About this title: Kitty Fane has an affair, and when her husband, a bacteriologist, finds out, he forces her to go with him to a cholera epidemic in the hopes that she will contract the disease and die. Once she is surrounded by all the desolation and death, Kitty begins to come to self-realization, and also learns how to love her husband. Unfortunately for both of them, Kitty's realizations come too late.
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Description: Good. 0140008721 Condition: GOOD. (Book may have one or a combination of the following characteristics: former library book, dust jacket missing, cover wear, name written inside cover, considerable underlining/highlighting, remainder mark, binding loose, binding slants, pages tanning / curling, etc. Overall, the book is in decent shape. This is a blanket description. Please email us if you require a specific, detailed description of the book condition. We will typically respond within one week ... read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780307277770ISBN:0307277771
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 246 p. Vintage International (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780307277770ISBN:0307277771
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 246 p. Vintage International (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780307277770ISBN:0307277771
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 246 p. Vintage International (Paperback). Audience: General/trade. read more
Edition: First Edition; Second Printing
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Pocket Books, New York
Date Published: 1946
Description: Near Fine with no dust jacket. 12mo 7"-7½" tall; 234 pages; Very light soiling and cover wear. #581. Name and date in pencil on 1st page. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Audio CD
Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780786168927ISBN:0786168927
Description: None as Issued/Good-Used. / 0786168927. Box has some wear. Discs have minor surface scratches. Only been listened to twice.; Not an ex-library copy. Ships with confirming email. 100% money back guarantee. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780099286875ISBN:0099286874
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
"I saw the film based on this book before reading the actual book, something I usual prefer not to do. I liked the movie, in part because it portrayed the story as a tale of forgiveness and restoration. My wife warned me that the novel did not have such a rosy ending. As I read the novel, I was at first angry with Kitty for her initial behavior but as she grew and developed working with the nuns, I began to have more compassion for her. When she returned to Hong Kong I again wanted to be angry with her, but I found myself instead feeling compassion for someone who wants to break free from a behavior but struggles to do so. I can certainly relate to this and for me to judge her for this as well struck me as ungracious and hypocritical. In the end I feel most sorry for Walter, whose inability to forgive himself or his wife leads in part to his own destruction. In the end I like both the film and the novel, for slightly different reasons, but both offer an interesting story of human nature and the potential for redemption and the consequences of not finding it."
"I really had no interest in reading this book. Even when my friend, Samatha, told me about it, I wasn't intrigued. Then Samatha loaned me the book, so what could I do? But, say "I like green eggs and ham." Surprise, I liked the story. While the novel showed its age in its portrait of characters, settings, and situations, it also dealt with some universal truths. Kitty Fane was raised in England to be a selfish, superficial, and vain young woman who delighted in the social whirl and thrilled at her ability to entice young men and then spurn them. Then she realizes that her younger sister is marrying above her station and she feels that she needs to escape the awkward situation of participating in her sister's wedding and hearing the whispered comments about how it is a shame that marriage has passed her by. So she accepts the proposal of a man whom she does not love. The novel explores the reasons why people marry and, not surprisingly, true love often falls down significantly on the list. Then once married, and living in Hong Kong, Kitty has to face the consequences of her actions both in England and in China. Other than an hysterical outburst from Kitty at the end of the novel that nearly made me throw up a little in the back of my mouth, I found the characters reflected the logical consequences of the choices that they each had made."
"Colonial Hong Kong finds Kitty and Walter Fane in quite a predicament. Kitty has been involved in a scandalous affair with a mid-level official with the British government in Hong Kong. After her lover betrays her, her husband Walter, a bacteriologist, packs up his wife and drags into the middle of a cholera epidemic, citing the need for doctors. Kitty finds a bit of a purpose in assisting in an orphanage and finds a bit of respect for her husband. After an unfortunate turn of events, Kitty finds herself pregnant and alone so she returns to Hong Kong and then back to England.
I found The Painted Veil to be a bit melodramatic. Kitty, who was raised to be a shallow, but pretty, twit, has no self-respect and very little respect for those around her who she feels are somewhat beneath her. Her lovers betrayal was predictable as was her response to it. In the end, the drama of swearing to raise her daughter to be self-sufficient as Kitty embarks to the Bahamas with her father (and, therefore, not being self-sufficient)...it was just a bit....melodramatic. I suppose it is typical of women being written in that period of time, but the desperation to be adored and catered to and their air-headed silliness... is always a bit much for me. It's irritating. Perhaps I'm just reading too much into it.
I liked it. I didn't really like it enough to want to read it again or see the movie (though Edward Norton is awfully cute...), but I thought it was a good and interesting book."
"Now, I'm an English teacher, so it is rare that I find a movie that accurately captures the spirit of a work of literature. However, a movie that accurately captured the spirit of The Painted Veil would be a gloomy downer indeed. This is a piece of modernist fiction: it is full of a desire to return to a more innocent time, coupled with the cynical knowledge that such a return is impossible. Modernist fiction, though it may sound depressing, can be very well written: see The Great Gatsby, for example. This novel, however, is fairly flat -- we only see Kitty's point of view -- and goes nowhere. Kitty does experience an epiphany, but does not seem to grow from it. I found the movie produced by and starring Ed Norton and Naomi Watts to be more interesting, in the sense of making us interested in the characters, and more suitable for the screen, as it has a more satisfying, romantic ending, in which both characters grow and learn."
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