Podcasts about Somerset Maugham

La cultura popolare per la sua stessa natura cambia continuamente ed assume nuove forme, nuovi significati espandendo anche di molto i suoi confini. Ne parliamo con Claudio Giunta, docente di letteratura italiana all'Università di Torino ed autore del libro, Il pop e la felicità (Mondadori).Nella seconda parte del programma le seguenti recensioni:- Oscar Wilde, Il vizio supremo, De Piante editore- Henry James, Il carteggio Aspern, Bibliotheka- Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Vivere con niente, Avagliano editore- Stan Barstow, Un modo di amare, Mattioli 1885- Alan Bennett, Una spia in esilio, Adelphi- Paolo Bertinetti, Il romanzo inglese del 900, La nave di Teseo- W. Somerset Maugham, Il velo dipinto, Adelphi- Marta Morazzoni, Tutta la verità, all'incirca, Guanda- Umberto Veronesi, 100 pensieri ribelli per cambiare il mondo, Sonzogno.Il confettino, i consigli di lettura per i più piccoli, di questa settimana:Calendario dell'avvento dell'editore Sassi, con 24 libretti da aprire dal 1° al 24 dicembre.

In the nuclear fallout of recent cinematic Chernobyls, we turn for guidance to the cool imperial mind of master noticer-storyteller Somerset Maugham, who gave us a timeless satire of literary culture and clout-chasing in his novel Cakes and Ale (1930) and reached some uncomfortable conclusions about the meaning of art in his intellectual memoir The Summing Up (1936).   For the full 4 hour bull session, subscribe to the show at patreon.com/filthyarmenian   Guest starring Matthew Sini and Matt Fresca from the Getting Lit podcast   Follow us on X/insta @filthyarmenian  

How to live in an uncertain or chaotic world? Two stories by W. Somerset Maugham.

Daily QuoteScience is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition. (Adam Smith)Poem of the DayThe Last BargainBy Rabindranath TagoreBeauty of WordsRainby W. Somerset Maugham

We take a tour of one of the world's most famous luxury hotels, the Raffles in Singapore. Raffles' 83-year-old resident historian Leslie Danker tells us about some of the famous guests who have stayed in the Beach Road suites, including the author Somerset Maugham. But with Sikh doormen manning the lobby and a cocktail bar designed to evoke the days when British miners and planters dominated the local economy, the hotel can be read as an unapologetic celebration of the country's colonial era. As Singapore marks 60 years of independence, does it matter how hotels - and tourists - frame the past?If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, please email businessdaily@bbc.co.ukPresented and produced by Vivienne Nunis(Picture: Leslie Danker, resident historian at the Raffles Hotel, Singapore.)

W. Somerset Maugham. „Viską sudėjus“. Vertė Rasa Jūrevičienė, išleido leidykla „Algarvė“.Ši knyga – autobiografinis romanas, bet ne autobiografija; išpažintis, kurioje neatskleidžiamas savasis vidinis aš, – viena labiausiai vertinamų asmeninių įsitikinimų išraiškų. Tai ne tik profesionalaus rašytojo išpažintos mintys apie stilių, literatūrą, meną, dramą ir filosofiją, tai ir daug duodanti bei pamokanti galimybė pažvelgti į save. Knygos ištraukas skaito aktorius Sergejus Ivanovas.

W. Somerset Maugham. „Viską sudėjus“. Vertė Rasa Jūrevičienė, išleido leidykla „Algarvė“.Ši knyga – autobiografinis romanas, bet ne autobiografija; išpažintis, kurioje neatskleidžiamas savasis vidinis aš, – viena labiausiai vertinamų asmeninių įsitikinimų išraiškų. Tai ne tik profesionalaus rašytojo išpažintos mintys apie stilių, literatūrą, meną, dramą ir filosofiją, tai ir daug duodanti bei pamokanti galimybė pažvelgti į save. Knygos ištraukas skaito aktorius Sergejus Ivanovas.

W. Somerset Maugham. „Viską sudėjus“. Vertė Rasa Jūrevičienė, išleido leidykla „Algarvė“.Ši knyga – autobiografinis romanas, bet ne autobiografija; išpažintis, kurioje neatskleidžiamas savasis vidinis aš, – viena labiausiai vertinamų asmeninių įsitikinimų išraiškų. Tai ne tik profesionalaus rašytojo išpažintos mintys apie stilių, literatūrą, meną, dramą ir filosofiją, tai ir daug duodanti bei pamokanti galimybė pažvelgti į save. Knygos ištraukas skaito aktorius Sergejus Ivanovas.

RNIB Connect Radio's Toby Davey is joined again by Vidar Hjardeng MBE, Inclusion and Diversity Consultant for ITV News across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands for the next of his regular audio described theatre reviews for 2025. This week we have a reimagining of Somerset Maugham's ‘the Constant Wife' at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon with description by Professional Audio Describers Julia Grundy and Carolyn Smith. About ‘The Constant Wife' ‘I can't help it if you were careless with your cigarette case. I was extremely careful with your heart' Constance has everything. A loving family, a beautiful home, a fulfilling career, and a husband as devoted to her as he is to his mistress. When her perfect set up is threatened, Constance fights back but refuses to play by the rules. Can she withstand society's expectations? And can society withstand the force of a woman determined to do things her own way? RSC Co-Artistic Director Tamara Harvey (Pericles) and playwright Laura Wade (Posh, Rivals) reunite after their Olivier Award-winning collaboration, Home, I'm Darling, to reimagine Somerset Maugham's subversive comedy, The Constant Wife, in a sparkling new version featuring original music by multi award-winning jazz artist Jamie Cullum. Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, Vigil) plays Constance, a 1920s heroine with a decidedly modern spirit. For more about access at the Royal Shakespeare Company do visit - https://www.rsc.org.uk/your-visit/access (Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underline with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font)

