Book Description
A unique one-volume anthology which includes all of Wilde's stories, plays, and poems. It also features a large portion of his essays and letters and an introduction by Wilde's son, Vyvyan Holland.
Customer Reviews:
Collectable.......2007-05-12
Not practical book to carry and to read it while outside, but it is just the way how ALL-IN-ONE book is...However, good to have all his works together...
Magnificent!.......2006-10-13
I wish there was some way to make this large tome more compact, because (if it were possible) I would probably carry it around with me wherever I went! I originally became familiar with his work because Carl Barat and Pete Doherty (band members of The Libertines, a fantastic British band) had mentioned him amongst their favourite authors. I decided to read "The Picture of Dorian Gray". I liked so much that I decided to buy the whole collection of Wilde's plays, poems, and stories.
Perhaps I am biased because I particularly enjoy literature from the 1800s (Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, Edwin A. Abbott), though I must admit that I haven't come across anything similar to Oscar Wilde's work before. Wilde's profound ability of creating rich, imaginative dialogue is especially evident in his plays and his one novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray". Many of his plays, especially The Importance of Being Earnest, are too fantastic, too purely Victorian in nature to be imaginable as happening in real life. However, I think that it is the underlying fanciful, almost surrealistic quality of much of his stories and poems that make them most interesting. The sheer amount of quotable phrases found in his work is something to really be marvelled at. Not only the dialogue, but the quality of the plot is brilliant as well. "The Picture of Dorian Gray", a tale of a handsome youth's descent into madness and debauchery, is particularly striking. It makes me wonder what other stories Wilde could have produced if his life had not been so tragically short (1854-1900).
Though he might be more well-known for his plays and novel, his first published material was poetry. His poetry, as does his other work, embodies his ideals of aesthetics: "art for art's sake". The articulate, minute description of details which might go unnoticed or seen as obsolete matter a great deal in the aesthetic philosophy, as does the beautification of objects and art in everyday life. Wilde even had a tour of lectures on the aesthetic movement in the United States and Canada in 1882, though his philosophy wasn't well-received by the majority of critics.
Wilde had said that "The House of Pomegranates", one of his collections of fairy-tales, was "intended neither for the British child nor the British public". This is believable to an extent, because the majority of Wilde's material seems to be encompassed in a world of his own. He was incredibly proficient at putting down onto paper the very heart and soul of what he was trying to convey, which eventually contributed to getting him into trouble later on. The "The Picture of Dorian Gray" became notorious amongst critics as being a "corrupt" and "unclean" work, chiefly due to the apparently "sinful" nature of Dorian Gray and his misadventures.
This collection is 1000+ pages in length, though it didn't take me a considerably long time to read because I found the bulk of it incredibly interesting and well-written. Even for those who have read some of his work before (any poems, stories, essays, and/or letters), and especially for those who haven't...get this book! You will not regret for a moment the decision to delve further into the literature of one of the greatest authors that I know of.
no dates.......2006-03-26
This is a very well priced volume. It lacks any notation as to the source or dates of all the texts. In fact, the copyright doesn't even tell you when this volume was published. No named editor. Nevertheless, it's got so much: De Profundis, decay of lying, artist as critic, and then the plays, Dorian, etc. No letters and nothing from trials, but a great volume for the price.
"I Hate It When Everyone Agrees With Me, For Then I Must Consider That I Might Be Wrong".......2005-12-21
The title says it all. This is THEE complete works of Ireland's gift to Victorian London. Wilde's plays, essays, poems, his sole novel, The Picture of Dorian Grey, and his last bitter work, De Profundus, (From The Depths) a letter to his lover and betrayer, Lord Alfred Douglas, is re-printed as well. For the price, it's the best way to add this celebrated, tragic wit to your library.
the cover (thin film).......2005-09-06
was peeled off and stuck on to the shipping bag.
