Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (Collins Classics) (original 1943; edition 2003)

4/27/22

4/14/22

An Ideal Husband, Importance of Being Earnest, and Dorian Grey were all standouts for me. The poetry wasn't to my taste. ( )

If I’ve learned anything from reading this complete works of Oscar Wilde, it’s that he is a writer of many words, but his talents are best served in small doses. Besides the Importance of Being Earnest, Salome, and a very few of his poems, I can’t say that I enjoyed reading the majority of the pieces in this collection, even though many of them are home to wonderfully pithy quotes that taken on an individual level are wonderful. But I’ve already reviewed the rest of his pieces individually, so I’ll keep this one largely confined to the final section - poetry - which isn’t easily quantified alone. There’s lots of poetry that I do enjoy out in the world, so I figured that with Wilde’s penchant for witty social commentary, the occasion fairytale, and excellent verbiage I would devour this last 150-odd pages of the collection. Not true though, as I found myself struggling through grandiose religious obsessions, travel reminiscences that did less to inspire than bore, and an awful overtone of vapid frivolity… In the entire collection there were only two poems which I actually enjoyed, and only “the Ballad of Reading Gaol” is particularly memorable. Wilde’s life obviously changed drastically when he was imprisoned with a sentence of hard labour after being found guilty of indecent (homosexual) acts, and the Ballad aptly describes the scenery and mood of the peniteniary as a man is sentenced to death for murdering his wife. The poem employs a readable and rhythmic cadence which may seem to romanticize the story somewhat, but harkens back to roadside ballads which explore stories of highway robbery, dirty politicians, and dangerous murderers while being easily recalled by travelling troubadors. Usually these ballads are preoccupied with the narrative points in the story, but Wilde moves beyond the medium to explore the character of the sentenced man and how his situation affects the other prisoners. The whole poem invokes a startling picture of prison life during the Victorian period, and gives readers a brief window into Wilde’s personal experiences with the justice system - giving us a more honest view (in my opinion) into his life story than the majority of his other pieces of literature. ( )

I love Oscar Wilde. I love his plays, I love his short stories, I love his novel. Let's not talk about the poetry. ( )