W. Somerset Maugham. „Viską sudėjus“. Vertė Rasa Jūrevičienė, išleido leidykla „Algarvė“.Ši knyga – autobiografinis romanas, bet ne autobiografija; išpažintis, kurioje neatskleidžiamas savasis vidinis aš, – viena labiausiai vertinamų asmeninių įsitikinimų išraiškų. Tai ne tik profesionalaus rašytojo išpažintos mintys apie stilių, literatūrą, meną, dramą ir filosofiją, tai ir daug duodanti bei pamokanti galimybė pažvelgti į save. Knygos ištraukas skaito aktorius Sergejus Ivanovas.

W. Somerset Maugham. „Viską sudėjus“. Vertė Rasa Jūrevičienė, išleido leidykla „Algarvė“.Ši knyga – autobiografinis romanas, bet ne autobiografija; išpažintis, kurioje neatskleidžiamas savasis vidinis aš, – viena labiausiai vertinamų asmeninių įsitikinimų išraiškų. Tai ne tik profesionalaus rašytojo išpažintos mintys apie stilių, literatūrą, meną, dramą ir filosofiją, tai ir daug duodanti bei pamokanti galimybė pažvelgti į save. Knygos ištraukas skaito aktorius Sergejus Ivanovas.

W. Somerset Maugham. „Viską sudėjus“. Vertė Rasa Jūrevičienė, išleido leidykla „Algarvė“.Ši knyga – autobiografinis romanas, bet ne autobiografija; išpažintis, kurioje neatskleidžiamas savasis vidinis aš, – viena labiausiai vertinamų asmeninių įsitikinimų išraiškų. Tai ne tik profesionalaus rašytojo išpažintos mintys apie stilių, literatūrą, meną, dramą ir filosofiją, tai ir daug duodanti bei pamokanti galimybė pažvelgti į save. Knygos ištraukas skaito aktorius Sergejus Ivanovas.

W. Somerset Maugham. „Viską sudėjus“. Vertė Rasa Jūrevičienė, išleido leidykla „Algarvė“.Ši knyga – autobiografinis romanas, bet ne autobiografija; išpažintis, kurioje neatskleidžiamas savasis vidinis aš, – viena labiausiai vertinamų asmeninių įsitikinimų išraiškų. Tai ne tik profesionalaus rašytojo išpažintos mintys apie stilių, literatūrą, meną, dramą ir filosofiją, tai ir daug duodanti bei pamokanti galimybė pažvelgti į save. Knygos ištraukas skaito aktorius Sergejus Ivanovas.

Tom is joined by reviewers Kate Maltby and Stephanie Merritt to discuss Laura Wade's adaptation for the RSC of Somerset Maugham's comedy The Constant Wife. Also Wendy Erskine's Belfast -set novel; The Benefactors. A polyphonic telling of a teenage girl's assault and its aftermath. And Rebecca Lenkiewicz's directorial debut Hot Milk. Based on Deborah Levy's novel, it stars Fiona Shaw and Emma Mackey. And we discuss the impact on music festivals and live broadcasts of last weekend's Glastonbury incident

The Department for Education has just released the latest figures that show another rise in the number of Education, Health and Care Plans, or EHCPs, in England. These are the legal documents that outline what support a child or young person with special educational needs and disabilities is entitled to. The BBC's education reporter Kate McGough, Jane Harris, vice chair of the Disabled Children's Partnership, and Jacquie Russell from West Sussex County Council join Clare McDonnell. It's the UN's International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. At the moment, sexual violence is not treated as torture, which makes it harder to prosecute. Clare talks to the UN's special rapporteur on torture, Dr Alice Jill Edwards.Kate Burton features in a new version of Somerset Maugham's 1926 drawing-room comedy The Constant Wife in Stratford. Kate is known for many stage roles - at least 14 on Broadway - and screen hits including ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Scandal - as well as for coming from a very famous family. She joins Clare to discuss the new production.Clare also talks to LGBTQ+ trailblazer Yehudis Fletcher, whose memoir Chutzpah! opens with Yehudis, aged six, observing the sabbath with her orthodox Jewish family and all her unanswered questions about the world and her place in it. By age 16, she had been silenced, abused and lost within the care system. By 20, she had been married twice. By 25, she had three children. At 26, she found her voice and stands up in court against her abuser. And at 31, she fell in love for the first time.Presenter: Clare McDonnell Producer: Corinna Jones

Jordan spoke to director Eli Craig a few days before his new (third) feature made an outsized impact at the indie box office, becoming IFC's best-ever opening. They speak about the genesis of that film, 'Clown in a Cornfield,' and about the surprising actor/writer turn Bill Murray took in 1984's 'The Razor's Edge,' as a man on the quest for a better way to live in difficult times.Then Jordan has one quick thing about the new trailer for 'Nobody 2'!***With Jordan Crucchiola & Eli Craig Feeling Seen is hosted by Jordan Crucchiola and is a production Maximum Fun.Need more Feeling Seen? Keep up with the show on Instagram and Bluesky.

