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Oscar Wilde: An Aesthetic Life - Cool History

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Oscar Wilde by Frank Harris ,. Literary editor and author Frank Harris played the perfect Boswell to Wilde's Johnson in the London literary scene; he also was one of the few who remained loyal to Wilde after his conviction in and his release from jail two years later. Colorful, opinionated, sympathetic, and always frank, Harris's provocative biography vividly re-creates the celebrated wit and conve Literary editor and author Frank Harris played the perfect Boswell to Wilde's Johnson in the London literary scene; he also was one of the few who remained loyal to Wilde after his conviction in and his release from jail two years later.

Colorful, opinionated, sympathetic, and always frank, Harris's provocative biography vividly re-creates the celebrated wit and conversationalist. Paperback , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Oscar Wilde , please sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. 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 pl 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 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.

Catalog Record: Oscar Wilde, his life and confessions | Hathi Trust Digital Library

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.

This book only further deepened that conviction instead of dragging me away from it. 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 po Beautifully written, it is quite a pageturner.

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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. Nov 08, Liedzeit rated it liked it Shelves: Und sie sei nicht sehr akkurat. Sicherlich hat Harris nicht viel Zeit mit Recherche verschwendet. May 09, Annette Johnson rated it really liked it. This was written about , and contains some rather arcane phrases, as well as delicate and discreet language regarding Wilde's proclivities.

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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, his description of Wilde's death is rather shrouded-he never alludes to the possibility it may This was written about , and contains some rather arcane phrases, as well as delicate and discreet language regarding Wilde's proclivities.

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.

Oscar Wilde; his life and confessions

First hand account of a fascinating literary icon. Aug 25, Stephanie: According to this book, Oscar Wilde was: 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 real According to this book, Oscar Wilde was: Plus, I really liked this Frank Harris person; I was far more interested in him than in his subject matter. Feb 22, Daniel rated it really liked it Shelves: 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 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. 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.


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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: 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.

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. Martin Geeson Meta Coordinator: Download cover art Download CD case insert. Oscar's Father and Mother on Trial. Oscar Wilde as a Schoolboy.

Oscar's Quarrel with Whistler and Marriage.

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Oscar Wilde's Faith and Practice. Oscar's Reputation and Supporters. Oscar's Growth to Originality About The Summer of Success: The Threatening Cloud Draws Nearer. Oscar Attacks Queensberry and is Worsted. How Genius is Persecuted in England.

Frank Harris

The Second Trial and Sentence. Prison and the Effects of Punishment. Mitigation of Punishment; but not Release.