivated by these.All different and read absolutely brilliantly by Robert Powell. Again, not someone I had listened to before, but I shall be looking for his name again when buying a book

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2 people found this helpful