On a Chinese Screen
Traveling up the Yangtze in 1919 and 1920, Maugham filled his notebooks with quick portraits of the people he met, and this book gathers fifty-eight of them into short, sharp sketches. Some catch a Chinese scene in a few strokes, but the keenest are aimed at the Europeans abroad: missionaries, officials, traders, and lonely wives, each revealing how poorly they understand the country around them. Rather than a guidebook, it works as a gallery of character studies marked by Maugham’s cool eye and quiet irony. First published in 1922, it reads today as both travel writing and a study of the colonial mind. This free PDF and EPUB edition collects a slim, observant book that shows the novelist sharpening the human insight of his later fiction.
About the Author
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was one of the most popular British authors of the twentieth century, working across the novel, the short story, and the stage. He trained as a physician and served in wartime intelligence, experiences that sharpened his clear prose and unsentimental view…
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Listen to On a Chinese Screen Audiobook Free
Listen to On a Chinese Screen by W. Somerset Maugham free online. The full audiobook (5 hr 8 min, 20 chapters, read by volunteer narrators) streams free on this page.
On a Chinese Screen (1922) is a public domain work.
| # | Chapter | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 The Rising of the Curtain | 4:01 | |
| 2 | 2 My Lady's Parlour 3 The Mongol Chief 4 The Rolling Stone | 10:19 | |
| 3 | 5 The Cabinet Minister 6 Dinner Parties 7 The Altar of Heaven | 19:22 | |
| 4 | 8 The Servants of God 9 The Inn 10 The Glory Hole | 16:04 | |
| 5 | 11 Fear 12 The Picture 13 Her Britannic Majesty's Representative | 18:51 | |
| 6 | 14 The Opium Den 15 The Last Chance 16 The Nun | 8:02 | |
| 7 | 17 Henderson 18 Dawn 19 The Point of Honour | 17:06 | |
| 8 | 20 The Beast of Burden 21 Dr. Macalister 22 The Road | 18:25 | |
| 9 | 23 God's Truth 24 Romance 25 The Grand Style | 19:05 | |
| 10 | 26 Rain 27 Sullivan 28 The Dining-Room | 15:43 | |
| 11 | 29 Arabesque 30 The Consul 31 The Stripling | 12:24 | |
| 12 | 32 The Fannings 33 The Song of the River 34 Mirage | 11:14 | |
| 13 | 35 The Stranger 36 Democracy 37 The Seventh Day Adventist | 14:10 | |
| 14 | 38 The Philosopher 39 The Missionary Lady 40 A Game of Billiards | 20:23 | |
| 15 | 41 The Skipper 42 The Sights of the Town 43 Nightfall | 12:41 | |
| 16 | 44 The Normal Man 45 The Old Timer 46 The Plain | 16:06 | |
| 17 | 47 Failure 48 A Student of the Drama 49 The Taipan | 28:13 | |
| 18 | 50 Metempsychosis 51 The Fragment 52 One of the Best | 13:01 | |
| 19 | 53 The Sea-Dog 54 The Question 55 The Sinologue | 14:14 | |
| 20 | 56 The Vice-Consul 57 A Crrr Built on a Rock 58 Libation to the Gods | 19:03 |
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