Send us a textThis episode originally recorded as a video 5th April 2024 as a Parton only post. I am happy now to make it publicly available. Welcome to another bonus episode where I react to my recent reading and discussing a Philosophical or literary works from a Christian perspective. Today, we'll be exploring "The Razor's Edge" by Somerset Maugham, a novel that considers questions of faith, meaning, and the pursuit of truth.I critically examine the themes of spiritual awakening, moral dilemmas, and the search for purpose in life, whislt at the same time revealing what I believe are it false flags and it occult influences.Set against the backdrop of post-World War I society, "The Razor's Edge" follows the journey of its protagonist, Larry Darrell, as he embarks on a quest for enlightenment that leads him to distant lands and unexpected encounters.Through the lens of Christian theology and philosophy, we'll analyse the characters' decisions, their struggles with doubt and temptation, and his ultimate attempt to find redemption. Does true freedom and salvation lie with the rejection of societal norms and how does the advise revelled in this modern parable line up against timeless biblical truths and teachings.Join us as I try and unravel the layers of "The Razor's Edge" and uncover the real but dangerous spiritual advise it offers. Whether you're a literature enthusiast, a seeker of truth, or simply curious about the intersection of faith and fiction, this episode promises to be an enlightening journey of discovery, it certainly was for me anyway.Support the showFor an ad-free version of my podcasts plus the opportunity to enjoy hours of exclusive content and two bonus episodes a month whilst also helping keep the Bible Project Daily Podcast free for listeners everywhere support me at;|PatreonSupport me to continue making great content for listeners everywhere.https://thebibleproject.buzzsprout.com

A shot rings out, waking the household. A man stumbles out the front door followed by a dowdy woman with a revolver who shoots him again and again. W. Somerset Maugham, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.   Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.   If you'd like to ensure the future of The Classic Tales, please visit the website, classictalesaudiobooks.com, and either make a donation, buy an audiobook, or pick up one of our many support options.   And if you can't support us monetarily, leave us a review or share an episode with a friend. It all helps.   Today's story was originally written in 1922, appearing in a collection of stories that came from Maugham's travels in the Malay provinces. The racism in the story can be hard on the modern ear, but reflects the views of the time. Maugham uses racism as a literary device to fuel the tension in the story, to show the prejudices of the British toward the people they are exploiting. It also demonstrates how the native people in the region resent the British. So, if you're feeling a bit uncomfortable, it's by design.   This is one of Maugham's most famous short stories, and the 1940 Bette Davis film is an excellent adaptation.     And now, The Letter, by W. Somerset Maugham.       Follow this link to become a monthly supporter:     Follow this link to subscribe to our YouTube Channel:     Follow this link to subscribe to the Arsène Lupin Podcast:     Follow this link to follow us on Instagram:     Follow this link to follow us on Facebook:       Follow this link to follow us on TikTok:

A shot rings out, waking the household. A man stumbles out the front door followed by a dowdy woman with a revolver who shoots him again and again. W. Somerset Maugham, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.   Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.   If you'd like to ensure the future of The Classic Tales, please visit the website, classictalesaudiobooks.com, and either make a donation, buy an audiobook, or pick up one of our many support options.   And if you can't support us monetarily, leave us a review or share an episode with a friend. It all helps.   Today's story was originally written in 1922, appearing in a collection of stories that came from Maugham's travels in the Malay provinces. The racism in the story can be hard on the modern ear, but reflects the views of the time. Maugham uses racism as a literary device to fuel the tension in the story, to show the prejudices of the British toward the people they are exploiting. It also demonstrates how the native people in the region resent the British. So, if you're feeling a bit uncomfortable, it's by design.   This is one of Maugham's most famous short stories, and the 1940 Bette Davis film is an excellent adaptation.     And now, The Letter, by W. Somerset Maugham.       Follow this link to become a monthly supporter:     Follow this link to subscribe to our YouTube Channel:     Follow this link to subscribe to the Arsène Lupin Podcast:     Follow this link to follow us on Instagram:     Follow this link to follow us on Facebook:       Follow this link to follow us on TikTok:

Russia's latest covert warfare escalations take center stage in this week's Espresso Martini. Chris and Matt unpack the emergence of the GRU's Department of Special Tasks, a new clandestine unit coordinating assassinations, sabotage, and hybrid warfare operations against the West. They also break down an alarming report on a Russia-linked Telegram network inciting terrorism and hate crimes in the UK—just another front in Moscow's war of destabilization. Plus, listener questions on the dilemmas of counterterrorism, the future of Five Eyes under Trump, and top spy books, both fiction and non-fiction. Subscribe and share to stay ahead in the world of intelligence, geopolitics, and current affairs. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/O_uErvzy13o Articles discussed in today's episode "A New Spy Unit Is Leading Russia's Shadow War Against the West" by Bojan Pancevski | The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/russia-spy-covert-attacks-8199e376 "A Russia-linked Telegram network is inciting terrorism and is behind hate crimes in the UK" by Gregory Davis | Hope Not Hate: https://hopenothate.org.uk/2025/02/10/exclusive-a-russia-linked-telegram-network-is-inciting-terrorism-and-is-behind-hate-crimes-in-the-uk/ Recommended Spy Reads In this episode, we share some of our favorite spy books—both fiction and non-fiction. Whether you're looking for deep dives into real-world espionage or classic spy thrillers, these picks have you covered. Chris's Picks: A mix of gripping true stories and classic spy fiction, covering Cold War betrayals, intelligence tradecraft, and covert operations. Fiction: Agents of Innocence (David Ignatius), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (John le Carré), Ashenden (W. Somerset Maugham), The Deceiver (Frederick Forsyth), Damascus Station (David McCloskey) Non-Fiction: Next Stop Execution (Oleg Gordievsky), The Art of Intelligence (Henry Crumpton), The Black Banners (Ali Soufan), The Good Spy (Kai Bird), Spy Master (Helen Fry) Matt's Picks: Essential reads on espionage, covert ops, and spycraft—plus some of the genre's best novels. Fiction: The Cardinal of the Kremlin (Tom Clancy), The Sum of All Fears (Tom Clancy), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (John le Carré), The Honourable Schoolboy (John le Carré), Smiley's People (John le Carré), The Quiet American (Graham Greene) Non-Fiction: Spycraft (H. Keith Melton), Rise and Kill First (Ronen Bergman), Relentless Strike (Sean Naylor), Killer Elite (Michael Smith), The Targeter (Nada Bakos), Dead Drop (Jeremy Duns), The US Intelligence Community (Jeffrey Richelson) Support Secrets and Spies Become a “Friend of the Podcast” on Patreon for £3/$4: www.patreon.com/SecretsAndSpies Buy merchandise from our Redbubble shop: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/60934996 Subscribe to our YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDVB23lrHr3KFeXq4VU36dg For more information about the podcast, check out our website: https://secretsandspiespodcast.com Connect with us on social media Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/secretsandspies.bsky.social Instagram: https://instagram.com/secretsandspies Facebook: https://facebook.com/secretsandspies Spoutible: https://spoutible.com/SecretsAndSpies Follow Chris and Matt on Blue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/fultonmatt.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/chriscarrfilm.bsky.social Secrets and Spies is produced by Films & Podcasts LTD. Music by Andrew R. Bird Secrets and Spies takes you deep inside the world of espionage, terrorism, and international intrigue. Each episode unpacks global events through the lens of intelligence and geopolitics, featuring expert insights from former spies, authors, and analysts.