Book Description
This authoritative edition was formerly published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Wilde's poetry and prose short stories, plays, critical dialogues and his only novel - to give the essence of his work and thinking. Oscar Wilde's dramatic private life has sometimes threatened to overshadow his great literary achievements. His talent was prodigious: the author of brilliant social comedies, fairy stories, critical dialogues, poems, and a novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. In addition to Dorian Gray, this volume represents all these genres, including such works as Lady Windermere's Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest, 'The Happy Prince', 'The Critic as Artist', and 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol'.
Book Description
In print since 1948, this is a single-volume collection of Oscar Wilde's texts. It contains his only novel, "The Portrait of Dorian Gray" as well as his plays, stories, poems, essays and letters. Illustrated with many photographs, the book includes introductions to each section by Wilde's grandon, Merlin Holoand, Owen Dudley Edwards, Declan Kibertd and Terence Brown. A comprehensive bibliography of works by and about Oscar Wilde together with a chronological table of his life and work are also included.
Customer Reviews:
The Best of Wilde.......2007-06-27
I'm very pleased with the book. All of Wilde's wit is right there at my fingertips. It's a handsome book, too. Thank you.
If you love Wilde, you MUST own this book!.......2006-11-27
Though the print is small for those of us over 40, it's worth it - if not, it would weigh about 10 pounds! As it is, it's a tome, but worth reading, and re-reading time and again. It has everything - everything! - that you'll ever hear mentioned - his stories, his novels, his essay's.
It would make a great gift for a young writer, as well.
This compilation complete, well printed, top 10 library purchase!.......2006-07-28
This particular compilation is not only complete, but is a well printed, well packaged addition to the books you would want in your top 10!
All Wilde.......2006-07-09
I had purchased this complete works of Oscar Wilde since I'd seen several of the recent releases of the theatrical versions of his plays and wanted to know more. As far as one volume complete works go, this has the usual weight (but not to heavy), small print (but not microscopic), and thin paper. It does have intros by Wilde's son and grandson which are interesting. Not having read much of Wilde it's been great being able to read not only his famous works (The Importance of Being Ernest, the Canterville Ghost) but also his lesser known ones (Lady Windemere's Fan). His plays are witty and often make interesting observations on human interactions, but they start seeming redundant after you've read more than three (every one seems to include a debonair, worldly cynic who offers his insights on the world--the characters played by Rupert Everett if he performs Wilde). I've yet to finish all the works but I look forward to attempting to do so.
I would recommend this book to new Wilde fans, literature majors, etc. For those just looking to read one or two of his works this would not be the way to start.
fantastic.......2005-12-25
Oscar Wilde is one of the best writers that ever lived and this book is a must have!
Average customer rating:
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Best Known Works of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Wilde, Oscar
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ASIN: 076613010X |
Book Description
A collection of Oscar Wilde's poems, novels, plays and fairy tales.
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Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (Collins Classics)
Oscar Wilde , and
Collins Celtic
Manufacturer: Collins Celtic
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0004704738 |
Book Description
In 1609, the first edition of Shakespeare’s
Sonnets was published, featuring the mysterious dedication: “To Mr W.H.” Ever since, the identity of Mr W.H. has been the subject of a series of fascinating theories—but none quite so ingenious as that of Oscar Wilde’s
The Portrait of Mr W.H. With a Foreword by Peter Ackroyd.
Cambridge scholar Cyril Graham spent his days performing in Shakespeare’s plays, and, being somewhat effeminate in nature, he was cast in the female roles. And then he made a rather startling discovery—the “Mr W.H.” to whom Shakespeare dedicated his Sonnets could be none other than Will Hughes, the boy–actor of Shakespeare’s plays! But when no one shared his conviction, he resolved to find another way to convince them… Notorious for his flamboyant and unorthodox lifestyle, Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) wrote poetry, plays, and novels; however, it was his theatrical masterpieces
The Importance of Being Ernest and
An Ideal Husband that secured his reputation as one of the supreme wits of all time.
