After getting married, Katie, a British beauty, went to Hong Kong with her husband. Unwilling to tolerate her withdrawn husband Walter, she had a secret love affair with Charles, the Assistant Chief Secretary of Hong Kong. This desperate derailment triggered Walter's strange and terrible revenge: he wanted to take Katie to the cholera-ravaged mainland China to quell the plague. In that small southern town full of death, Katie faced not only a broken marriage, but also the cold winter of life and death. The whirlpool of betrayal, love and death will eventually lift the veil of life from her eyes, guiding her to the gradually emerging road of awakening and redemption.
The adventure of revenge and the torture of human nature, Maugham's novel explores the paradox of love and spiritual salvation.
Reader comments
I spent an entire afternoon comparing translations, and finally chose the version translated by Ruan Jinling. Personally, I think this version reads more smoothly and is my favorite way of expression.
What impressed me the most was Katie saying to Tang Sheng, "He loves me deeply" (another version translated as "He loves me with all his heart" and I also like it very much). At this time, Tang Sheng must be laughing at Katie crazily in his heart. Because he has never loved seriously, or he has never loved Katie seriously. Katie has obviously overestimated his love, and he will abandon Katie without hesitation when it comes to interests. This is a man, who is born with a developed left brain, and always rational thinking dominates his behavior. Perhaps the only impulse is to be attracted and tempted by beauty, and the subsequent reproductive activities.
So they love stupid and beautiful women the most. Katie is like this, empty-headed, frivolous and beautiful. From the beginning to the end, she failed to understand what love was. She clearly saw through the selfish and despicable lover and scolded him in her heart countless times. In the end, she still longed for his embrace and could not resist. And I understand her behavior.
For thousands of years, in both East and West, women have always been weak and dependent on men. To this day, in this civilized and open modern world, people always think that a woman's greatest achievement is to find a good husband (just like Katie's mother's expectations for her in the book). Under this social and historical background, the phenomenon of female rivalry is unavoidable (such as Katie's inner evaluation of Tang Sheng's wife in Chapter 5 of the book).
But the value of a woman is definitely not that I am "cuter" or "prettier" than her; it is not that he is willing to "divorce" for me; it is not that he loves me more than he loves her. Katie is like this because she received that kind of education and grew up in such an environment. She finally realized this and hoped that she would give birth to a girl and said: "I brought her into this world, loved her, and raised her, not so that she would sleep with a man in the future and be attached to him for the rest of her life."
We should encourage it together. Women's road to independence is still long and arduous today, and it will take generations to eliminate prejudice and discrimination. In the future, we will educate the next generation to teach boys to respect women and girls to look up to men.
Of course, maybe we don't have the next generation because we were not born to be someone's wife or someone's mother.
Take a closer look at the world and yourself, dear girl.
At first, Katie was a dodder who needed to rely on others to survive. Under the subtle influence of her mother, she was arrogant, ruthless, cold, and vain.
Forced by circumstances, she married Walter. She didn't love him, but she married him out of vanity and comparison. Also because she did not love him, she needed spiritual enrichment and developed a relationship with Charles.
Blessings are where misfortune lies, and misfortunes are where blessings lie. When the Dongchuang Incident happened, Walter finally discovered this shady relationship. With a sense of revenge, they came to Meitan Mansion, where the cholera was located. But it was also because of this, under the influence of the dean, the mothers and children, and under the influence of Weddington, Katie's mind was gradually cleansed, and she began to pursue something that she had never thought about before, something that calmed her body and mind, like the scene she saw in front of the window of Meitan Mansion, which was peace, freedom, ease, self, future, and hope. I also gradually figured out my relationship with Charles, which is why I chose to stop it after returning to Hong Kong and doing stupid things again.
It's just that Walter's life is also sighing. He loves her, even though he knows she doesn't love him, but loving someone doesn't stop easily just because the person you love doesn't love you back. Out of revenge, they came to Meitan Mansion, but he was also doing real things. He went out early and came back late every day, and his body gradually became thinner and mentally exhausted. Before he died, he was still saying the words "It's a dog that died."
Katie has grown up, and Katie and her father should live a happy life from now on.