Throughout the first World War, acclaimed novelist W. Somerset Maugham worked for British Intelligence in Switzerland. Under cover as a writer, Maugham used his knowledge of travel, languages and culture to great effect, infiltrating high society and common folk alike in his job of greasing the wheels of espionage. A decade later, Maugham fictionalized his experiences in this book, a pseudo-autobiographical account of his time on the continent. Brimming with intrigue and colourful supporting characters, the linked stories of "Ashenden" are skillfully controlled narrative glimpses of war-time spycraft by a figure who's been there and done it. Fast Facts @ 2:00; Summaries @ 28:00; PIPES @ 1:35:00

Two classic stories by the English writer William Somerset Maugham: A Friend in Need, The Wash Tub

Daily QuoteIt's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. (Eleanor Roosevelt)Poem of the Day静女Beauty of WordsJane Austen and Pride and PrejudiceSomerset Maugham

Joined by two famed artistic leaders, podcast hosts Sarah Crompton and Alex Wood discuss the RSC's exciting plans for the coming year - including a new stage version of The BFG, the transfer of Broadway hit Fat Ham, a football-focussed Much Ado About Nothing, Somerset Maugham's The Constant Wife (boldly reimagined by Laura Wade) and a deluge of tantalising productions. Oh, and, a large amount of chat about Chiltern Railways. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's 1921 in Panang Malaysia where the novel “The House of Doors” introduces real events and people, like the writer Somerset Maugham, along with fictional characters. The sunset of British Empire is the backdrop for this tale about the complicated nature of love and friendship.

On Thursday the 7th of October, 2010, the Hermetic Hour, hosted by Poke Runyon, will present a lively review of magical fiction and films. We will go from "The Saragossa Manuscript"(1841) through Dion Fortune's "Moon Magic", Somerset Maugham's "The Magician" (novel and film), Chambers "The King in Yellow", Lovecraft's dream cycle, Merritt's lost worlds (that influenced Shaver), Jack Williamson's "Darker than You Think" (Jack Parson's favorite), Clark Ashton Smith dream-maker extraordinary, his imitator Jack Vance (from which we got Dungeons & Dragons), "Valis" by Philip K. Dick -- just to name a few. Then the films: Orson Welles' "Black Magic" on Cagliostro, Jean Cocteau's "Orpheus", Merrian Cooper's "She", "Simon King of the Witches," "What Dreams May Come," "Crowley," and Jodorowsky's "The Holy Mountain." A smorgasbord of mind-benders. Tune in and feast on it!  

fWotD Episode 2777: Len Deighton Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Wednesday, 11 December 2024 is Len Deighton.Leonard Cyril Deighton (; born 18 February 1929) is a British author. His publications have included cookery books and works on history, but he is best known for his spy novels.After completing his national service in the Royal Air Force, Deighton attended the Saint Martin's School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London; he graduated from the latter in 1955. He had several jobs before becoming a book and magazine illustrator and designed the cover for the first UK edition of Jack Kerouac's 1957 work On the Road. He also worked for a period in an advertising agency. During an extended holiday in France he wrote his first novel, The IPCRESS File, which was published in 1962 and was a critical and commercial success. He wrote several spy novels featuring the same central character, an unnamed working-class intelligence officer, cynical and tough. Between 1962 and 1966 Deighton was the food correspondent for The Observer and drew cookstrips—black and white graphic recipes with a limited number of words. A selection of these was collected and published in 1965 as Len Deighton's Action Cook Book, the first of five cookery books he wrote. Other topics of non-fiction include military history.Many of Deighton's books have been best sellers and he has been favourably compared both with his contemporary John le Carré and his literary antecedents W. Somerset Maugham, Eric Ambler, Ian Fleming and Graham Greene. Deighton's fictional work is marked by a complex narrative structure, extensive research and an air of verisimilitude.Several of Deighton's works have been adapted for film and radio. Films include The Ipcress File (1965), Funeral in Berlin (1966), Billion Dollar Brain (1967) and Spy Story (1976). In 1988 Granada Television produced the miniseries Game, Set and Match based on his trilogy of the same name, and in 1995 BBC Radio 4 broadcast a real time dramatisation of his 1970 novel Bomber.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:58 UTC on Wednesday, 11 December 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Len Deighton on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Brian.

