The Fall of Edward Barnard by Maugham Publisher: Guangxi Normal University Press

Introduction
"If all were to vanish, there would still be a world left that the author had told of, from Singapore to the Marquesas, and it would belong entirely and forever to Maugham. We step into this world of verandas and dhows as into Conan Doyle's Baker Street, with a sense of joy and eternal homecoming."
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William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) is a famous British novelist, playwright and short story writer. Marquez listed Maugham as one of his favorite authors. Orwell called Maugham "the modern writer who has had the greatest influence on me. I deeply admire his ability to tell stories without pretense."
Short stories occupy an important position in Maugham's works. Anthony Burgess once commented that he wrote "the best short stories in English literature". Novels such as "Of Human Bondage" and "The Razor's Edge" made Maugham famous all over the world, while his short stories won more readers with their exquisite story-weaving skills and keen insights into human nature and social life, becoming a global phenomenon.
In 1951, Maugham published a four-volume collection of short stories, including 91 stories in total. He personally determined the titles and order of the stories and wrote the preface for each volume. In 1963, Penguin Books launched a new edition based on this, which has since been recognized as the standard edition and has been reprinted many times. This book is a translation of the 2002 Penguin edition of the complete collection.
There are many Chinese translations of Maugham's works, and most of his short stories are published in the form of selected collections. The Utopia Edition of "The Complete Short Stories of Maugham" (four volumes) is the first "Maugham Short Stories Complete Project" in the Chinese world. This book is the first volume and was shortlisted for the second One Way Street Bookstore Literary Award for the annual literary translation and Douban Reading's best short story of the year.
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【Recommended comments】
Zhang Dinghao (poet and literary critic): Fortunately, we have cutting-edge translators who can understand the subtleties of literary language and comedy. To some extent, Maugham has been given a new look in Chinese... Every time I see those "boring realism" novels in journals that are either nagging or self-boasting, I want to throw this new translation of Maugham at them like a brick.
Xiaobao (writer, critic): He (Chen Yikan) is really a rare translator of Maugham. I have also read many translations of Maugham's works. His translations obviously follow Maugham's writing style in his subjective intention, which is very difficult.
One Way Street Bookstore Literary Award: When a writer starts to become popular, it often means that our understanding of him enters a slow pause period. In this sense, Chen Yikan's translation of Maugham's short stories is a new excavation. His love for Maugham, his moderate sense of distance, and his rigorous language skills between the two are unique and lead readers into a channel to face the wit and charm of Maugham's short stories.