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Oscar Wilde
A special selection of Oscar Wilde's witty sayings and accurate comments on life. Subjects include Ironies and Paradoxes, Art for Art's Sake, and the Artist as Philosopher.
255 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1912
29 people are currently reading
360 people want to read
About the author
Oscar Wilde
5,494 books38.8k followersOscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
January 27, 2011
Let me first qualify this review by saying that I am a huge Oscar Wilde fan (I not only own a copy, but have read cover to cover, his compiled works, my favorite novel is A Picture of Dorian Grey, and I own an Oscar Wile action figure...) Really it was only a matter of time before I began reading his biographies (the one I have on the shelf next is Richard Ellmann's Oscar Wilde...
I really found myself enjoying Frank Harris's biography of him. I think that Oscar himself would have been rather pleased with this book for the most part (at least the 2/3 that are his life before imprisonment and spiral into despair.) Frank was one of his dear friends in life and gives a first hand account of life with Oscar. Oscar admired Frank so much that he dedicated my favorite of his plays, An Ideal Husband, to him. This book shows not so much the flesh and blood Wilde as it does the brilliant, larger than life masterpiece Wilde presented of himself to the world. The true fascination of Wilde is this ability to be such a charming contradiction of all the norms of society.
I found myself seeing a lot of the facts of his imprisonment and life after in a slightly different, and oddly more favorable light. I thought that Oscar was in a much more miserable and destitute situation than Frank portrays and am very fond of his friends and admirers who helped him all the way to the end.
A biography of Wilde's life really reads quite a bit like a novel (and even more shockingly almost parallels his one novel- A Picture of Dorian Grey.) I loved all the quirky and witty quotes from dinner conversations and if I could go back in time and meet ANYONE I would want it to be him. This book only further deepened that conviction instead of dragging me away from it.
I really found myself enjoying Frank Harris's biography of him. I think that Oscar himself would have been rather pleased with this book for the most part (at least the 2/3 that are his life before imprisonment and spiral into despair.) Frank was one of his dear friends in life and gives a first hand account of life with Oscar. Oscar admired Frank so much that he dedicated my favorite of his plays, An Ideal Husband, to him. This book shows not so much the flesh and blood Wilde as it does the brilliant, larger than life masterpiece Wilde presented of himself to the world. The true fascination of Wilde is this ability to be such a charming contradiction of all the norms of society.
I found myself seeing a lot of the facts of his imprisonment and life after in a slightly different, and oddly more favorable light. I thought that Oscar was in a much more miserable and destitute situation than Frank portrays and am very fond of his friends and admirers who helped him all the way to the end.
A biography of Wilde's life really reads quite a bit like a novel (and even more shockingly almost parallels his one novel- A Picture of Dorian Grey.) I loved all the quirky and witty quotes from dinner conversations and if I could go back in time and meet ANYONE I would want it to be him. This book only further deepened that conviction instead of dragging me away from it.
April 16, 2020
When embarking on this read I thought it would be a great insight into Oscar Wilde in a way that a biography can’t. What I discovered was a man who knew Wilde intimately but couldn’t really grasp him, who clearly felt let down by Wilde and his relationship with Boise, and his refusal to work once out of prison. Not only that but Wilde fleeced Harris in a way that left him financially out of pocket in addition to being a laughingstock around London. His break from Oscar came towards the end of his life in the very late 1800’s. Fed up of paying for Wilde’s lifestyle, together with others who had effectively been his ‘patrons’ in the true sense, Harris has to break his ties although not completely.
I had hoped to find a man far more realistic, a man who had let people down and knew it. Harris’ strange dialogue prose is annoying, making Wilde so completely two dimensional that he was a real life Harold Skimpole. And if Harris is to be believed he really was, taking money from all and sundry. Harris tried to get Wilde out of prison, desperately trying to get him to fly to Calais before his criminal trial knowing that no one would attempt to force the return of such a, using that time’s morality, disgusting creature to spend two years in prison. Harris pushes at doors to get Wilde his books and writing materials back, to get him released early but I could find no true apology for his troubles. Even for a book that isn’t full of real conversation between the two the lack is glaring. This book only made me feel that Oscar Wilde was Janus, deciding from a young age that he wanted to be some kind of literary marvel, which in some ways he was, whilst wholly incapable of being respectful of his friend’s point of view.