Daily QuoteThose who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity. (Jean de La Bruyère)Poem of the DayA Word to HusbandsOgden NashBeauty of WordsThe Philosopher (2)By W. Somerset Maugham

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 4, 2024 is: hoity-toity • hoy-tee-TOY-tee • adjective Someone or something described as hoity-toity may also be called snooty or pretentious; hoity-toity people appear to think that they are better, smarter, or more important than other people, and hoity-toity places and things seem to be made for those same people. An informal word, hoity-toity is a synonym of pompous, fancy, and highfalutin. // The guidance counselor emphasized that students do not need to go to a hoity-toity college to achieve success.    See the entry > Examples: "Most Summer Olympics show beach volleyball on a beach. This year's spikers will play in front of the Eiffel Tower because they can. And just in case equestrian events aren't hoity-toity enough, the 2024 dressage and jumping will unfold at the Palace of Versailles." — Jen Chaney, Vulture, 24 May 2024 Did you know? In modern use, hoity-toity is used almost exclusively to describe someone who's got their nose stuck up in the air, or something suited for such a person. But for over a hundred years, hoity-toity was used solely as a noun referring to thoughtless and silly behavior. The noun originated as a rhyming reduplication of the dialectical verb hoit, meaning "to play the fool." Accordingly, as an adjective hoity-toity was originally used to describe someone as thoughtless or silly—as when English writer W. Somerset Maugham wrote in his 1944 novel The Razor's Edge "very hoity-toity of me not to know that royal personage"—but today it is more likely to describe the royal personage, or someone who puts on airs as if they were a royal personage.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 4, 2024 is: hoity-toity • hoy-tee-TOY-tee • adjective Someone or something described as hoity-toity may also be called snooty or pretentious; hoity-toity people appear to think that they are better, smarter, or more important than other people, and hoity-toity places and things seem to be made for those same people. An informal word, hoity-toity is a synonym of pompous, fancy, and hifalutin. // The guidance counselor emphasized that students do not need to go to a hoity-toity college to achieve success.    See the entry > Examples: "Most Summer Olympics show beach volleyball on a beach. This year's spikers will play in front of the Eiffel Tower because they can. And just in case equestrian events aren't hoity-toity enough, the 2024 dressage and jumping will unfold at the Palace of Versailles." — Jen Chaney, Vulture, 24 May 2024 Did you know? In modern use, hoity-toity is used almost exclusively to describe someone who's got their nose stuck up in the air, or something suited for such a person. But for over a hundred years, hoity-toity was used solely as a noun referring to thoughtless and silly behavior. The noun originated as a rhyming reduplication of the dialectical verb hoit, meaning "to play the fool." Accordingly, as an adjective hoity-toity was originally used to describe someone as thoughtless or silly—as when English writer W. Somerset Maugham wrote in his 1944 novel The Razor's Edge "very hoity-toity of me not to know that royal personage"—but today it is more likely to describe the royal personage, or someone who puts on airs as if they were a royal personage.

Daily QuoteThey always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself. (Andy Warhol)Poem of the Day蛇冯至Beauty of WordsThe Philosopher (1)By W. Somerset Maugham

By listener request, Jacke presents a conversation with Nigerian-born novelist Chigozie Obioma (The Road to the Country, The Fishermen, An Orchestra of Minorities). Obioma, hailed by the New York Times as "the heir to Chinua Achebe," tells Jacke about his childhood in Nigeria, the moment he knew he wanted to be a storyteller, what he values in literature, and more. Special attention is paid to one of Obioma's favorite books, The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. [This is an HOL Encore performance. The conversation with Chigozie Obioma originally aired on February 1, 2021.] Additional listening: 552 Writing after Rushdie (with Shilpi Suneja) 557 Somerset Maugham (with Tan Twan Eng) 314 Gabriel García Márquez (with Patricia Engel) The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at gabrielruizbernal.com. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Secret Agent is a 1936 espionage thriller set during World War I. We did into this little-seen spy movie from Hitch's British era in this week's podcast. Details: A British International Picture released 5/11/1936. Produced by Michael Balcon and Ivor Montagu. Screenplay by Charles Bennett, Alma Reville, Ian Hay and Jesse Lasky Jr., based on a story by W. Somerset Maugham and a play by Campbell Dixon. Starring John Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, Peter Lorre, and Robert Young. Cinematography by Bernard Knowles. Score by John Greenwood. Ranking: 34 out of 52. Ranking movies is a reductive parlor game. It's also fun. And it's a good way to frame a discussion. We aggregated over 70 ranked lists from critics, fans, and magazines Secret Agent got 1,013 ranking points.