Customer Reviews:
Wilde's Interesting Proposal on the Mystery of W.H........2006-10-08
Wilde's The Portrait of Mr W.H., is an interesting account of the mystery of W.H., the person Shakespeare devoted his famous Sonnets.
When one reads Wilde's prose, one can actually feel his thoughts and feelings. As critic and author, Peter Ackroyd, comments:
`This is quintessential Wilde, introducing paradox into the realm of speculation and wit into the sphere of art.'
Most English 19th century intellectuals were sincerely obsessed with Shakespeare's Sonnets, because it is the bard's notions on love, art, beauty and what it really means to be an artist.
Rather than spoil the plot, let me just say that the book covers Aestheticism, Literary Criticism and obsession with `literature' which can, in some cases, be worse than opium addiction.
If one has any interest in the Aesthetic movement of that period will find this novella fascinating.
As is well known, Elizabethian England did not allow women to act on the stage as it was viewed as improper for a lady. Thus male actor's had to play the female roles. It is the protagonists thesis that the mysterious W.H. was a male actor who performed most of Shakespear's female roles, thus the Sonnets, and the proposal that the Bard had a particular fascination with the young actor.
The Portrait of Mr. W.H. was written over a time period of a few years, the final draft finished by Wilde while he was incarcerated in the Reading Gaol. This final manuscript disappeared for many years to then turn up in a personal collection.
This short piece is recommended to all those interested in Wilde and the 19th century Aesthetic movement.
Passions about Shakespeare in 19c London........1997-09-05
This little book is about Shakespeare's sonnets, but more than that it is a book about nineteenth-century young men and their obsession with Shakespeare. Two in particular become completely engaged by a particular literary interpretation--that Shakespeare wrote his beautiful sonnets not for a wealthy patron, but to his Rosalind, or rather to the actor who played all his lovely strong women--that is, to an adolescent boy. The book is a cautionary tale about heightened involvement in literary ideas. A literary idea can possess one as completely as opium, and can be just as dangerous
Book Description
Short excerpt: I was in hopes he would have married lady Kelso. But I believe he said her family was too large. Or was it her feet?
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The Critic As Artist (Green Integer Books)
Oscar Wilde
Manufacturer: Green Integer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Wilde, Oscar
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ASIN: 1557133689 |
Book Description
w/Some Remarks on the Importance of Doing Nothing
Book Description
The Mammoth Book of Famous Trials is a collection of 35 of the most famous trials of the 20th century. Recorded by the people who were there, some of the contributors include Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Brian Masters, and Damon Runyon.
Among the cases included in this book are the following: The longest on record in the United States — of the deadly duo Bianchi and Buono for the dozen Hillside Stranglings; Brady and Hindley — the iconic case of multiple-child murder; the media frenzy surrounding Bruno Hauptmann's alleged murder of the infant son of Charles Lindberg; O.J. Simpson's trial of the 1990s; the 1968 trial of eleven-year-old Mary Bell who was convicted for killing two little boys; the trial of Oscar Wilde; and the nine-month trial of Charles Manson.
Book Description
Andre Norton, the celebrated author of Witch World and many other fantasy adventures, offers a new novel unique among her works, set in a realm not dissimilar to northern England in the sixteenth century: also, the Dismals of Northern Alabama are the model for part of the exotic setting. Drucilla, Sabina, and Tamara, identical sisters born to Desmond, Earl of Skorpys, understand the price of being princesses in a realm bordered by fractious neighbors. For generations their land has been plagued by incursions, raiding parties, and more serious conflicts with Gurlyon, the land to their North. But when these three plucky young ladies are kidnapped as part of a plot to undermine their father's domain, they are taken to a mysterious realm where they experience terrors unlike anything they could imagine.Their captors, fearing pursuit, thrust the princesses into a deep recess in a bizarre underworld called the Dismals. Once there, they must fend off hideous creatures, and a young man who claims to be lord of this dark, forbidding realm. Not sure whether he is friend or foe, they must depend on their wits, on each other, and on the mind-link that binds them together. Only thus can they escape the bizarre nether-realm they must roam in search of a way home.Their travails test them in ways they cannot foresee, both physically and magically. Powerful forces work against them, but together they may yet escape, and help right the wrong that brought them to the strange realm in the first place.
