The Selfish Giant, the Happy Prince and Other Stories

by Oscar Wilde

This book by the Irish writer Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde includes five short Selfish Giant The Happy Prince The Nightingale and the Rose The Devoted Friend The Remarkable Rocket

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics

82 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1888

About the author

Oscar 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.

Reviews

[Mariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este é daqueles livros mesmo bons e cativantes que são deliciosos tanto para miúdos como para graúdos.
Este livro é composto por duas histórias muito bem escritas e pensadas. São histórias curtas, tocantes e inspiradoras.
As personagens são distintas e originais, sendo que têm problemas que levantam questões importantes.

As ilustrações deste livro são simplesmente adoráveis e, apesar de ser leitura obrigatória para alunos de quarto ano, aconselho esta obra a todos os que tenham oportunidade de a ler.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Duas histórias muito belas, que devem ser lidas dos 8 aos 80.
Gostei muito.

[Sandra | Leituras descomplicadas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sou apaixonada por livros para crianças e este "O gigante egoísta e o príncipe feliz" já ganhou um lugar especial no meu coração. Fazendo parte da lista de leitura obrigatória do 4° ano, este é um livro feito de duas narrativas simples na linguagem e nas personagens mas profundas na mensagem que pretendem transmitir.

Um gigante egoísta que descobriu que era mais importante partilhar o seu jardim com as crianças à sua volta para que, todos os anos, a primavera e a renovação chegasse. Um príncipe e uma andorinha que criaram uma amizade e que mostram a importância de ajudar o próximo.

Um livro que recomendo a todos, sejam crianças ou pais.

[Margarida Magalhães · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gostei muito, uma bonita mensagem cristã em ambos os contos infanto-juvenis, mas uma grande lição para nós adultos.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, Oscar. I do love you so, but these are just so...heavy-handed. First, The Selfish Giant. Okay, okay - it's a Christian allegory. I get it. And this story was in a collection of children' stories that I had as a kid, and I have always remembered it. So it does have staying power. But it knocks you over the head with its metaphors.

The Happy Prince is a bit more nuanced - the societal critique is more present than the religious themes, at least until the end. But I don't have the fond childhood memories of this one, so it ended up being a wash.

I recommend his adult materials for more subtlety and wit.

[Rafaela]

#workmademedoit

[asia ◡̈]

(school made me do it!)

[Vanessa Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do tempo que casa história era uma lição. Leitura que deve ser obrigatória para os miúdos.

[Laurie Wilhelm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Oscar Wilde, and I guess these are supposed to be children's stories? Not the happiest of endings for children.

[Helen Berwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

can't help but weep when reading this.

[Bookaphore Lilo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories was a delight. I read the first one for a friend, but I ended up devouring the whole lot! The book is only about 80 pages but the stories have so much depth and are quite versatile. You could read them to a child before bed or study them for days on end in a classroom: the child would enjoy them as fairy tales while the student would find endless literary devices, ranging from imagery to satire.

This book contains five stories: “The Happy Prince”, “The Nightingale and the Rose”, “The Selfish Giant”, “The Devoted Friend” and “The Remarkable Rocket”. My personal favourite was “The Devoted Friend”. It teaches you that some people - you could call “toxic” - are convinced that they are being kind when really they are ruining someone’s life. I found the end of that story quite interesting. Unlike some books where one is satisfied by the end, this tale left me with a sense of great unfairness. I felt deceived, almost angry at the author. I won’t say more because I really think the surprise makes it what it is, but I can tell you that the moral is powerful.

Something which I found very interesting in the book was the inclusion of homosexuality. These stories were written in the 19th century and back then homosexuality was a criminal offense in Britain. After some research I discovered that the author himself was gay. In fact, he was tried for “gross indecency” in 1895 (7 years after this book was published) and sentenced to two years of hard labor. The history of homosexuality is different in every country but I don’t think it is a pretty one in many places. I feel like this part of history is not shared enough and I will now try to learn more about it. I have this book to thank for that.

If you’re looking for short stories with cunning morals or if you’d like to read something short by this well-known author then these are for you! Personally, I can’t wait to start “A picture of Dorian Gray” also by the Oscar Wilde, since I really enjoyed this one.

[Nurul Lina Mohd Nor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmm... I'm not sure how I fall into this book. But the fact that you should know, the book is my daughter's. Her father bought it for her in away to pass down his wonderful experience (of reading this book) to her. But she never touch it since. I don't know how it get into my hands, but I guess it was due to the written author on the cover - Oscar Wilde. This is my third book of his, for this year. I am not a fan to Oscar, but his book is never disappointing. I propose you to read this handy book. The fairytales contained here is nothing similar to Hans Christian Andersen's. Its much adult with much emotional provoking allegory. I am so moved by The Nightingale and the Rose. Quite irrational too. Same goes to The Devoted Friend, the most hated story of all (may be due to the abrupt ending :)). Well, read them. And I bet you will repeat them soon to your children :).

[Gláucia Renata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Livro de leitura obrigatória na escola de minha filha e obviamente li também. Parece uma obra de arte, tamanha a beleza das ilustrações. Traz a história de um gigante que é dono do mais lindo jardim. Mas ele proíbe a entrada das crianças e com isso o jardim se torna triste e dominado por um inverno eterno. Até que o gigante recebe a visita de uma criança muito especial, transformando tudo ao seu redor.
Lindo e tocante, com toque de mensagem religiosa (indicado em escola católica).

[Namiko]

I realized both in "The Happy Prince" in this book and "The Nightingale and the Rose," the birds are important roles, like sidekicks, but they are not appreciated in this world.

[Itzel. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aw):

[Ka'tje · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite stories in this book were "The nightingale and the rose" and "The devoted friend".

Wilde just never dissappoints.

[I. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple yet wonderful. I could almost feel some Krylov in there. Selfish Giant - my favourite.

[Joana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gostei muito!

[Saranya ⋆☕︎ ˖ (hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved reading them as a kid!