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The Verger
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About the author
W. Somerset Maugham
2,096 books6,042 followersWilliam Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874. He spoke French even before he spoke a word of English, a fact to which some critics attribute the purity of his style.
His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in Of Human Bondage, Maugham became a qualified physician. But writing was his true vocation. For ten years before his first success, he almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays.
Maugham wrote at a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as 'such a tissue of clichés' that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way.
During World War I, Maugham worked for the British Secret Service . He travelled all over the world, and made many visits to America. After World War II, Maugham made his home in south of France and continued to move between England and Nice till his death in 1965.
At the time of Maugham's birth, French law was such that all foreign boys born in France became liable for conscription. Thus, Maugham was born within the Embassy, legally recognized as UK territory.
His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in Of Human Bondage, Maugham became a qualified physician. But writing was his true vocation. For ten years before his first success, he almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays.
Maugham wrote at a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as 'such a tissue of clichés' that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way.
During World War I, Maugham worked for the British Secret Service . He travelled all over the world, and made many visits to America. After World War II, Maugham made his home in south of France and continued to move between England and Nice till his death in 1965.
At the time of Maugham's birth, French law was such that all foreign boys born in France became liable for conscription. Thus, Maugham was born within the Embassy, legally recognized as UK territory.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 2, 2023
4.5 stars
The moral of the story seems more or less clear. Never give up. Always seek to discern opportunities when they present themselves and exploit them. A crisis does not necessarily lead to an impasse. It may become an incentive to try something new and change one's life for the better. It is never too late if one's mind is open to new ideas. A disadvantage, or rather what is regarded as such, can be turned into an advantage. Being successful does not always go hand in hand with receiving formal education. Life can be much more complex and unpredictable.
Last but not least, if you want to sell something, you have first of all to think of what your potential customers want to buy.
The story is concise and humorously ironic, or should I say ironically humorous. It was for me a nice diversion from reading more serious and heavy books.
I will end my short review with a passage from the story which might be considered a spoiler. If anything, I have warned you.
“'And do you mean to say that you've built up this important business and amassed a fortune of thirty thousand pounds without being able to read or write? Good God, man, what would you be now if you had been able to?'
'I can tell you that, sir,' said Mr Foreman, a little smile on his still aristocratic features. 'I'd be verger of St Peter's, Neville Square.’”
The moral of the story seems more or less clear. Never give up. Always seek to discern opportunities when they present themselves and exploit them. A crisis does not necessarily lead to an impasse. It may become an incentive to try something new and change one's life for the better. It is never too late if one's mind is open to new ideas. A disadvantage, or rather what is regarded as such, can be turned into an advantage. Being successful does not always go hand in hand with receiving formal education. Life can be much more complex and unpredictable.
Last but not least, if you want to sell something, you have first of all to think of what your potential customers want to buy.
The story is concise and humorously ironic, or should I say ironically humorous. It was for me a nice diversion from reading more serious and heavy books.
I will end my short review with a passage from the story which might be considered a spoiler. If anything, I have warned you.
“'And do you mean to say that you've built up this important business and amassed a fortune of thirty thousand pounds without being able to read or write? Good God, man, what would you be now if you had been able to?'
'I can tell you that, sir,' said Mr Foreman, a little smile on his still aristocratic features. 'I'd be verger of St Peter's, Neville Square.’”
September 29, 2018
Here follows a link to the short story free online: http://www.sinden.org/verger.html
I love W. Somerset Maugham and I am beginning to love short stories too.
I cannot imagine a person who does not smile at the end. My review must be shorter than the story itself.
I love W. Somerset Maugham and I am beginning to love short stories too.
I cannot imagine a person who does not smile at the end. My review must be shorter than the story itself.
November 22, 2018
A very neat story, with a bit of ironic humor. I must say I had a special love for this story. My father could only read and write minimally. He was taken out of school in the third grade due to the serious illness of his father and turned to work in the fields. By the time he was able to return, he was too old to feel comfortable in a third grade schoolroom, so he refused. He was a great success in life. He had marvelous common sense and an unbelievable grasp of math. He raised seven children, provided us a very adequate life, and never accepted any outside help. He worked very hard and planted a great work ethic in his children.
