An Eastern Journey by Somerset Maugham (Summary)
About the author
Somerset Maugham(1874- 1965) was an English short-story
writer, novelist, and playwriter. He was the most paid author during 1930. His
parents passed away before he was 10. He was raised by his uncle.
Main points about 'An Eastern Journey'
1) This is a travelogue taken from his book “A Gentleman in
the Parlour”
2) The text is about a travel experience of Somerset
Maugham.
3) Mangham in this travelogue draws his experiences of
visiting eastern countries.
4) It is an account of travelogue.
5) The author has written about his experiences on visiting Angkor
Wat.
6) Angkor Wat is an eastern Buddhist temple complex located
in northern Cambodia.
7) The author describes the places, scene, people,
historical places, buildings and so on that he saw on his journey.
8) He is impressed by the Cambodian dances.
9) The story takes place in northern Cambodia (east Asia)
10)
11) This travelogue tells us that nothing is more powerful
than nature, the power of time, the great art styles.
Summary of the travelogue 'An Eastern Journey'
The text opens with the writer describing his difficulty in
getting Angkor Wat. He had to travel his journey by boat and had to walk for a
while on the land. On the third day, the writer finally sees the walls of the
Wat. He looks at the Wat for the first time and he is fascinated by the beauty
of the wat. It looks amazing under the moonlight. He thinks to write the Wat’s
beauty on paper. But he realizes that it will be very difficult.
He starts to think about other writers and their writing
styles. He remembers the when he used to visit different places to find
appropriate words that he can use in his writing. He recalls going to different
museums and zoos to find adjectives and metaphors. He soon realizes that we can’t
write what we want but write what we can. So, he adapts simple and plain way of
writing.
On the way, the writer was reading “Travel in Indo-China” by
Henri Mauhot. Henri was the first European writer to write about the place. The
writer says that his book was pleasant to read as Henri had written it in a
plain and straightforward. The writer doesn’t like his writing as it didn’t
give enough information. The writer says that Henri's writings usually had to
be corrected by other travelers.
The writer, then, describes the entrance of Angkot. He says
that the entrance looked mossy full of leaches. He sees that half of the walls
of that place were covered in jungle. Trees and weeds were growing everywhere.
This makes him realize that nature has been in a battle with the creations of
humans for centuries. He says that nature has been changing the forms of
different structures of buildings and monuments for centuries.
In the evening, the writer was wandering around the temple
compound, it was raining heavily with lightning. He notices that the jungle
stretched far away. He realizes that the temples and monuments made to keep gods
were also insignificant compared to the power of nature.
He tells that Angkor Wat was the capital city of a huge
country. It was one of the greatest countries during the thirteen century but
now it was destroyed. Some of the temples seemed they were willingly abandoned
after the rulers flee the country during a war.
When he sees the architecture, he is fascinated. He thinks
the artwork is great. He talks about the art presented through the sculpture.
He praises the artists who built it. He describes the art as a man riding an
elephant with his soldiers beside him.
On the last day, the writer feels sad as he has to leave
that place the next day. The writer observes everything more carefully so it
could be in his mind forever. That night the writer sees the Cambodian dancers
dancing. He is amazed by their dancing, clothes, and makeup.
His thinks to go back to the Bayon temple. He says that the
temple has four towers each with a four-faced head of lord shiva on it. Some
parts of the temples were destroyed. The writer talks about the sculpture which
shows the daily life of people like cooking, working, etc.
He concludes that the greatest things aren’t the buildings, monuments, or other historical buildings but the men who build them as those structures have stood till this age due to the efforts the builders put during their constructions. He says that the lifestyle of the men living over there also hasn’t changed too much compared to how the arts show it.