Kate Summerscale is the author of the number one bestselling The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2008, winner of the Galaxy British Book of the Year Award, a Richard & Judy Book Club pick and adapted into a major ITV drama. Her first book, the bestselling The Queen of Whale Cay, won a Somerset Maugham award and was shortlisted for the Whitbread biography award. Kate Summerscale has also judged various literary competitions including the Booker Prize. On this episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil Denny about her latest book The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

KATE SUMMERSCALE chats to Paul about her new history THE PEEPSHOW, 10 Rillington Place, misogyny & male violence, the cultural and wider societal impact of a notorious murder.THE PEEPSHOW: London, 1953. Police discover the bodies of three young women hidden in a wall at 10 Rillington Place, a dingy terrace house in Notting Hill. On searching the building, they find another body beneath the floorboards, then an array of human bones in the garden. But they have already investigated a double murder at 10 Rillington Place, three years ago, and the killer was hanged. Did they get the wrong man?A nationwide manhunt is launched for the tenant of the ground-floor flat, a softly spoken former policeman named Reg Christie. Star reporter Harry Procter chases after the scoop. Celebrated crime writer Fryn Tennyson Jesse begs to be assigned to the case. The story becomes an instant sensation, and with the relentless rise of the tabloid press the public watches on like never before. Who is Christie? Why did he choose to kill women, and to keep their bodies near him? As Harry and Fryn start to learn the full horror of what went on at Rillington Place, they realise that Christie might also have engineered a terrible miscarriage of justice in plain sight.In this riveting true story, Kate Summerscale mines the archives to uncover the lives of Christie's victims, the tabloid frenzy that their deaths inspired, and the truth about what happened inside the house.Kate Summerscale is the author of the number one bestselling The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2008, winner of the Galaxy British Book of the Year Award, a Richard & Judy Book Club pick and adapted into a major ITV drama. Her first book, the bestselling The Queen of Whale Cay, won a Somerset Maugham award and was shortlisted for the Whitbread biography award. Kate Summerscale has also judged various literary competitions including the Booker Prize. She lives in north London.Recommend: Paul Burke writes for Monocle Magazine, Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2024. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out in late 2025.Produced by Junkyard DogCrime TimeCrime Time FM is the official podcast ofGwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023CrimeFest 2023CWA Daggers 2023& Newcastle Noir 20232024 Slaughterfest, National Crime Reading Month, CWA Daggers

‘There's always hope where there's poetry…'   This week, Sally is preparing for her narrowboat, Cerian, to journey upriver for maintenance. Join her in her engine room for a discussion of Somerset Maugham's novel The Painted Veil, meditations on kindness, and reflections on how poetry helps us to create our own rhythms in a noisy world.    More information on The Painted Veil (1925) can be found here.    The poems read from in this episode are ‘Auguries of Innocence' by William Blake, ‘“Hope” is the thing with feathers' by Emily Dickinson, and ‘The Waste Land' by T.S. Eliot.    The original piano music is ‘Doubt' and ‘Sunday' by Paul Sebastian. The original guitar music is by Dylan Gwalia.    This episode was edited and produced by Lucie Richter-Mahr.    Special thanks to Andrew Smith, Violet Henderson, Kris Dyer, and Maeve Magnus. 

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Excerpts from "A Reader's Manifesto", published by Arjun Panickssery on September 7, 2024 on LessWrong. "A Reader's Manifesto" is a July 2001 Atlantic piece by B.R. Myers that I've returned to many times. He complains about the inaccessible pretension of the highbrow literary fiction of his day. The article is mostly a long list of critiques of various quotes/passages from well-reviewed books by famous authors. It's hard to accuse him of cherry-picking since he only targets passages that reviewers singled out as unusually good. Some of his complaints are dumb but the general idea is useful: authors try to be "literary" by (1) avoiding a tightly-paced plot that could evoke "genre fiction" and (2) trying to shoot for individual standout sentences that reviewers can praise, using a shotgun approach where many of the sentences are banal or just don't make sense. Here are some excerpts of his complaints. Bolding is always mine. The "Writerly" Style He complains that critics now dismiss too much good literature as "genre" fiction. More than half a century ago popular storytellers like Christopher Isherwood and Somerset Maugham were ranked among the finest novelists of their time, and were considered no less literary, in their own way, than Virginia Woolf and James Joyce. Today any accessible, fast-moving story written in unaffected prose is deemed to be "genre fiction" - at best an excellent "read" or a "page turner," but never literature with a capital L. An author with a track record of blockbusters may find the publication of a new work treated like a pop-culture event, but most "genre" novels are lucky to get an inch in the back pages of The New York Times Book Review. The dualism of literary versus genre has all but routed the old trinity of highbrow, middlebrow, and lowbrow, which was always invoked tongue-in-cheek anyway. Writers who would once have been called middlebrow are now assigned, depending solely on their degree of verbal affectation, to either the literary or the genre camp. David Guterson is thus granted Serious Writer status for having buried a murder mystery under sonorous tautologies (Snow Falling on Cedars, 1994), while Stephen King, whose Bag of Bones (1998) is a more intellectual but less pretentious novel, is still considered to be just a very talented genre storyteller. Further, he complains that fiction is regarded as "literary" the more slow-paced, self-conscious, obscure, and "writerly" its style. The "literary" writer need not be an intellectual one. Jeering at status-conscious consumers, bandying about words like "ontological" and "nominalism," chanting Red River hokum as if it were from a lost book of the Old Testament: this is what passes for profundity in novels these days. Even the most obvious triteness is acceptable, provided it comes with a postmodern wink. What is not tolerated is a strong element of action - unless, of course, the idiom is obtrusive enough to keep suspense to a minimum. Conversely, a natural prose style can be pardoned if a novel's pace is slow enough, as was the case with Ha Jin's aptly titled Waiting, which won the National Book Award (1999) and the PEN/Faulkner Award (2000). If the new dispensation were to revive good "Mandarin" writing - to use the term coined by the British critic Cyril Connolly for the prose of writers like Virginia Woolf and James Joyce - then I would be the last to complain. But what we are getting today is a remarkably crude form of affectation: a prose so repetitive, so elementary in its syntax, and so numbing in its overuse of wordplay that it often demands less concentration than the average "genre" novel. 4 Types of Bad Prose Then he has five sections complaining about 4 different types of prose he doesn't like (in addition to the generic "literary" prose): "evocative" prose, "muscular"...