I am glad Wilde now gets the recognition he deserved back then but this memoir does no justice to the man or the author.
I had hoped to find a man far more realistic, a man who had let people down and knew it. Harris’ strange dialogue prose is annoying, making Wilde so completely two dimensional that he was a real life Harold Skimpole. And if Harris is to be believed he really was, taking money from all and sundry. Harris tried to get Wilde out of prison, desperately trying to get him to fly to Calais before his criminal trial knowing that no one would attempt to force the return of such a, using that time’s morality, disgusting creature to spend two years in prison. Harris pushes at doors to get Wilde his books and writing materials back, to get him released early but I could find no true apology for his troubles. Even for a book that isn’t full of real conversation between the two the lack is glaring. This book only made me feel that Oscar Wilde was Janus, deciding from a young age that he wanted to be some kind of literary marvel, which in some ways he was, whilst wholly incapable of being respectful of his friend’s point of view.
I am glad Wilde now gets the recognition he deserved back then but this memoir does no justice to the man or the author.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2013
Beautifully written, it is quite a pageturner. But it known for being inaccurate and selfserving, it is almost as much about Harris as it is about Wilde. Harris reproduces lies and rumors about Wilde and it's hard to even trust the conversations he claims to have had with Wilde. But it gives an insight in Wilde as he would have appeared to another Englishman at the time.
His portrait of Wilde is full of contradictions, but at the same time it is a very intimate portrait. And though it doesn't portrait Oscar Wilde the way som admirers would like to remember him, it could still be accurate.
The book is a must read, but to understand Oscar Wilde one has to read at least one more biography.
His portrait of Wilde is full of contradictions, but at the same time it is a very intimate portrait. And though it doesn't portrait Oscar Wilde the way som admirers would like to remember him, it could still be accurate.
The book is a must read, but to understand Oscar Wilde one has to read at least one more biography.
June 26, 2012
As I understand, this biography is not a source to be trusted. However, I enjoyed it a lot. My favorite part was in the note by Harris on a previous version of the biography which stated that he believed Harris had "affectionately underrated his [Wilde's] snobbery." Overall, it was good and filled with the fin de siecle drama that only one who lived during it could truly capture.
June 13, 2016
This is a fairly thinly sketched biography wrapped around a memoir of the author's friendship with Wilde, concentrating especially on his trials, imprisonment and decline. Its great strength is the way it brings Wilde to life in remembered conversations, capturing the flavour of his conversation, which Harris and apparently Wilde considered to be Wilde's greatest art. It is also very frank, for the time of publication, about Wilde's private life, though Harris's open-mindedness is offset by some rather tedious passages in which he tries to persuade Oscar to go straight.
Harris has a reputation as an unreliable narrator of his own life, but I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. The more I read, the more I began to feel pangs of scepticism. At times, Harris represents himself as the hero of Wilde's life, trying desperately but in vain to save his weak-willed friend from folly, excess and indolence.
I had only a very basic understanding of Wilde's life before reading this. Despite my occasional scepticism I feel I now know a lot more about it. Yet I still feel the need for verification by a more trusted source: the Richard Ellmann biography seems to be the 'standard'. So I recommend this book not so much as a reliable account of the life, but as a probably good record of what it was like to know and talk to Wilde.
Harris has a reputation as an unreliable narrator of his own life, but I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. The more I read, the more I began to feel pangs of scepticism. At times, Harris represents himself as the hero of Wilde's life, trying desperately but in vain to save his weak-willed friend from folly, excess and indolence.
I had only a very basic understanding of Wilde's life before reading this. Despite my occasional scepticism I feel I now know a lot more about it. Yet I still feel the need for verification by a more trusted source: the Richard Ellmann biography seems to be the 'standard'. So I recommend this book not so much as a reliable account of the life, but as a probably good record of what it was like to know and talk to Wilde.
