As you can tell, I’ve been missing some updates! Gasp! Anyway, I had some major computer problems and I’ve finally resolved the issue (as you can tell since I’m posting this). Anyway, normal updates will resume on Monday. As far as the Chess 365 Project. I’ll post make-up days then too so I’m all caught up.
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Added a plugin called wptouch to the website. It reformats it to be iPhone and iTouch friendly. Pretty sweet really.
I haven’t had much time to read lately so I thought I’d try an audiobook to listen to while I’m at work. So, I’ve just begun “The Painted Veil” by W. Somerset Maugham. I had already enjoyed another of his works, “The Razor’s Edge,” and seen the film version of “The Painted Veil” so I expected to also enjoy this new expedition into Maugham’s work, and I do. The plot involves a woman, named Kitty, who marries a shy bacteriologist whom she doesn’t particularly love. This is partly from competition with her younger sister, who is about to marry, and also to avoid becoming an old maid. She’s 25 and at that time pushing the limits of how old an unmarried woman can be and still attract youthful suitors. She moves with her new husband, Walter, to the British colony at Hong Kong. Once there she begins an affair with a married man until Walter discovers the truth. I won’t reveal more because I haven’t gotten that far through the book quite yet and it’s not relevant to what I’m going to discuss.
Like when I read “The Razor’s Edge,” I’m struck by two qualities of Maugham’s characters. The first is that no matter how foreign the lifestyle and outlook of a character they each possess a degree of detail which makes them entirely believable to me. The second quality is that the author is able to make characters which are quite dislikeable possess a fascinating nature. Kitty, whom the book is currently focusing on, is vain, immature and quite stupid. Yet I can’t bring myself to write her off or hope for her misfortune. Currently I’m wrapped up in her situation.
However, the biggest puzzle I always wonder about in literature, and in real life is, how these cheating housewives begin affairs with married men and expect that if the affair is discovered that they and their co-conspirators will each divorce their respective spouses and remarry each other! To my knowledge, 99% of the married men having these affairs, in real life and in literature, would never leave his current spouse. Instead, he is quite willing to toss away his plaything, usually breaking her heart asunder. This seems to be the situation Kitty has put herself into. My question is: Why?
A woman at my workplace suggested women in this situation have low self-esteem and that the affair affords them a way to feel better about themselves. If they can fool themselves that the man wants them strongly enough they can see themselves in a different way. This sounds as if the affair could be looked at like a drug. Is this a valid explanation as to why?
Or could it be chalked up to pure childishness? Wouldn’t a woman born and raised in a protected British manor situation, which shelters women from the outside world and unpleasantness, remain childish? She would be subject to the same naivety in love that most folks go through in their awkward teenage years. Others would have the benefit of being in love and being heartbroken to use as a guide when picking a suitable suitor and also when evaluating the prospect of having an affair. Kitty is virginal in more than just a physical sense since she has never really delved into love. Is this a valid explanation?
It doesn’t really explain how the scenario described still occurs now, in the post-feminist period. Finally, a different coworker suggested it is simply emotion that leads to the foolish infidelity. Kitty, and others like her, feel strong emotions which drive them to believe that “somehow I’ll be different! He’ll divorce his wife and marry me!” Who knows if this is the answer.
Anyway, these are things I’m pondering as I listen to “The Painted Veil” on my ipod while at work.
So, I’ve moved my domain and blog over to Godaddy.com web hosting since I’ve been have difficulty with my old host, Fuitadnet.com. Unfortunately, Fuitadnet decided to “upgrade” their service which ended up breaking the functionality of my website. This upgrade also included removing much of the backend functionality that was present before. I also can’t seem to upload any file to my old Fuitadnet account. I’ll be posting on this site from now on at this point. Hopefully, I’ll be able to import all of my old posts at some point in the future. As it stands I can’t even log into to my old blog to export my old posts. I’ll continue to update you folks as I make progress in bringing that stuff over to this site.
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