My Pleasure Reading List

Year I Term I -  Emily Bronte "Wuthering Height"
Year I Term II - Jules Verne "Journey to the Centre of the Earth"
Year II Term III - Robert Louis Stevenson "Treausure Island"
Year II Term VI - Suzanne Collins "Catching Fire"
Year III Term V - Joanne Harris "Chocolat"
Year III Term VI - Jane Austen  "Emma"

Ind. Reading "The Moon and Sixpence". Finale

Summary (the whole book)

Charles Strickland was a 40-year-old London stockbroker who left his middle-class life to set up in Paris as an artist. He rejected everything in his life for a single-minded pursuit of his art. Only Stroeve recognized Strickland’s genius in his lifetime. Charles was the brilliant painter but he knew little about artists or artistic technique whilst Stroeve understood art but couldn’t produce greatness himself. When Strickland was very ill, Stroeve took him to his studio to look after him though his wife Blanche was against of it. Later on, Blanche felt in love with the genius and as soon as he got tired of painting naked Blanche he left her. Having been unable to forgive the victims her husband brought by having married her when she was pregnant, Blanche had committed suicide. After Dirk’s wife died, he went home to Holland. When Strickland showed his paintings to the author, they produced a strong and strange impression upon him. In them there was an effort to express something as if the artist knew the soul of the universe and must put it into his paintings. After numerous wanderings, Strickland made his way to Tahiti where he found a new family and spent the rest of his life devoted to his art. In spite of his blindness, the last stage of leprosy, he continued to work, painting the walls of the house. Strickland ordered his new wife to burn down the house after his death and she didn’t dare to disturb his last wish. Only after the artist’s death, his paintings were recognized by the society and many people were sorry that they missed the opportunity to buy his works for pennies then were worth a fortune.

Ind.Reading "The Moon and Sixpence". Part 5

Summary (49-58 chapters)

Mrs. Johnson, the hostess of the hotel in Tahiti, told the narrator how she found Strickland his wife, a native Ata. After a wedding dinner, they went to the forest where Ata had her property in a fold of the mountain. The next three years were the happiest of Strickland’s life. He painted and read, and when it was dark, they sat together on the verandah, smoking and looking at the night. Ata didn’t bother him, did everything what he told her and brought up their child. He died of leprosy. Having learnt of his loathsome disease, Strickland wanted to go up into the mountain, but Ata didn’t let him. In spite of his blindness, the last stage of leprosy, he continued to work, painting the walls of the house. The doctor who came to see the patient found him dead, but he was the only person who saw those wall pictures. It was the work of a man who had delved into the hidden depths of nature. Having created this masterpiece, Strickland ordered his wife to burn down the house after his death and she didn’t dare to disturb his last wish. Having returned to London, the author met Mrs. Strickland who acted herself as if she and Charles had fine relationship. The author told her what he had learned about Charles Strickland in Tahiti but thought it unnecessary to say anything of Ata and their boy. Having ceased his narration, the author thought of Strickland’s son by Ata and saw him with his mind’s eye on the schooner on which he worked.

Ind. Reading "The Moon and Sixpence". Part 4

Summary (39-48 chapters)

After Dirk had buried his wife, he found out the picture of a woman lying on the sofa in his studio. It was Blanche. He was going to make a great hole in the picture but he couldn’t touch it because he was seized with awe. He realized that Strickland found a new soul with unsuspected powers. When the narrator was walking alone, he passed Charles Strickland who followed him out. When the conversation turned to Blanch, Charles told that he could not stand the claims of women out to be his assistants or friends. As soon as he got tired of painting naked Blanche he left her. She couldn’t return to her husband because she was unable to forgive the victims he had brought. Dirk married her when she was pregnant from her owner’s son and tried to commit suicide. After visiting the narrator’s house, Charles suggested looking at his pictures and the author welcomed such an opportunity. Strickland placed a picture on the easel, let him look at it for several minutes, then took it down and put another in its place. It was the result of Charles’s six-year work, but he had never sold a picture. A week later Strickland had gone to Marseilles and the author never saw him again. When the narrator had a hazard journey to Tahiti where Charles spent the last years of his life, he asked about the famous artist Charles Strickland of all who knew him. It was revealed that the artist lived in a doss house in Marseilles without money and job. Having used false documents, Strickland was employed on a ship going to Australia. In Tahiti he worked as an overseer on a plantation and the inhabitants of the island were sorry that they missed the opportunity to buy Strickland’s paintings for pennies.