Customer Reviews:
Tedious at best.......2007-09-20
If you enjoy reading everything from the viewpoint of three people, this book is for you. Otherwise, you might find it, as I did, very tedious. Also, these 3 girls should have stayed home. The author has done better.
Three Against the Dark.......2006-09-23
Three Hands for Scorpio (2005) is a standalone Fantasy novel set in an alternate reality much like the 16th century border region of England and Scotland. South of the border is Alsonia, a nation with a monarchy and extensive peerage. North is Gurlyon, a nation of clans allegedly ruled by a king.
Raiders frequently crossed this border region in either direction to take cattle and other plunder from the other side. Moreover, reivers -- outlaws and breakswords -- attack crofts and small keeps on both sides. Neither Alsonians nor Gurlys have been able to control their own people in this regard, much less the reivers.
This is the tale of three sisters -- Tamora, Sabrina and Drucilla -- born in the same birthing to Altha, the Countess of Verset. Their father was Desmond Scorpy, Earl of Verset, and they were born on the same day as his famous victory at Erseway. They were born with the Talent, receiving their Gifts from their mother, and were well trained in these Gifts by their mother and Wise-wife Duty.
In this novel, Earl Scorpy has worked, in his capacity as High Warden, toward a general truce along the border and Clan Chief Starkadder is coming to Grosper to accompany the Earl to truce talks at Losstrait. With Starkadder will come his second son and an emissary of the King of Gurlyon.
Alsonians have heard rumors of social changes within Gurlyon. Women were previously allowed a degree of autonomy, but now have been forced into dependent relationships with male Gurlys. Some women have been harshly punished for minor infractions. The King's emissary is a Chosen -- a Gurly priest -- who has publicly whipped a woman who didn't clear out of his path fast enough.
The sisters are arrayed with their parents to welcome Starkadder and his company to Grosper. This reception is marred by the rudeness of some members of the Starkadder party. When Clan Chief Starkadder introduces the king's observer, Udo Chosen, the Gurly priest questions whether any gathered there are unbelievers and sneers at the answer. Later, at the feast given for the Starkadder guests, the second son addresses Tam as a bedwarmer; she gives him a cutting reply and the sisters depart for their rooms.
Afterward, the sisters stay in their rooms while the Starkadders are visiting and come out only after the guests and their parents leave for the truce talks. When an unusual peddler appears at the gate, the sisters stay out of his sight, but send others to observe and question him. That night, a sleep spell ensorcels the entire household at Grosper and the sisters are kidnapped from their beds.
Bina awakens during the abduction, but is unable to move, speak or even mind-touch with her sisters. Later, she is mind-called by Tam and passes on her knowledge, but both fall asleep again. Then Cilla wakes for a while. Tam is awake again when the reiver Maclan gives his name and loads them on a platform to lower them down into the Dismals.
In this story, Tam, Bina and Cilla are stranded in caverns far below the surface. These caverns are inhabited by oversized insects, snakes and other animals. Yet there they meet Climber, a cat-like creature who frees and then befriends Tam. He leads them to Zolan, a human male somewhat older than themselves. While Zolan provides them with food, water and clothing, he acts strangely and the sisters never really know whether they should trust him.
Zolan also has Talent of a dissimilar kind; he can mind-call and can lend them Power for their Gifts, but his other Talents differ from theirs. Some creatures within the Dismals also have Talents of various sorts. One powerful Adept seems to be Zolan's master.
This story is much like Exiles Of the Stars in that alien creatures have taken over the bodies of other humans. The human Adepts know how to accomplish this, but have been taught that such acts are forbidden since they are self-destructive and lead to the dark. Upon learning that a Gurly hermit has been possessed in this manner by an alien and his body used to turn others to the dark, the sisters are obligated to oppose all who follow this creature.