November 26, 2018
I enjoyed the humor and the irony in the story. Albert was very observant, intelligent, hard working, and knew how the world ran. These are all qualities which contribute to success, in spite of little formal education.
July 14, 2018
What a great little story to introduce me to the works of this Author .. a lovely piece of observational prose, which highlights exactly the divide between the classes at that time in our History ..
As my Grandfather was a Church Warden, this is exactly the kind of tale he would have told us as youngsters, whilst we sat cross-legged in the floor in front of a roaring fire, totally engrossed by his ability as a wonderful storyteller and believing everything he said was true .. He loved a tale with a moral behind it ..
Think I may be reading more by WSM ..
As my Grandfather was a Church Warden, this is exactly the kind of tale he would have told us as youngsters, whilst we sat cross-legged in the floor in front of a roaring fire, totally engrossed by his ability as a wonderful storyteller and believing everything he said was true .. He loved a tale with a moral behind it ..
Think I may be reading more by WSM ..
April 8, 2017
A nice, quick story to make one think. We do not have to be the most intelligent in the world to be successful. Success comes in many forms.
May 24, 2023
Read in 2017 and 2023.
Rating: 5 Stars!!
Review:
Per my Original Review, i still enjoy this book.
Thank You to my neighbor Mrs Makuch for giving me this book.
The Characters were so fun and interesting to read about. I couldnt pick just one as my favorite since i seemed to enjoy all the characters.
The Setting was beautifully described which made me feel like i was actually in the book while reading especially when the scenery was described.
Overall a Fun Classic Short Story!! Can't wait to read more by Somerset in the future!!
Rating: 5 Stars!!
Review:
Per my Original Review, i still enjoy this book.
Thank You to my neighbor Mrs Makuch for giving me this book.
The Characters were so fun and interesting to read about. I couldnt pick just one as my favorite since i seemed to enjoy all the characters.
The Setting was beautifully described which made me feel like i was actually in the book while reading especially when the scenery was described.
Overall a Fun Classic Short Story!! Can't wait to read more by Somerset in the future!!
June 21, 2025
The Verger by Somerset Maugham - another look at this great story is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/08/...
10 out of 10
There are only six pages in this tale, and I wonder if this would be classified as a ‘flash story’, or that is just a few lines long – notwithstanding the classification, this is more than worth reading and so easy to get to the end
Albert Edward Foreman is the hero of the narrative, he is The Verger, he had occupied that position for sixteen years, devoted to it, he keeps all the paraphernalia, the gowns used in the official capacity, even after they have been decommissioned
In the first few lines, the man is asked to see the vicar that had been recently appointed – the main character does not like this fellow, who is clearly not a man of God – not in my reading, with his intolerance
The vicar had found that the verger does not know how to read and write, finds this outrageous, in his arrogance, despite of the fact that he is informed that his predecessor had no objection, thought ‘there is too much learning anyway’
Our hero is told to stop being illiterate, start learning to read and write, show some progress within three months – I mean you can read this at https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/si...
