Rafal Wechterowicz Wechterowicz itibaren Shindanapura, Karnataka, Hindistan itibaren Shindanapura, Karnataka, Hindistan

A few years ago, after finishing my third Somerset Maugham book, I began to dread the day when I would run out of Maugham to read. Lucky for me, the old boy was prolific. Regardless, I was delighted to find this out-of-print copy. It was published in 1960 and cost $0.50. I bought it 50 years later in 2010 for $2.95, while stopping at the amazing Powell's in Portland during last year's road trip. More importantly, I didn't even know it existed. Hence, it had no impact on my countdown of Maugham books left to read. There are two interesting things about this edition. First, the title on every page is misprinted as "The Hour Before Dawn," omitting the second "the." Second, the melodramatic description on the back -- "Here is the passionate, powerful story of a whole nation fighting for its survival, and of a man and a woman who tried to create their own island of love in the midst of war's blazing inferno." -- sounds like it was written by someone who has never read this, or any other, book of Maugham's. One of the few Maugham stories set in England, this book starts the day before Germany invades Poland and tells the stories of various members of a respected but not wealthy Sussex family. Probably Maugham's version of a patriotic wartime novel, this book just oozes British-ness. It is a celebration of keeping a stiff upper lip through personal anguish and tragedy, making light of danger, exercising prudence over passion, and, above all, minimizing attention and notoriety directed at one and one's family. It also demonstrates the firmly held belief that, if one follows these rules, one has fulfilled his duty as an Englishman and can survive anything. One of the most amusing passages: when eldest son and military intelligence officer Roger finds himself in the middle of German-occupied France and runs into Clark, a cockney corporal in uniform who was taken prisoner, then escaped. Clark almost shoots Roger until Roger said something, to which Clark mumbles to himself, "English, by gum." Then to Roger, "Lucky you spoke, I was going to biff you one... Where you goin'?" "England. Want to come?" "Not 'arf." "All right. I don't know the way, mind you, but I've got a pocket compass." The book is lovely overall, though far from his best. The first half was classic Maugham -- building the momentum and the complex characterization. The second half felt a little uneven and rushed, and even a little predictable. But then something completely unpredictable happens which takes a while to digest, upon which it becomes clear that it really couldn't have been resolved any other way. Also classic Maugham. Long live Willie Somerset Maugham.