May 9, 2018
This was written about 1910, and contains some rather arcane phrases, as well as delicate and discreet language regarding Wilde's proclivities. I enjoyed Harris' descriptions of Wilde, and he quotes a number of conversations at great length. I wish there had been more in it about Mrs .Wilde and his other friends, but...also, he never admits Wilde's "viciousness" (code for unorthodox sexuality). Also, his description of Wilde's death is rather shrouded-he never alludes to the possibility it may have been due to complications from syphilis. It is obvious he cared a great deal about Wilde and was pained that his writing career ended so soon. Also, it's not "overwritten" in that you can finish it in a few days. First hand account of a fascinating literary icon.
May 21, 2020
Conseguí esta obra y la biografía de Villena sobre el mismo hombre (Wilde) en la misma librería, una al lado de la otra.
El libro de Harris, aún hoy me sorprende, era mucho más barato que el de Villena, supongo que porque era una edición más vieja. Por eso leí la biografía que escribió el autor español antes de acercarme a la que hizo un amigo cercano del propio biografiado, y que fue una de las primeras aproximaciones a su vida.
Las páginas que dedicó Harris a Wilde van desde describir...
El resto de la reseña se encuentra en mi blog: https://jsaaopinionpersonal.wordpress...
El libro de Harris, aún hoy me sorprende, era mucho más barato que el de Villena, supongo que porque era una edición más vieja. Por eso leí la biografía que escribió el autor español antes de acercarme a la que hizo un amigo cercano del propio biografiado, y que fue una de las primeras aproximaciones a su vida.
Las páginas que dedicó Harris a Wilde van desde describir...
El resto de la reseña se encuentra en mi blog: https://jsaaopinionpersonal.wordpress...
October 8, 2014
An early biography of Wilde, and one written by a close friend, albeit one who (while no angel himself) disapproved of his lifestyle, this is a compelling read.
Focussing on the manner in which Wilde built his reputation, and the circumstances under which he helped self-destruct, this is a heartfelt and merciless portrait, pointing out the great man's flaws as well as those qualities which made him excellent company.
The court case involving Lord Alfred Douglas and his unpleasant father is examined in great detail; less well-trodden ground is the period following his release from prison, and his sad decline.
A cautionary tale, told with style and sympathy.
Focussing on the manner in which Wilde built his reputation, and the circumstances under which he helped self-destruct, this is a heartfelt and merciless portrait, pointing out the great man's flaws as well as those qualities which made him excellent company.
The court case involving Lord Alfred Douglas and his unpleasant father is examined in great detail; less well-trodden ground is the period following his release from prison, and his sad decline.
A cautionary tale, told with style and sympathy.
February 20, 2023
There was a lot of discussion among Wilde's contemporaries regarding the accuracy of this work when it was first published, particularly by Lord Alfred Douglas and George Bernard Shaw. Both Douglas and Shaw initially respond with overall praise for the work, but would both go back on this in the future. Douglas praised this work in a letter that is included in the introduction but wrote a more scathing account in his own biography, (though he would eventually go on to criticize his own work and suggest future revisions after taking back some of the ideas he set forth) and then partially retracted his anger, though not his refute, in a later letter to Shaw.
I think this opens up an interesting discussion into the validity of this work (and the biography of Wilde by Shaw), as their works are mainly based on personal recollections, which opens up the door for bias (which is ever present in this work). The two men notably disagreed on their recollection of a meeting they had with Wilde and Douglas just prior to the trials, and the differing accounts shift the narrative, making it difficult to discern the truth from these portrayals.
I think this opens up an interesting discussion into the validity of this work (and the biography of Wilde by Shaw), as their works are mainly based on personal recollections, which opens up the door for bias (which is ever present in this work). The two men notably disagreed on their recollection of a meeting they had with Wilde and Douglas just prior to the trials, and the differing accounts shift the narrative, making it difficult to discern the truth from these portrayals.
June 6, 2022
If Oscar Wilde's alive I would hate him; but he is dead, and now everything can be forgiven.
"'...No, he does not understand me. He cannot understand me any more. But I keep on telling him that in every letter. We cannot follow the same road. He has his and it is beautiful-I have mine. His is that of Alcibiades; mine is now that of St. Francis of Assisi.'"