This novel is very typical of the author's works, portraying gifted but relatively weak principals confronted by more powerful enemies. The sisters have lesser Gifts than their mother or Duty, but they grow stronger as they struggle against a hostile environment. Yet their Gifts never become as strong as some of their adversaries. They must depend more upon knowledge, cunning and comrades than Talent to win through their various trials.
This work was written from the point of view of all three sisters, with frequent changes between the narrators. This style is a bit cumbersome, especially if the reader is trying to keep track of whom did what. I kept having to turn back a few pages to learn who was the current narrator (announced before every change of viewpoint). It was the verbal equivalent of visually tracking the identical triplets; at least Tam, the warrior one, finally cut her hair and wore trousers!
This is not the author's best story, yet it is still compelling. While it may be a lesser Norton, even her worst tale reads better than many stories by other authors. She puts a little of her special magic into every tale.
Highly recommended for Norton fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of adversity and magic.
-Arthur W. Jordin
I am having trouble reading through this!.......2005-10-14
Although I am not primarily a Sci-Fi or fantasy reader, I have read many such books of the kind in the past, as well as most literary classics and post-modern works of importance; however, I am having a very difficult time reading this book for some reason, mostly because of the awkward writing style. It is difficult to explain, but I often have to read and re-read the sentences over and over again (and I have not been diagnosed with adult ADHD).
I will be sure to update this review once I am completely finished with reading the book, and I hope that I can give it a good review.
Not her best, or even close.......2005-09-02
The sad thing is, I am a major Andre Norton fan, and I didn't enjoy this book very much. I trudged through it out of loyalty, but I sure don't recommend it.
The triplets take turns talking, which would be fine if in any way Norton had given them "different voices". Unlike, say, Terry Goodkind, who can have many characters voice and they are all truly unique, the triplets have nothing distinguishing them. Therefore its distracting, too much going on, and frankly you just don't much care. The strange man they meet has so little of him that , well.. its just a poorly written book and quite a disappointment.
Still has flashes of Norton's great talent.......2005-05-25
Three young women share a magical bond. Daughters of a borderland lord and his enchantress-wife, Drucilla, Sabina, and Tamara learn their magics while the nation north of their own is torn in dissention. The true king of that northern land vanished as a boy and now a priest seems to have taken control, his harsh religion spreading fear and distrust through the country. The young women's father wants to preserve the peace and rides out to a peace meeting--which is when the enemy strikes, kidnapping the three.
Thrown into a magical land, the three discover a handsome but strange man, his tiger-sized pet cat, and a host of forgotten world-type entities--giant bugs, weird fliers, and huge snakes. The man, Zolan, claims that there is no route free of 'the dismals,' yet they know they must return to their own land--in order to save their family. Although they do not trust Zolan (and immediately suspect he is the missing King), the three, along with Zolan and the climber the cat, struggle to find their way through the Dismals and back to the normal land. Once there, though, they must face an alien power so ancient and vast it seems there can be no possible victory.
THREE HANDS FOR SCORPIO is author Andre Norton's last novel written before her recent death and her first novel in a long time written without a collaborator. In many respects, THREE HANDS is vintage Norton. The tightly coupled triplets recall the three siblings in THREE AGAINST WITCH WORLD. The suspicious but powerful Zolan is also reminiscent of earlier Norton. And Norton's setting recalls the ever-fascinating border between England and Scotland--where cattle raids and war kept life interesting for centuries.
For me, THREE HANDS lacked much of the compelling emotional impact of earlier Norton, however. The three sisters were too similar--to the point where I never really knew which point of view I was sharing. It is sad to see the decline in talents of one of the great authors of the past century--and a joy when occasional sentences and paragraphs shine with Norton's earlier talent. THREE HANDS falls short of Norton's earlier work but it's certainly worth the read.
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