How did Westerners first get involved with Eastern teachers, and is the age of the guru now over? In his latest book, The Nirvana Express, Mick Brown presents a colourful cast of seekers, writers, mystics, tricksters and chancers – he reveals people's flaws without obscuring the sincerity of spiritual quests.Alongside portraits of better-known subjects, from Vivekananda and the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to Rajneesh, Mick notes the influence of Western occultists, and early interest in Ramana Maharshi – an exemplary sage who inspired The Razor's Edge by Somerset Maugham and A Search in Secret India by Paul Brunton.Our conversation explores the significance of these stories, alongside others from an earlier book, The Spiritual Tourist, which recounts Mick's engagement with mystical teachers. In his day job, he works as a journalist – reporting in detail on guru abuses – so we talk about the value of critical thinking, while considering the merits of genuine teachers, who can only awaken what's found in oneself.

Daily Quote山光忽西落，池月渐东上。（孟浩然）Poem of the DayYouth Calls to AgeDylan ThomasBeauty of WordsGerman Harry (2)by W. Somerset Maugham

Daily QuoteYour biggest failure is the thing you dreamed of contributing but didn't find the guts to do. (Seth Godin)Poem of the Day山行戴望舒Beauty of WordsGerman Harry (1)by W. Somerset Maugham

Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast and our series on J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter: Book 1. After sharing some thoughts on detective fiction as it relates to Rowling, our hosts Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks discuss chapters 8-12. Some of the ideas they share are the following: Homeric echos and classical allusions in this book, the identity quest, the significance of characters' names, the four houses and the bestiary, the three parts of the soul, the Christian influence on Rowling's stories. Angelina also seeks to teach something about symbolism and structure of literature and art as seen through the Harry Potter books. Visit HouseofHumaneLetters.com for updates on classes with Angelina, Thomas, and other members of their teaching team. Previous episodes mentioned in this podcast: The Importance of the Detective Novel (Episode 3/174) Series on Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers (Episodes 4-8) Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (Episode 79) Commonplace Quotes: The wise man combines the pleasures of the senses and the pleasures of the spirit in such a way as to increase the satisfaction he gets from both. W. Somerset Maugham, from The Narrow Corner For it is through symbols that man finds his way out of his particular situation and “opens himself” to the general and the Universal. Symbols awaken individual experience and transmute it into a spiritual act, into metaphysical comprehension of the world. Mircea Eliade, from The Sacred and the Profane The Fairies By William Allingham Up the airy mountain, Down the rushy glen,We daren't go a-hunting For fear of little men;Wee folk, good folk, Trooping all together;Green jacket, red cap, And white owl's feather!Down along the rocky shore Some make their home,They live on crispy pancakes Of yellow tide-foam;Some in the reeds Of the black mountain lake,With frogs for their watch-dogs, All night awake.High on the hill-top The old King sits;He is now so old and gray He's nigh lost his wits.With a bridge of white mist Columbkill he crosses,On his stately journeys From Slieveleague to Rosses;Or going up with music On cold starry nightsTo sup with the Queen Of the gay Northern Lights.They stole little Bridget For seven years long;When she came down again Her friends were all gone.They took her lightly back, Between the night and morrow,They thought that she was fast asleep, But she was dead with sorrow.They have kept her ever since Deep within the lake,On a bed of flag-leaves, Watching till she wake.By the craggy hill-side, Through the mosses bare,They have planted thorn-trees For pleasure here and there.If any man so daring As dig them up in spite,He shall find their sharpest thorns In his bed at night.Up the airy mountain, Down the rushy glen,We daren't go a-hunting For fear of little men;Wee folk, good folk, Trooping all together;Green jacket, red cap, And white owl's feather! Book List: Cormoran Strike Series by Robert Galbraith Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco Agatha Christie Margery Allingham Ngaio Marsh Fanny Burney Northrop Frye The Odyssey by Homer Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J. K. Rowling The Book of Beasts trans. by T. H. White The Once and Future King by T. H. White Fabulous Tales and Mythical Beasts by Woody Allen Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

This special rerelease episode of the Wisdom Podcast features Jeffrey Hopkins. Jeffrey started meditating while at Harvard and then, inspired by Thoreau and W. Somerset Maugham, spent time in a cabin in the woods in Vermont. He was Professor Emeritus of Tibetan Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia, where he taught Tibetan Studies and […] The post Jeffrey Hopkins: In Remembrance: The Life of a Buddhist Scholar (#190) appeared first on The Wisdom Experience.