"Let me now make amends. When to the sessions of sad memory I summon up the spirits of those whom I have met in the world and loved, men famous and men of unfulfilled renown, I miss no one as much as I miss Oscar Wilde. I would rather spend an evening with him than with Renan or Carlyle or Verlaine or Dick Burton or Davidson. I would rather have him back now than almost anyone I have ever met. I have known more heroic souls and some deeper souls; souls much more keenly alive to ideas of duty and generosity; but I have know no more charming, no more quickening, no more delightful spirit."
"'...No, he does not understand me. He cannot understand me any more. But I keep on telling him that in every letter. We cannot follow the same road. He has his and it is beautiful-I have mine. His is that of Alcibiades; mine is now that of St. Francis of Assisi.'"
"Let me now make amends. When to the sessions of sad memory I summon up the spirits of those whom I have met in the world and loved, men famous and men of unfulfilled renown, I miss no one as much as I miss Oscar Wilde. I would rather spend an evening with him than with Renan or Carlyle or Verlaine or Dick Burton or Davidson. I would rather have him back now than almost anyone I have ever met. I have known more heroic souls and some deeper souls; souls much more keenly alive to ideas of duty and generosity; but I have know no more charming, no more quickening, no more delightful spirit."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 26, 2017
According to this book, Oscar Wilde was:
Lazy
Vain
Pompous
Egotistical
Bitter
Whiny
Self-centered
Weak-willed
Gluttonous
Misogynistic
Materialistic
Spoiled
and
A spendthrift.
So it probably isn't too difficult to understand why I wound up disliking him immensely. But I didn't really read this book to like Oscar Wilde; I read it to learn more about him and what influenced his writings, and I did. The fact that he wasn't a great person doesn't change the fact that he wrote beautiful and good things. Plus, I really liked this Frank Harris person; I was far more interested in him than in his subject matter. Two thumbs up.
Lazy
Vain
Pompous
Egotistical
Bitter
Whiny
Self-centered
Weak-willed
Gluttonous
Misogynistic
Materialistic
Spoiled
and
A spendthrift.
So it probably isn't too difficult to understand why I wound up disliking him immensely. But I didn't really read this book to like Oscar Wilde; I read it to learn more about him and what influenced his writings, and I did. The fact that he wasn't a great person doesn't change the fact that he wrote beautiful and good things. Plus, I really liked this Frank Harris person; I was far more interested in him than in his subject matter. Two thumbs up.
January 24, 2022
An impassioned biography by a friend but written as a journalist; according to Wikipedia, a difficult and unsettled man, so it is hard to be sure how accurate it is. There is an awful lot of dialogue between the two men and did FH really remember it so faithfully? It seems as though the tone, rhythm and style of Oscar's shtick is captured as well as his appalling neediness in relation to money. The decline after his second betrayal by the dreadful Bosie is awful. Robbie Ross was pretty much a saint. The great theme is how a bigoted and narrow middle class brought him down because of his so-called perversion but a lot of it was to do with his consorting with 'common' rent boys.
March 5, 2023
This read was an elegantly crafted biography. Frank Harris captures the life of Oscar Wilde from his youth until his death with great emphasis on the important events that influenced Wilde to be what he was. I wouldn’t say Wilde was a life of waste for his poetry, plays, talks, and works have made an impact in the world of literature. This is by far one of my favorite biographies, it can be seen that Harris created this book with authenticity, emotion, and honesty. Oscar Wilde is definitely an individual I find amusing. Totally worth the read.
February 16, 2021
The writing style is the biggest problem here. It's unengaging & somewhat unclear. I'm not going to be able to learn from anything presented in the way that this material is presented. I'm somewhat familiar with Wilde's story already, so I feel no need to press on with this. Dnf p. 25.
August 17, 2023
Interesting
May 31, 2024
es excelente porque es un registro íntimo, si bien no le creo la veracidad de algunos detalles a Harris
October 14, 2024
Excellent. One of the best and funniest books I have read in a long time
May 10, 2019
The last chapter where Frank Harris was talking about his friend, Oscar Wilde, was beautiful and moving.
