Some notes from The Painted Veil

I noticed I still have many Post-it notes in my copy of The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (<---my review) so this post is simply a compilation of bits and pieces that I don't want to forget. For starters, some vocabulary:

Sentence: "Where's your topee?"

topee - Pith hat; a lightweight hat worn in tropical countries for protection from the sun.

Sentence: "She called him pusillanimous."

pusillanimous - Showing a lack of courage or determination; timid.

Sentence: "The vivid scenes with their elegant color, their unexpected distinction, and their strangeness, were like an arras before which, like mysterious, shadowy shapes, played the phantoms of Kitty's fancy."

arras - A tapestry, wall hanging.

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On page 199 of my copy, one of the characters claims another character died of a broken heart because of his or her last words (I'm being cagey, here -- don't want to potentially spoil the book for anyone): "The dog it was that died." Here's the poem from which that last line hails:

AN ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF A MAD DOG

By Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774)

Good people all of every sort,

Give ear unto my song;

And if you find it wondrous short,--

It cannot hold you long.

In Islington there was a man,

Of whom the world might say

That still a godly race he ran,--

Whene'er he went to pray.

A kind and gentle heart he had,

To comfort friend and foes;

The naked every day he clad,--

When he put on his clothes.

And in that town a dog was found,

As many dogs there be,

Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,

And curs of low degree.

The dog and man at first were friends;

But when a pique began,

The dog, to gain some private ends,

Went mad, and bit the man.

Around from all the neighboring streets,

The wondering neighbors ran,

And swore the dog had lost his wits,

To bite so good a man.

The wound it seemed both sore and sad,

To every Christian eye,

And while they swore the dog was mad

They swore the man would die.

But soon a wonder came to light,

That showed the rogues they lied;

The man recovered of the bite,

The dog it was that died.

"An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog" is reprinted from A Nonsense Anthology. Ed. Carolyn Wells. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1915.

My source

"An Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog" makes some sense of what happens in A Painted Veil, actually. I'm glad I looked it up.

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An excerpt that backs up my comment that a few little lines in the movie constituted a senseless attack on Catholicism:

"It is a great misfortune to have a heart," said Kitty, with a smile.

"It is a great good fortune to consecrate that heart to the love of Jesus."

It is the Mother Superior who responds to Kitty.

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And, an expression I love:

"He was a thundering good chap, and he'll be missed here more than I can say."

I wish I could say someone was a "thundering good chap" without sounding pretentious. What a great expression!

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