The Explorer

Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 428K words
Chapters: 43

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Explorer by W. Somerset MaughamAuthor: Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 8, 2008

Editor's review

The Explorer is one of Maugham's early novels. The story revolves around the entanglement between an English explorer and a family, exploring the tension between the spirit of adventure and family duty, individual freedom and social convention. Maugham portrays his characters' psychology with a calm, restrained narrative touch; the dialogue is concise and charged with tension, and the plot advances through the internal conflicts of character and circumstance. Though less widely known than Of Human Bondage or The Moon and Sixpence, this work already reveals Maugham's keen observation of the complexities of human nature and his subtle satire of the hypocritical manners of the English upper-middle class. The original English eBook from Project Gutenberg gives readers direct access to the text, making it a useful supplementary read for understanding the early phase of Maugham's writing and suitable for comparative reading alongside his later works in literature courses. Readers may wish to note the shifts in narrative perspective and the ambiguity of the characters' moral positions—precisely where the charm of Maugham's storytelling lies.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy Maugham's novels and wish to understand his early style
Readers interested in themes of adventure and family ethics in English literature
Upper-intermediate and advanced English learners seeking to build reading experience through original novels
Literature students who need to study the development of Maugham's works

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced, plot-driven stories and have little patience for psychological description
Readers with weak English foundations who cannot yet read original English novels independently
Readers expecting detailed scenes of adventure and exploration

Reading tips

Read through the whole book first to grasp the main storyline, then revisit key dialogues to appreciate the subtle shifts in the characters' positions.
Keep a notebook to record the narrator's evaluative language about the main characters and observe whether the attitude remains consistent.
Read it alongside The Moon and Sixpence to compare how Maugham handles the figure of the "runaway" differently.
Do not rush when reading the original English; for long sentences, first clarify the subject-verb structure before working out the modifiers.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book one of Maugham's mature masterpieces?

No. It is one of Maugham's earlier novels, less well known than later works such as Of Human Bondage and The Moon and Sixpence, but it already shows his attention to character psychology and social manners, making it useful supplementary reading for understanding the starting point of his writing career.

What language is the eBook in, and what English level is required?

Project Gutenberg provides the original English text. It is an early twentieth-century English novel with rather long sentences; readers with a CET-4 level of reading ability, or those willing to read slowly with a dictionary, are advised to try it.

What background knowledge is needed before reading this book?

Only a general sense of the era is needed: early twentieth-century English society's emphasis on family duty and personal reputation. The story itself does not depend on complex historical events, and readers can enter the character relationships directly without much difficulty.

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About the author

Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset), 1874-1965 Author

W. Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) was a British novelist and playwright. Twenty-four of his works are held in this collection, covering novels, short-story collections and plays, with representative titles including Of Human Bondage, The Moon and Sixpence, The Trembling of a Leaf, The Circle, Liza of Lambeth and On a Chinese Screen. His writing ranges widely in subject, often depicting human weakness, emotional entanglement and exotic settings in a cool, restrained tone; his narratives are clear and his characters sharply drawn, combining readability with irony. His works circulated widely in twentieth-century English literature and have influenced both popular and serious fiction. As public information is limited, his detailed life and career are not elaborated here.