The rest of the book, although very interesting in parts, I found a little wordy. Listened to this book on audio and found myself daydreaming quite a lot, which could be why I found it a struggle or maybe I kept drifting, because it did not suit me?
The rest of the book, although very interesting in parts, I found a little wordy. Listened to this book on audio and found myself daydreaming quite a lot, which could be why I found it a struggle or maybe I kept drifting, because it did not suit me?
February 15, 2025
Teil 1
In diesem Teil wird die Geschichte Wildes bis zu seinem Prozess erzählt. Ich habe erst Anfang des Jahres die Biografie von Richard Ellmann gelesen und habe die beiden Biografien natürlich miteinander verglichen. Wo Richard Ellmann viel Wert auf Details gelegt hat, hat Frank Harris mehr Wert auf den Menschen Oscar Wilde gelegt. Er hat ihn persönlich gekannt und so wirkt seine Beschreibung lebendig und warmherzig. Auch oder gerade dann, wenn er Oscar Wilde in nicht so schönen Worten beschreibt (so nennt er ihn mehrmals aufgedunsen und beschreibt seine Kleidung als zu eng), so sind es die Worte eines Freundes, der nicht versteht, wie man sich so gehen lassen kann.
Mich hat überrascht, dass Harris an Wildes Unschuld geglaubt hat. So gut, wie er ihn zu kennen glaubte, kannte er ihn doch nicht. Das zeigt, dass die beiden nicht so gut befreundet waren, wie er dachte. Im zweiten Teil macht Wilde auch eine Bemerkung, die meine Annahme bestätigt. Aber auch wenn Wilde nicht so ein guter Freund war, Harris war es sicher. Er hat bis zum Schluss versucht, Wilde vor dem Gefängnis zu bewahren und konnte nicht verstehen, dass er sich seinem Schicksal so ergeben hat.
Teil 2
Dieser Teil erzählt die Zeit im Gefängnis und die Zeit danach. Im Gegensatz zum ersten Teil kam mir diese Erzählung weniger geordnet vor. Gerade, was die letzten Jahre Wildes betrifft und die Reisen, die die beiden Männer unternommen haben. Frank Harris hat mir zu viel von sich und weniger von Oscar Wilde erzählt. Trotzdem konnte er mir ein gutes Bild Wildes vermitteln. Aber mir ist auch wieder aufgefallen, wie sehr sich die Erzählungen Harris' und Ellmanns ähneln, allerdings erzählt Harris' Biografie viel mehr vom Menschen Oscar Wilde. Ich bin froh, dass ich beide gelesen habe, aber gebe der von Frank Harris eindeutig den Vorzug.
In diesem Teil wird die Geschichte Wildes bis zu seinem Prozess erzählt. Ich habe erst Anfang des Jahres die Biografie von Richard Ellmann gelesen und habe die beiden Biografien natürlich miteinander verglichen. Wo Richard Ellmann viel Wert auf Details gelegt hat, hat Frank Harris mehr Wert auf den Menschen Oscar Wilde gelegt. Er hat ihn persönlich gekannt und so wirkt seine Beschreibung lebendig und warmherzig. Auch oder gerade dann, wenn er Oscar Wilde in nicht so schönen Worten beschreibt (so nennt er ihn mehrmals aufgedunsen und beschreibt seine Kleidung als zu eng), so sind es die Worte eines Freundes, der nicht versteht, wie man sich so gehen lassen kann.
Mich hat überrascht, dass Harris an Wildes Unschuld geglaubt hat. So gut, wie er ihn zu kennen glaubte, kannte er ihn doch nicht. Das zeigt, dass die beiden nicht so gut befreundet waren, wie er dachte. Im zweiten Teil macht Wilde auch eine Bemerkung, die meine Annahme bestätigt. Aber auch wenn Wilde nicht so ein guter Freund war, Harris war es sicher. Er hat bis zum Schluss versucht, Wilde vor dem Gefängnis zu bewahren und konnte nicht verstehen, dass er sich seinem Schicksal so ergeben hat.
