Complete Short Stories, Volume 3

By: W. Somerset Maugham

Narrated by: Charlton Griffin

In 1938 Maugham wrote, "Fact and fiction are so intermingled in my work that now, looking back on it, I can hardly distinguish one from the other." Maugham also wrote that most of his short stories were inspired by accounts he heard firsthand during his travels to the lonely outposts of the British Empire. His beautifully restrained prose allowed him to explore the tensions and passions of isolated white colonists without the use of cloying melodrama.

In volume three of this series, we present all of the remaining short stories which Maugham published after World War I and which he subsequently caused to be republished in various collections. The stories in volume three are:

• 1. The Buried Talent
• 2. French Joe
• 3. German Harry
• 4. The Four Dutchmen
• 5. The End of the Flight
• 6. Flotsam and Jetsam
• 7. A Casual Affair
• 8. Mr. KnowAll
• 9. Straight Flush
• 10. The Portrait of a Gentleman
• 11. Raw Material
• 12. A Friend in Need
• 13. The Dream
• 14. The Taipan
• 15. The Consul
• 16. Mirage
• 17. Mabel
• 18. Masterson
• 19. A Marriage of Convenience
• 20. Princess September
• 21. In a Strange Land
• 22. The Lotus Eater
• 23. Salvatore
• 24. The WashTub
• 25. Mayhew
• 26. The Happy Man
• 27. The Point of Honor
• 28. The Mother
• 29. The Romantic Young Lady
• 30. The Poet
• 31. A Man from Glasgow
• 32. The Lion's Skin
• 33. The Three Fat Women of Antibes
• 34. The Happy Couple
• 35. The Voice of the Turtle
• 36. The Facts of Life
• 37. Gigolo and Gigolette
• 38. Appearance and Reality
• 39. The Luncheon
• 40. The Unconquered
• 41. The Ant and the Grasshopper
• 42. Home
• 43. The Escape
• 44. The Judgement Seat
• And more....

©W. Somerset Maugham Royalty Trust (P)2013 Audio Connoisseur

Hooray For Somerset Maugham

Charlton Griffin was splendid narrator for this just as he was for Volume 1 and 2. I often thought that the author himself was reading these. My mother also was thrilled by this collection!

Magnificent Storytelling

I love this man. What a storyteller. From the first tale to the last, he engaged me. He is insightful, witty, and eloquent. He has an excellent ear for dialogue and characters. The narrator matched Maugham’s craft. I highly recommend all three volumes of his complete short stories.

Brilliant Performances of Wonderful Short Stories

William Somerset Maugham’s short stories are all so beautifully detailed that it is easy to imagine yourself in the midst of them. The majority of the stories in this volume are short (between three to seven pages) and, strange enough, some of them had characters from previous stories going off on their own tangents.

The greatest aspect of this audiobook, though, is Charlton Griffin’s performance. Each character, whether male or female, has a unique voice in the story so that there’s no confusion as to who is speaking. Mr Griffin did a fantastic job of getting into each character and playing them as if he was on a stage. He certainly deserve praise for his talent and use of it!

Just Wonderful!

First you have the source material: the finest short stories ever written in English. Maugham was such a keen observer of human nature, he made these stories lush and compelling. His turn of phrase is not to be matched. Small incidents take on great proportion. I have found no modern equivalent.

Then you have the narration. Mr. Griffin’s cultured tones are just the right representation of Maugham as an urbane storyteller. He does accent the voices of individual characters differently; some find this objectionable (particularly his voicing of female characters), but I find it adds to the flavor and helps keep it clear to me who is speaking.

There are occasional music accents. They are subtle and infrequent. Even though I’m not typically a fan of this, here it works, adding one more layer to the storytelling.

I am so happy to see these tales presented like this. Just wonderful work overall!

Highly entertaining!

I love W.S. Maugham’s short stories! In my humble opinion, no one could write the way he did with such observations and precision with his colorful, fascinating and humorous writing styles! I read his short stories years ago and recommended them to friends and family. Listening to Charlton Griffin’s narration brought the stories alive, and I enjoyed them tremendously once again. Occasionally, I listened to some parts of the stories more than once, just to make sure I didn’t miss any nuances. I also read the written stories after listening to them to refresh my memory. I was able to see how my reading might have missed some of the colors that Mr. Griffin brought out in his spoken interpretation. After finishing one story, I would not go straight into another, as I needed some time to digest the flavor of the stories.