It's very interesting. It brings the plot into the story. Thank you to the author for this book. The details of the protagonist's emotions and the emotions when encountering things are all written vividly [Like][Like][Like] Come on
The novel is not long, and I finished it in a few hours. The plot of this novel is very smooth and attractive, and you will not have the desire to read it. Maybe it's because I don't have enough experience. I don't quite understand some of the contents in the book, so I plan to read it again in a few years. There are not many characters in it, but the images are all vivid. Walter's description of Katie has a direct touch to the soul. In fact, his love for Katie is very deep. Unfortunately, Katie does not like him and will not fall in love with him. While watching it, I had a premonition that his final ending would be death. It turned out to be the case in the end, but this is also a good ending. It is a kind of relief for him. If he and Katie were both alive, they would be very painful, and there would be no future at all. The growth of the heroine Katie is also well portrayed. At the beginning, she was a stupid woman who only had love in her eyes and was dissatisfied with reality. After a series of events during the plague, she changed. She broke the thick filter for Charles, saw human nature clearly, figured out what she wanted and pursued it. What moved me the most was actually the abbot and the nuns. Although they stayed in China because of the cultural penetration and colonial invasion of Western countries, they did help the poor and pitiful Chinese people and paid a lot for this. They were far away from their relatives and friends, and may not be able to return to their homeland for the rest of their lives, and ended up buried in a foreign country. Their love is truly selfless and great. In the abbess, I saw a kind of tranquility and determination, and also felt her compassion and kindness [crying]. Charles has nothing to say, he is a selfish hypocrite and a disgusting old man [laughs]. Maugham is really good at writing about human nature, and some of the protagonist's words are shocking and worthy of repeated reading.
The translation is very smooth and easy to understand. For me personally, the story and language expression of this book are very attractive. It is easy to read without any effort.
I originally read this book for the classic words Walter said to Katie. After reading it, I found that what I liked the most was not that sentence, but what Katie said to her father at the end when she talked about the children.
I felt that it was full of Katie's helplessness and hatred for her life, as well as her unlimited expectations for her children, pure, non-utilitarian maternal love.
The second half of the book was really beyond my expectations. There was a lot of content, including Katie's pregnancy, Walter's death, Katie's failure to push away Charles when he entangled him that day, the death of Katie's mother, and Katie's plan to stay with her father.
I originally thought this was a book about Katie's growth, but later I discovered that although Katie's psychological activities are described extensively, it seems that it is not only Katie's growth, but also love, Tao, and inner peace.
Because of these two paragraphs, I plan to give it five stars, although I am slightly uncomfortable with some of the plots.
"I want to be a girl, and I want to raise her so that she will not make the mistakes I have made. When I look back at what kind of girl I am, I hate myself very much, but there is nothing I can do. I want to raise my daughter so that she can become a free and independent person. I brought her into this world, love her, and raise her, not so that she will sleep with any man in the future and be attached to him for the rest of her life."
"Please let me be honest, just this once, Father. I have been a stupid, evil, hateful person. I have been severely punished. I will never let my daughter do the same thing again. I want her to be fearless, frank, self-controlled, not dependent on others. I want her to live as a free person and have a better life than I did."
I can only say that this translation is good. The reason why you don't need to read many foreign-translated articles is that they look difficult to translate. I thought that she and her husband reconciled at the end of the novel, but I didn't expect this result. This result is also relatively real.
When I first read this book, I thought it was the easiest-to-understand foreign novel I had ever read. The plot was relatively simple, and it didn't have the long and complicated names that are common in foreign novels. But the further I looked, the clearer the story became, but the more confused I became. What does the title "veil" mean? What did the author want to express in this book? 2025.3.28
"What kind of person are you?" There is no choice. Personality is shaped by the environment. It is not up to you to be noble or despicable.
"What kind of person do you choose to be?" It is the path God has given you. It gives you the opportunity to transcend the past and examine yourself, so as to embark on the path of your own choosing.
Human growth is like a gyro. Reading this book will indeed pull people back. After awakening, I don't know whether I will go back again.
Love is not equal, the ending is hurt
This book made me see the complexity of love and the many sides of human nature. Maugham's description is very delicate, which makes me feel the same. Like the characters in The Great Gatsby, the characters in the book struggle with love and desire. I think this book is not only about love, but also an exploration of human nature, which made me think more deeply about life.
A single person is confined to his or her own small world, but books can allow people to experience a completely different life.
I just regret that my life lasts only a hundred years, but there are so many books.
It is a good book that is difficult to read and should be read by more girls who are obsessed with love.
There are not many characters but vivid images, appropriate rhythm and beautiful language. It shows the awakening of a 19th century woman around the heroine.