Teil 2
Dieser Teil erzählt die Zeit im Gefängnis und die Zeit danach. Im Gegensatz zum ersten Teil kam mir diese Erzählung weniger geordnet vor. Gerade, was die letzten Jahre Wildes betrifft und die Reisen, die die beiden Männer unternommen haben. Frank Harris hat mir zu viel von sich und weniger von Oscar Wilde erzählt. Trotzdem konnte er mir ein gutes Bild Wildes vermitteln. Aber mir ist auch wieder aufgefallen, wie sehr sich die Erzählungen Harris' und Ellmanns ähneln, allerdings erzählt Harris' Biografie viel mehr vom Menschen Oscar Wilde. Ich bin froh, dass ich beide gelesen habe, aber gebe der von Frank Harris eindeutig den Vorzug.
August 19, 2019
Harris schrieb die Biographie, heißt es, weil er das Geld brauchte. Und sie sei nicht sehr akkurat. Sicherlich hat Harris nicht viel Zeit mit Recherche verschwendet. Ausführlich berichtet er von seinen Gesprächen, wobei Oscar immer wieder ein “Frank” in seine Repliken einbaut. Schon etwas nervtötend, besonders am Anfang. Auch die Gespräche über das “Laster” sind so ergiebig nicht. Oscar wollte wohl Harris davon überzeugen, dass Homosexualität die natürliche Haltung eines Ästheten sei, während Harris sie mit Kannibalismus vergleicht, der schließlich auch aus Vorurteil abgelehnt werde. Insgesamt aber flüssig geschrieben, und offenbar hat ihn mit dem trägen Wilde echte Freundschaft verbunden, obwohl sie sehr verschieden waren. The Ballad of ReadingGaol hält er für die beste Ballade in englischer Sprache.
Interessant auch die nachträgliche Betrachtung Shaws (die Harris einfügt aus Eitelkeit?). Der sagt:
“Ich bin überzeugt, daß die Himmelstore vor Oscar Wilde nicht verschlossen worden sind; denn er ist ein zu guter Gefährte um ausgesperrt zu werden. Aber mit den Worten 'Du guter und getreuer Knecht' wird er kaum begrüßt worden sein.” 7/10
Interessant auch die nachträgliche Betrachtung Shaws (die Harris einfügt aus Eitelkeit?). Der sagt:
“Ich bin überzeugt, daß die Himmelstore vor Oscar Wilde nicht verschlossen worden sind; denn er ist ein zu guter Gefährte um ausgesperrt zu werden. Aber mit den Worten 'Du guter und getreuer Knecht' wird er kaum begrüßt worden sein.” 7/10
October 15, 2007
Oscar Wilde was the epitome of the artist whose greatest work was his life. Wilde could never quite capture on paper the wit and wisdom that charmed so many of the pretty people in Victorian England. This engrossing biography, written by legendary playboy Frank Harris, is a first-hand account, as Wilde and Harris were close friends. Harris tries to understand Wilde's homosexuality, and paints a sympathetic picture of a man he clearly idolized.
December 6, 2012
I couldn't I finish the book. I don't know if it is the author's writing, his own naïveté, or oscars's none too impressive character, but I just had to stop reading. I find Wilde very weak willed and not extremely talented. I want to like him for his supposed genius and for his being an early hero of gay rights, but I just cant. Beyond "a Portait of Dorian Grey" I've found his writing hard to like.
October 31, 2014
kind of different because the author was Oscar's straight peg friend and can give a first hand account of some stuff. I really painfully felt the fact that it wasn't the Ellmann biography though (please someone do an audio book).
December 19, 2010
I'm reading this for a class so been putting alot of extra effort into understanding but I with it was more blunt sometimes:/ that way I always knew what he was trying to say.
July 21, 2012
Un acercamiento a la vida de Oscar Wilde según uno de sus amigos más allegados, vale la pena leerlo si ya conoces la obra de Wilde.
February 8, 2013
Great bio. Trite by true. Wilde was way before his time. All the rest are just imitators.
March 13, 2013
A well-told tale of a tragic life.
July 27, 2013
I have always loved the work that Oscar Wilde wrote. Although this was the first volume of the life of Oscar Wilde, it was remarkably written. I so look forward to reading the second volume!!!
April 19, 2014
The highs and very lows of the man who's life became the template for 20th century celebrity.
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