THE BURIED TALENT, a Short Story by Somerset Maugham

I can relate to both the female characters. I had wild dreams when I was younger but chose to settle down and pursue the interior life. I’m at peace. This was a beautiful story.

Damn. Was NOT expecting that ending. The fullness of the characters in a SHORT story. Another Maugham masterpiece.

What a tragic ending. Blanche only made one mistake, - to lose faith in her wise choice.

How absolutely tragic this story ultimately was ! Blanche's vain regrets amaze me for, at least for me, what is fame and applause when you have to sell your soul and degrade yourself for it when she lived a normal, and normally happy life with a man who loved her ? Truly ingratitude is our downfall.

Foolish Blanche, thinking the grass is greener on the other side. She didn't realize that she had a happy, fulfulling life. Don't we all sometimes make the mistake of regretting our decisions and imagining that something else would have made us happier?

Blanche has it all but can't appreciate it because life looks greener on the other side of the fence.

All that you take for granted will soon enough be lost.

The last line came as a jolt. The author has a way with powerful endings.

Framing is EVERYTHING. The story we tell ourselves. Who knows what the dying woman thought? 🤷🏾‍♀️ Maybe she was saying "Don't mourn for me...I have no regrets, dear friend " She created the story because it was in her own heart 💔

Thank you very much for sharing :) much appreciated ❤❤❤

What a beautiful, and yet a harsh reminder that I am now old too. ❤

A fantastic story…. Thanks for sharing it!!!

BRILLIANT 👏🏾 loved the line about regret...I've listened to it 4 times already. It will stay with me.

OMG I never expected that!!

The glory of ordinary lives - Maugham 's genre

while working, listening to the short story. Just the right time / length of the story for one go!!!!!!!

I loved this story as I have all of his stories

Murder and suicide of two divas, both with early potential and one with distinct fame, notoriety, and tragedy. Maugham seems to be instructing: Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Either way, one ends up having come to a sorry end. So then, what is the point of having been gifted with "a god-given talent" !? In either case, Maugham does not allow us to take pleasure in these gifts, nor to admire the women so endowed.

Blanche's bitter tears and confession to the narrator foretold her suicide. Growing old is hard; to grow older each day dragging the deep regret of having surrendered a most precious life gift to fear... Her grief of what life might have been was not offset one iota by any appreciation or gratitude for her actual life... I see two paintings: one, a brilliant dazzling display of passion and beauty - by a masterful hand; the other, a bland and pleasant blending of color and shapes - one easily forgotten. The narrator's attempt to buoy her spirits were doomed even if she'd read them. Because Blanche would never acknowledge that what she really grieved was that she wasn't Charmiane. She never could have lived the life Charmiane lived and liked it. Accepted it. Most of us are not masterful artists with a precious unique gift. So i would say most of us cannot feel what Blanche felt. Only the feeblest inkling of her loss is comprehensible to most of us. I wonder: did the author truly know Blanche's grief? PS I realize I've confusedly addressed two themes lol

Lately I find myself listening to this mans short stories , in this story I was surprised to hear my surname McArdle, I am from the east coast of Ireland, Sad story very well narrated.