Katie seeks freedom
Very interesting, I like this story very much
Hahahahahahahahahaha so beautiful
The story has twists and turns, but is close to reality. Educational
Really nice to look at. It feels like there are a lot of roundabouts in the back. If I had time to look at it again, I would highlight the roundabouts.
An excellent translation. Every time I watch it, I will have new insights and still be confused. To me, this is the fascinating place.
I spent an entire afternoon comparing translations, and finally chose the version translated by Ruan Jinling. Personally, I think this version reads more smoothly and is my favorite way of expression. What impressed me the most was Katie saying to Tang Sheng, "He loves me deeply" (another version translated as "He loves me with all his heart" and I also like it very much). At this time, Tang Sheng must be laughing at Katie crazily in his heart. Because he has never loved seriously, or he has never loved Katie seriously. Katie has obviously overestimated his love, and he will abandon Katie without hesitation when it comes to interests. This is a man, who is born with a developed left brain, and always rational thinking dominates his behavior. Perhaps the only impulse is to be attracted and tempted by beauty, and the subsequent reproductive activities. So they love stupid and beautiful women the most. Katie is like this, empty-headed, frivolous and beautiful. From the beginning to the end, she failed to understand what love was. She clearly saw through the selfish and despicable lover and scolded him in her heart countless times. In the end, she still longed for his embrace and could not resist. And I understand her behavior. For thousands of years, in both East and West, women have always been weak and dependent on men. To this day, in this civilized and open modern world, people always think that a woman's greatest achievement is to find a good husband (just like Katie's mother's expectations for her in the book). Under this social and historical background, the phenomenon of female rivalry is unavoidable (such as Katie's inner evaluation of Tang Sheng's wife in Chapter 5 of the book). But the value of a woman is definitely not that I am "cuter" or "prettier" than her; it is not that he is willing to "divorce" for me; it is not that he loves me more than he loves her. Katie is like this because she received that kind of education and grew up in such an environment. She finally realized this and hoped that she would give birth to a girl and said: "I brought her into this world, loved her, and raised her, not so that she would sleep with a man in the future and be attached to him for the rest of her life." We should encourage it together. Women's road to independence is still long and arduous today, and it will take generations to eliminate prejudice and discrimination. In the future, we will educate the next generation to teach boys to respect women and girls to look up to men. Of course, maybe we don't have the next generation because we were not born to be someone's wife or someone's mother. Take a closer look at the world and yourself, dear girl.
At first, Katie was a dodder who needed to rely on others to survive. Under the subtle influence of her mother, she was arrogant, ruthless, cold, and vain. Forced by circumstances, she married Walter. She didn't love him, but she married him out of vanity and comparison. Also because she did not love him, she needed spiritual enrichment and developed a relationship with Charles. Blessings are where misfortune lies, and misfortunes are where blessings lie. When the Dongchuang Incident happened, Walter finally discovered this shady relationship. With a sense of revenge, they came to Meitan Mansion, where the cholera was located. But it was also because of this, under the influence of the dean, the mothers and children, and under the influence of Weddington, Katie's mind was gradually cleansed, and she began to pursue something that she had never thought about before, something that calmed her body and mind, like the scene she saw in front of the window of Meitan Mansion, which was peace, freedom, ease, self, future, and hope. I also gradually figured out my relationship with Charles, which is why I chose to stop it after returning to Hong Kong and doing stupid things again. It's just that Walter's life is also sighing. He loves her, even though he knows she doesn't love him, but loving someone doesn't stop easily just because the person you love doesn't love you back. Out of revenge, they came to Meitan Mansion, but he was also doing real things. He went out early and came back late every day, and his body gradually became thinner and mentally exhausted. Before he died, he was still saying the words "It's a dog that died." Katie has grown up, and Katie and her father should live a happy life from now on.
It's very interesting. It brings the plot into the story. Thank you to the author for this book. The details of the protagonist's emotions and the emotions when encountering things are all written vividly [Like][Like][Like] Come on
The novel is not long, and I finished it in a few hours. The plot of this novel is very smooth and attractive, and you will not have the desire to read it. Maybe it's because I don't have enough experience. I don't quite understand some of the contents in the book, so I plan to read it again in a few years. There are not many characters in it, but the images are all vivid. Walter's description of Katie has a direct touch to the soul. In fact, his love for Katie is very deep. Unfortunately, Katie does not like him and will not fall in love with him. While watching it, I had a premonition that his final ending would be death. It turned out to be the case in the end, but this is also a good ending. It is a kind of relief for him. If he and Katie were both alive, they would be very painful, and there would be no future at all. The growth of the heroine Katie is also well portrayed. At the beginning, she was a stupid woman who only had love in her eyes and was dissatisfied with reality. After a series of events during the plague, she changed. She broke the thick filter for Charles, saw human nature clearly, figured out what she wanted and pursued it. What moved me the most was actually the abbot and the nuns. Although they stayed in China because of the cultural penetration and colonial invasion of Western countries, they did help the poor and pitiful Chinese people and paid a lot for this. They were far away from their relatives and friends, and may not be able to return to their homeland for the rest of their lives, and ended up buried in a foreign country. Their love is truly selfless and great. In the abbess, I saw a kind of tranquility and determination, and also felt her compassion and kindness [crying]. Charles has nothing to say, he is a selfish hypocrite and a disgusting old man [laughs]. Maugham is really good at writing about human nature, and some of the protagonist's words are shocking and worthy of repeated reading.
The translation is very smooth and easy to understand. For me personally, the story and language expression of this book are very attractive. It is easy to read without any effort. I originally read this book for the classic words Walter said to Katie. After reading it, I found that what I liked the most was not that sentence, but what Katie said to her father at the end when she talked about the children. I felt that it was full of Katie's helplessness and hatred for her life, as well as her unlimited expectations for her children, pure, non-utilitarian maternal love. The second half of the book was really beyond my expectations. There was a lot of content, including Katie's pregnancy, Walter's death, Katie's failure to push away Charles when he entangled him that day, the death of Katie's mother, and Katie's plan to stay with her father. I originally thought this was a book about Katie's growth, but later I discovered that although Katie's psychological activities are described extensively, it seems that it is not only Katie's growth, but also love, Tao, and inner peace. Because of these two paragraphs, I plan to give it five stars, although I am slightly uncomfortable with some of the plots. "I want to be a girl, and I want to raise her so that she will not make the mistakes I have made. When I look back at what kind of girl I am, I hate myself very much, but there is nothing I can do. I want to raise my daughter so that she can become a free and independent person. I brought her into this world, love her, and raise her, not so that she will sleep with any man in the future and be attached to him for the rest of her life." "Please let me be honest, just this once, Father. I have been a stupid, evil, hateful person. I have been severely punished. I will never let my daughter do the same thing again. I want her to be fearless, frank, self-controlled, not dependent on others. I want her to live as a free person and have a better life than I did."
I can only say that this translation is good. The reason why you don't need to read many foreign-translated articles is that they look difficult to translate. I thought that she and her husband reconciled at the end of the novel, but I didn't expect this result. This result is also relatively real.
When I first read this book, I thought it was the easiest-to-understand foreign novel I had ever read. The plot was relatively simple, and it didn't have the long and complicated names that are common in foreign novels. But the further I looked, the clearer the story became, but the more confused I became. What does the title "veil" mean? What did the author want to express in this book? 2025.3.28
"What kind of person are you?" There is no choice. Personality is shaped by the environment. It is not up to you to be noble or despicable. "What kind of person do you choose to be?" It is the path God has given you. It gives you the opportunity to transcend the past and examine yourself, so as to embark on the path of your own choosing.
Human growth is like a gyro. Reading this book will indeed pull people back. After awakening, I don't know whether I will go back again.
Love is not equal, the ending is hurt
This book made me see the complexity of love and the many sides of human nature. Maugham's description is very delicate, which makes me feel the same. Like the characters in The Great Gatsby, the characters in the book struggle with love and desire. I think this book is not only about love, but also an exploration of human nature, which made me think more deeply about life.
A single person is confined to his or her own small world, but books can allow people to experience a completely different life. I just regret that my life lasts only a hundred years, but there are so many books.
It is a good book that is difficult to read and should be read by more girls who are obsessed with love.
There are not many characters but vivid images, appropriate rhythm and beautiful language. It shows the awakening of a 19th century woman around the heroine.
Katie seeks freedom
Very interesting, I like this story very much
Hahahahahahahahahaha so beautiful
The story has twists and turns, but is close to reality. Educational
Really nice to look at. It feels like there are a lot of roundabouts in the back. If I had time to look at it again, I would highlight the roundabouts.
An excellent translation. Every time I watch it, I will have new insights and still be confused. To me, this is the fascinating place.