Maybe it says there that he has to read and write in three months, but that sounds like an exaggeration, and I will not bother to check, since you have the link now, and then it is preposterous nonetheless, and we have the confirmation
The verger says that he is too old to start this education at his age – he has not felt the need to write letters, newspapers have photos now, and hence he can figure what is going on from that, he does not need reading
The pompous vicar speaks about the ‘danger’, what if there is something the man can’t understand, he would not have that, so the verger says he will present his resignation, as soon as they find someone to replace him
When he walks down the street, he finds there is no shop from which he can buy some tobacco ‘Albert Edward was a non-smoker and a total abstainer, but with a certain latitude; that is to say he liked a glass of beer with his dinner and when he was tired he enjoyed a cigarette…’ he would like to have now, and he could not
He was depressed, the news has been very bad indeed, he did not have enough to live on, and being unemployed is one of the most traumatic experiences, as we find form the classic Stumbling on Happiness…
Harvard Professor Daniel Gilbert is the author of this marvelous work https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/06/... which exposes myths of happiness
People think that they would be so happy, if only one thing or another were to happen, a frequent example if moving to California, a Caribbean or Pacific Island – only once there, the relocated find it is not the Eden they anticipated
That is due to the phenomenon called Hedonic Adaptation – humans adapt to the great things, palm trees, ocean, splendid beaches, and moan about the traffic, prices and other downsides, though there is an advantage here
Just as the bliss does not last, because we get in the habit of having it, when bad things affect people, they also adapt, and research has confirmed that, with the exceptions of losing a loved one, loud noise, unemployment
This is where I get back to Albert Edward Foreman, who is no longer young, lost a position of importance, independence, there are all the reasons for him to suffer from PTSD aka Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Only he is a resilient man, and this experience turns into a PTG aka Post Traumatic Growth, because he opens a Tabacco shop, then another, and he becomes a multi-millionaire – he has thirty thousand pounds, but that is millions today
Evidently, there is another side to this tale, I would argue that this is what makes the Somerset Maugham works so magnificent – and indeed, others that have multiple facets, you have different conclusions
Aside from the simple protestation, the man opened a poison shop, then a few others, so he killed people with his trade, which is countered by the fact that they did not know then that tobacco is lethal, it took centuries to find it
I would attack the hero on the point of his illiteracy, just like the pretentious vicar, and say that, well there is EQ, which is more important than IQ, but education is vital, and if this was one of those rare cases where the protagonist is a success, even without knowing his letters, still, look at the cult of Orange Jesus, and what poor training can do to the whole world, from 2025, we could be in for the coming (again!) of the monstrous Trump
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
10 out of 10
There are only six pages in this tale, and I wonder if this would be classified as a ‘flash story’, or that is just a few lines long – notwithstanding the classification, this is more than worth reading and so easy to get to the end
Albert Edward Foreman is the hero of the narrative, he is The Verger, he had occupied that position for sixteen years, devoted to it, he keeps all the paraphernalia, the gowns used in the official capacity, even after they have been decommissioned
In the first few lines, the man is asked to see the vicar that had been recently appointed – the main character does not like this fellow, who is clearly not a man of God – not in my reading, with his intolerance
The vicar had found that the verger does not know how to read and write, finds this outrageous, in his arrogance, despite of the fact that he is informed that his predecessor had no objection, thought ‘there is too much learning anyway’
Our hero is told to stop being illiterate, start learning to read and write, show some progress within three months – I mean you can read this at https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/si...
Maybe it says there that he has to read and write in three months, but that sounds like an exaggeration, and I will not bother to check, since you have the link now, and then it is preposterous nonetheless, and we have the confirmation
The verger says that he is too old to start this education at his age – he has not felt the need to write letters, newspapers have photos now, and hence he can figure what is going on from that, he does not need reading
The pompous vicar speaks about the ‘danger’, what if there is something the man can’t understand, he would not have that, so the verger says he will present his resignation, as soon as they find someone to replace him
When he walks down the street, he finds there is no shop from which he can buy some tobacco ‘Albert Edward was a non-smoker and a total abstainer, but with a certain latitude; that is to say he liked a glass of beer with his dinner and when he was tired he enjoyed a cigarette…’ he would like to have now, and he could not
He was depressed, the news has been very bad indeed, he did not have enough to live on, and being unemployed is one of the most traumatic experiences, as we find form the classic Stumbling on Happiness…
Harvard Professor Daniel Gilbert is the author of this marvelous work https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/06/... which exposes myths of happiness
People think that they would be so happy, if only one thing or another were to happen, a frequent example if moving to California, a Caribbean or Pacific Island – only once there, the relocated find it is not the Eden they anticipated
That is due to the phenomenon called Hedonic Adaptation – humans adapt to the great things, palm trees, ocean, splendid beaches, and moan about the traffic, prices and other downsides, though there is an advantage here
Just as the bliss does not last, because we get in the habit of having it, when bad things affect people, they also adapt, and research has confirmed that, with the exceptions of losing a loved one, loud noise, unemployment
This is where I get back to Albert Edward Foreman, who is no longer young, lost a position of importance, independence, there are all the reasons for him to suffer from PTSD aka Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Only he is a resilient man, and this experience turns into a PTG aka Post Traumatic Growth, because he opens a Tabacco shop, then another, and he becomes a multi-millionaire – he has thirty thousand pounds, but that is millions today
Evidently, there is another side to this tale, I would argue that this is what makes the Somerset Maugham works so magnificent – and indeed, others that have multiple facets, you have different conclusions
Aside from the simple protestation, the man opened a poison shop, then a few others, so he killed people with his trade, which is countered by the fact that they did not know then that tobacco is lethal, it took centuries to find it
I would attack the hero on the point of his illiteracy, just like the pretentious vicar, and say that, well there is EQ, which is more important than IQ, but education is vital, and if this was one of those rare cases where the protagonist is a success, even without knowing his letters, still, look at the cult of Orange Jesus, and what poor training can do to the whole world, from 2025, we could be in for the coming (again!) of the monstrous Trump
Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/u... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se
There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know
As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...
Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works
‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’
‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’
“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”
June 4, 2017
Mr Freman was a Verger in St Petear for many years one day a vicar and two churchwardens come to his house and told him if he didn't learn how to read and write he will be fired from the churche, Mr Foreman refuse that because he is an old man,and he decided to resigned from his job and sell tobacco and newspaper. His business grown up and heve ten shops with fortune of thirty thousand pound. The end of the story makes wonder how can a man who can't read or write have this huge fortune and how he would be if he had been able to?
October 3, 2020
Mr. Foreman was able to excel at all of his postings as an employee. One day when his last employer handed him a lemon, mr. foreman literally thought of a lemonade stand after being dismissed. Although the conventional wisdom is to gain success via studying and education. This tale is really fitting for today’s job market because it is about creating a service that has a market and is needed. The business owner’s degree or lack thereof is irrelevant.
December 27, 2016
Story of my life :) Doesn't get simpler and better worded than this. You don't make a life, this story would tell you how life makes you. Blessed to have read this life changing story.
October 1, 2018
Wonderful story!! Another wonderful W. Somerset Maugham read!
March 16, 2024
What is the single common factor that amalgamates Wright Brothers, the inventors of the first airplane; Jane Goodall, the revolutionary primatologist; David Bowie, the fabled musician and Michael Faraday, one of the paramount scientists of all time? The factor is that all these people altered the course of humanity in one way or another, without possessing any formal education. In this short narrative Maugham speaks to us about a man, who, lacking the blessings of literacy and faced with tall odds turns things around for himself. This is a feel-good story and a story which instills courage and hope in you. The moral is: Never, ever, ever give up.
Most recommended.
Most recommended.
April 23, 2024
Somerset Delivers.
This was very good, but not going to review it.
For the moment at least.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1930] [8p] [Fiction] [Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Somerset Sabe.
Estuvo estuvo muy bien, pero no voy a reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1930] [8p] [Ficción] [Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
This was very good, but not going to review it.
For the moment at least.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1930] [8p] [Fiction] [Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Somerset Sabe.
Estuvo estuvo muy bien, pero no voy a reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1930] [8p] [Ficción] [Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
September 29, 2018
Read at: http://www.sinden.org/verger.html
Love it! Such a short story but it manages to say everything it needs to. The setting, the inbred class consciousness, Foreman's character - they all come together in quite the perfect way.
Love it! Such a short story but it manages to say everything it needs to. The setting, the inbred class consciousness, Foreman's character - they all come together in quite the perfect way.
April 21, 2019
Me sorprendio mucho el final, que ironía la del personaje.
June 4, 2021
Oh I quite enjoyed this short story. Cute ending.
August 1, 2021
A classic, ironic short story of somebody turning a disadvantage (illiteracy) into an advantage.
July 26, 2023
A bit of a shaggy-dog story, but worth a chuckle
Read
April 8, 2024For class
November 16, 2025
Such a cute story with a nice moral. If novels were dinner this would be a nice light desert :)
5/5
5/5
February 14, 2022
A church verger ends up going his own way. Library C/D narrated by Kenneth Danziger.
November 13, 2015
Loved it. Read this after seeing the dramatization on Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected, which adds a lot of detail and updates it for the 80s. Both are terrific. A beautifully simple story. Sometimes it seems like writing those is a lost art.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews