Author Forums: Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde's a bit of a new discovery for me, but I'm really enjoying his work. I've finished The Importance of Being Earnest and I'm a little over halfway through The Picture of Dorian Gray, and I started An Ideal Husband as well. I've gotten one recommendation, to read Lady Windemere's Fan, so I'll probably read that soon.
Just wanted to toss this out there, that Wilde truly is amazing. Does anyone else agree with me? It's kind of odd because I've only heard of Wilde recently, but I love his work!
Replies (9)
Posted by
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I haven't read any of his books. But thanks for your recommendation!
Apr 13, 2009 3:21 pm
by cfarrall -
i also stumbled upon wilde without really knowing much about who he was, or what he represented in a literary capacity. the day after i finished the importance of being earnest, i went and bought "the collected oscar wilde" from the B&N classics section (you know in that standardized B&N section) and am absolutely loving it.
i've always knew the name oscar wilde in a very vague sense, but never would i think i would enjoy his works as much as i actually do. i guess all that's left is to thank daily lit, huh?May 6, 2009 8:12 am
by wsimpson3144 -
Ireland is a country with absolutely no talent, but bursting with genius. Wilde, along with James Joyce and others is representative of this strange kind of negative virtue. He was very talented and knew it in an amusing kind of way e.g. one of his quotes "The play was a great success, but the audience was a total failure". Try " The Ballad of Reading Goal" reflecting his imprisonment. It has a tremendous sadness in feeling in contrast to his light hearted & witty plays.
May 14, 2009 3:59 am
by MANICHAEAN -
Thank you for the recommendation. I'll look into it!
by books -
I highly recommend "The Importance of Being Earnest". Extremely witty. Do not forget to read "Lady Windermere's Fan". However, before one begins on the books, it is necessary to read up on the historical and cultural context of that time. After that, I promise you will have a Wilde journey!
May 20, 2009 12:10 pm
by 93aaron -
"An Ideal Husband" is a play that combines politics with social and sexual tensions in a way that is still as valid and hilarious today as it was when it was written. In fact, I saw it performed in London back in middle of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal and couldn't believe all the parallels.
May 22, 2009 2:40 pm
by damon_t -
I have discovered Wilde recently as well and I am enjoying Picture of Dorian Grey. It is an interesting look of how we interact with the world and its effects on us as a whole.
May 23, 2009 12:17 pm
by last2ndread -
For some, especially writers, language itself is the primary arena within which the shattering experiences of life are coped with and the individual assertivenss and agency becomes manifest from behind the angst. For writers talk is more important than action, indeed talk itself is action because words determine thoughts and actions. "Language... is the parent, and not the child, of thought.... Men are the slaves of words." This may have been true of the philosopher Kant whom posterity caricatured as a man "who was all thought and no life" or “a man who neither had a life nor a history.” I’ve come to the view that thought and action, two of the major facets of our lives, can not be separated. The practical and the mystic have become one in our day.-Ron Price with thnaks to David Foster, "Oscar Wilde, De Profundis and the Rhetoric of Agency," Papers on Language and Literature, Winter 2001.
Jun 11, 2009 8:33 am
by RonPrice -
I highly recommend "The Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde". Those little stories are wonderful for young and old and they're really entertaining. It's really interesting to see his take on the common themes in fairy tales.
Jun 11, 2009 11:03 am
by jawsy