Oscar Wilde, His Life and Confessions (Complete)

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. 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.

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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 examine 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.

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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. Fans Of Oscar Wilde. 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. Dec 06, Renee rated it did not like it. I couldn't I finish the book. 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. Jun 25, Ully rated it really liked it. 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.

Jun 08, Keith Foster rated it it was ok. I really painfully felt the fact that it wasn't the Ellmann biography though please someone do an audio book. Plus it fits in your pocket! Oct 22, Natalie Sue rated it it was ok. I'm reading this for a class so been putting alot of extra effort into understanding but I with it was more blunt sometimes: Feb 08, Gisele rated it it was amazing.

Wilde was way before his time. All the rest are just imitators.

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Nov 24, Lou rated it did not like it Shelves: Some books just don't age that well: Certains livres ne vieillissent pas bien: Jul 20, Keith rated it it was amazing. I have always loved the work that Oscar Wilde wrote. Works of Clement King Shorter. Oscar Wilde in Quotation.

Supernatural tales selected by Lawrence Gordon Clark. Six Books by Max Beerbohm. Thomas William Hodgson Crosland. The Letters of Henry James. Being an Account of the Victorian Drama. Punch's History of Modern England Vol. III— of 4 Illustrations. Essays in English Literature, Works of Robbie Ross. A Novelist on Novels.

Idle Hours in a Library. A Writer's Recollections Complete. Seeing and Hearing Illustrated. A Writer's Recollections Volume I. A Monument to the Memory of George Eliot. My Life and Loves Complete. Life and Confessions of Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde, His Life and Confessions. The Women of Shakespeare.

Frank Harris - The Short Stories. Works of Frank Harris. Harris had specifically warned Wilde against prosecuting Queensberry for criminal libel, which led to his downfall. Housman and the Oscar Wilde trials. The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. He appears in the first episode of the miniseries The Infinite Worlds of H.

Wells , rejecting a story from Wells for being too long and too preposterous. Harris appears as a vampire in Kim Newman 's novel Anno Dracula , as the mentor and vampire sire of one of the novel's main characters. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson comments on Harris' habit of always speaking very loudly.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For other people named Frank Harris, see Frank Harris disambiguation.

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