What I don’t understand is the way audiobooks arranged volume I, II and III, compared to the short story collections volume 1, 2, 3 and 4. Maugham wrote in his preface that he put particular stories together for each volume, as if making his own music playlist. He intended his stories to be read in a specific order. Even if we did not understand their arrangement, we should respect his creative ideas and hold our own opinions to ourselves.

The Volume III is far too long. I could not find the list of the titles after 44, yet there are 12 stories more! Maybe it was a commercial decision. It would have been better if the spoken stories followed the order of the written stories and volumes as Maugham intended. I had to hop around all four printed volumes to follow the audiobooks volumes. This is the only thing that I did not like from this series.

Nonetheless, I love Maugham’s writing and Griffin’s performance! I will continue to listen to more books by both of them. Once I run out of Griffin’s Maugham audiobooks, I will look for other audiobooks narrated by Griffin. I did not agree with some of the reviews about Griffin’s performance. Maybe the reviewers do not understand how Griffin captures the essence of Maugham's characters so well. Whatever the reasons, people should realize that his narration is part of the performance. It’s an art.

What a treat!

Having listened to all three volumes of the complete stories, I am once again amazed by the talents of WSM. Were I an aspiring young writer, I would study his work as we figure painters study the draftsmanship of Degas and Klimt. He maintains intense focus, clear motivation, and never wastes a word as he captures character, dialogue, and situation. Times have changed, to be sure, but excellent technique endures, which is reason enough to study the masters.

The short story is a merciless, demanding mistress: one wrong move and there will be no end of trouble. When an author is a master of this medium, it shows his talents to best effect.

Some listeners have groused about Charlton Griffin's not being British. I don't mind that, though some of his pronunciations can be a little eccentric. His rich, world-weary voice is perfectly suited to the character of WSM's observations here. I highly recommend this series to students of human nature, good writing, and days gone by. Enjoy.

Great narrator!

What an amazingly wonderful reader. I will be looking forward to hearing more from him

Chapter headings

I must comment on the lack of chapter titles. Each of the three volumes have over 50 titles. It is inconceivable that the titles of the stories couldn't be included, instead of simply Chapter 49....etc. Really detracts from the value of the books. Apart from this complaint, the stories are excellent. I would have been satisfied without the effects but not a big deal.

Complete list of Short Stories

Any additional comments?

It’s an amazing collection. If you have read Short stories volume one and two, you almost can follow the evolution of the author mind as he grew old. For those that like as I do to know what they are buying, what to expect and to enjoy going back to the stories that they really like, here is the complete list of the short stories in this third volume:
1. The Buried Talent
2. French Joe
3. German Harry
4. The Four Dutchmen
5. The End of the Flight
6. Flotsam and Jetsam
7. A Casual Affair
8. Mr. KnowAll
9. Straight Flush
10. The Portrait of a Gentleman
11. Raw Material
12. A Friend in Need
13. The Dream
14. The Taipan
15. The Consul
16. Mirage
17. Mabel
18. Masterson
19. A Marriage of Convenience
20. Princess September
21. In a Strange Land
22. The Lotus Eater
23. Salvatore
24. The WashTub
25. Mayhew
26. The Happy Man
27. The Point of Honor
28. The Mother
29. The Romantic Young Lady
30. The Poet
31. A Man from Glasgow
32. The Lion's Skin
33. The Three Fat Women of Antibes
34. The Happy Couple
35. The Voice of the Turtle
36. The Facts of Life
37. Gigolo and Gigolette
38. Appearance and Reality
39. The Luncheon
40. The Unconquered
41. The Ant and the Grasshopper
42. Home
43. The Escape
44. The Judgement Seat
45. Sanatorium
46. Louise
47. Lord Mountdrago
48. A String of Beads
49. The Promise
50. The Verger
51. The Social Sense
52. The Colonel’s Lady
53. Episode
54. The Kite
55. The Treasure
56. Winter Crews

Splendid Stories Told Splendidly

Maugham understands human nature with great perception and wisdom. Plus, he displays the best of the storyteller’s craft.

If you’re in the mood for a diverse collection of fine tales set all across the globe and at different times during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this is the ticket for you.

Charlton Griffin gets an A-plus for his narration.

Fine, all around.