On this week's episode of The Literary Life Podcast, Angelina and Thomas continue their series of discussions on Anne Brontë's novel Agnes Grey. They open the conversation about this novel with some thoughts on the differences between Agnes Grey and Jane Eyre and Anne and Charlotte Brontë. Angelina poses the question as to whether this novel crosses the line into didacticism or if it stays within the purpose of the story and the art. In discussing the education of Agnes' charges in these chapters, Angelina has a chance to expand upon the upbringing of Victorian young women. She and Thomas discuss the position of the curate and Agnes' spiritual seriousness, as well as the characters of Weston and Hatfield as foils for each other. Thomas closes out the conversation with a question as to whether Agnes Grey is as memorable a character as Jane Eyre or Catherine Earnshaw and why that is. Check out the schedule for the podcast's summer episodes on our Upcoming Events page. In July, Dr. Jason Baxter will be teaching a class titled “Dostoyevsky's Icon: Brothers Karamazov, The Christian Past, and The Modern World”, and you can sign up for that or any of the HHL Summer Classes here. Sign up for the newsletter at HouseofHumaneLetters.com to stay in the know about all the exciting new things we have coming up! Commonplace Quotes: In wit, as nature, what affects our hearts/ Is not the exactness of peculiar parts;/ ‘Tis not a lip, or eye, we beauty call,/ But the joint force and full result of all. Alexander Pope, from “An Essay on Criticism” In any case, it is Charlotte Brontë who enters Victorian literature. The shortest way of stating her strong contribution is, I think, this: that she reached the highest romance through the lowest realism. She did not set out with Amadis of Gaul in a forest or with Mr. Pickwick in a comic club. She set out with herself, with her own dingy clothes and accidental ugliness, and flat, coarse, provincial household; and forcibly fused all such muddy materials into a spirited fairy-tale. G. K. Chesterton, The Victorian Age in Literature My Heart Leaps Up By William Wordsworth My heart leaps up when I beholdA Rainbow in the sky:So was it when my life began;So is it now I am a man;So be it when I shall grow old,Or let me die!The Child is father of the man;And I wish my days to beBound each to each by natural piety. Book List: Ten Novels and Their Authors by W. Somerset Maugham 1984 by George Orwell The Jungle by Upton Sinclair Charlotte Mason Hugh Walpole George Eliot Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB

In 1944's Christmas Holiday, Deanna Durbin and Gene Kelly, both known for their achievements in musical comedies, were cast against type as a lounge singer with a sordid past and her abusive husband respectively.  Audiences seemed to be ready for the change as Christmas Holiday, directed by stylist Robert Siodmak and based on a W. Somerset Maugham story, quickly became one of Universal's most successful films of 1944.   Dan and Vicky discuss the offbeat and melancholy Christmas movie along with their feelings on some recently seen movies and TV including The First Omen, Monkey Man, Zone of Interest, Beau is Afraid and Netflix's Dick Wolf docu-series Homicide New York. Check us out on all our socials:  hotdatepod.com FB:  Hot Date Podcast Twitter: @HotDate726 Insta:  hotdatepod  

John J. Miller is joined by Mick Brown of The Telegraph to discuss W. Somerset Maugham's 'The Razor's Edge.'

From the notes of Kris Saknussemm... Temporary tattoos and the latest Oscar's night—two more examples of why we've entered the Post-Civilization Age. People who say the Oscar's have been in “decline” for quite a while are the kind of folks who wouldn't draw much distinction between Ted Bundy returning to have sex with a corpse three days after the murder, or three weeks. I maintain there's a difference. Moving along, it's struck me of late that there's a relationship between Education (public school system) and Tourism, which often goes unnoticed. We know there's a connection between Education and Travel. Travel is how humanity has educated itself about the human globe (and all this means), the planet Earth, and the larger world / universe we've been able to comprehend. All good. Tourism? Hmm, not so good. Why? What is the difference between Travel and Tourism? Many interesting people have tried to speak to this issue, including well-traveled writers such as Mark Twain, D.H. Lawrence, Somerset Maugham, Tennessee Williams, and Jack Kerouac—hell, the list goes on and on. What a great list. But it doesn't go that far back in time…because “tourism” in anything like the sense we mean it today really only fired up after WWII. Up to then, “travel” frequently meant adventure—both intentional and inadvertent. Calamity. Discovery. Decadence. Plunder. Escape. To be sure, the English fascination for a Tour of the Continent (Europe) was fashionable curriculum for the upper classes. But generally, Travel was a more eccentric endeavor. Hoity-toity or rough and ready. It was selective. A curious club. I've recently had my students read Walker Percy's wonderful essay “The Loss of the Creature.” It has a lot to say about reclaiming personal experience and sovereignty—and not sacrificing validation to a shadowy priest caste of so-called experts. It deals directly in the connection between Education and Travel or Tourism? So, taking my view that Tourism arises as an industry (and as a system of social values) post-WWII…isn't this about when the commitment to a fully national public school system takes off? I think before then, any sort of structured public education program was very porous and unevenly distributed even within states. More an idea than a system or a network. Is there a connection? What can the difference between Travel and Tourism possibly tell us about how the public education experiment is faring? Kris's music piece at the end is titled "Recurring Dreams."

The new novel by Tan Twan Eng, The House of Doors, is a project of historical fiction immersed in the culturally rich island of Penang in the 1920s. A once revered, now flailing British writer arrives to visit a friend and find inspiration for a new book. What he uncovers – secret affairs, a murder trial, and deeply complicated relationships – proves to be more than he expected. In today's episode, NPR's Ari Shapiro asks the author about using the real writer W. Somerset Maugham as his protagonist, and about what writing from the perspective of the Brits reveals about imperialism.

The new novel by Tan Twan Eng, The House of Doors, is a project of historical fiction immersed in the culturally rich island of Penang in the 1920s. A once revered, now flailing British writer arrives to visit a friend and find inspiration for a new book. What he uncovers – secret affairs, a murder trial, and deeply complicated relationships – proves to be more than he expected. In today's episode, NPR's Ari Shapiro asks the author about using the real writer W. Somerset Maugham as his protagonist, and about what writing from the perspective of the Brits reveals about imperialism.

The English novelist, playwright, and short story writer Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) lived a life as eventful as his prodigious literary output. In this episode, Jacke takes a look at Maugham's travels and travails, following Maugham across numerous continents as he sought material for his writing - and a safe resting place for himself and his various male companions. Then Jacke is joined by novelist Tan Twan Eng (The Gift of Rain, The Garden of Evening Mists) to discuss his new novel The House of Doors, which is based in part on Maugham's experiences on the Malay Peninsula. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices