Status
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Description
'I feel caught in a terrible net. I don't know where to turn. I care less when I think that he is thinking of me. I think of nothing else' 'De Profundis' is an epistolic account of Oscar Wilde's spiritual journey while in prison, and describes his conversion from his previous belief in pleasure and decadence to his new, shocking conviction that 'the supreme vice is shallowness'. This book also includes further letters to his wife, his friends, the Home Secretary and newspaper editors, as well as many to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas - Bosie - himself. 'The Ballad of Reading Gaol', written after Wilde's two year's hard labour in Reading prison and originally published anonymously, is the heart-rending and eye-opening tale of a man who has been sentenced to hang for the murder of the woman he loved. Colm Tóibín's introduction explores Wilde's family background and his success and reputation prior to his scandalous court case. He also examines Wilde's duality in love, politics and literature, and how his imprisonment affected the perception of his work. This edition also includes notes on the text and suggested further reading. Edited with an introduction by Colm Tóibín… (more)
User reviews
When it comes to lust Oscar Wilde is no different than every man on Sugardaddy.com. Find a pretty young thing, pay his/her bills, and then become completely undone when s/he turns out to be in it for the supply of cash! Lord Alfred was a
So other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play? Well, it was freaking great. Wilde is brilliant, and his writing on the nature of art and self is moving and wise and gorgeous. I spent hours transfixed by Wilde's words, and then I flipped back to page 1 and re-read swaths of the book. I am quite certain I will go back and do it again, eventually. When I reread this, I will wonder anew at how Wilde could so completely fail to lend his prodigious wisdom to his own life. His was, perhaps, a fitting end for an aesthete, but that makes the end no less tragic and makes the loss of Wilde before the age of 50 no less lamentable.
While the circumstances of these pieces were tragic, I wasn't moved as I had anticipated. My recent immersion in Will Self had prompted a fit
Soul of Man is simply wonky. It is a treatise on Art and Law which doesn't begin to ascribe to reality. We watched Modern Times last night and I thought Wilde's Socialism in that context.
De Profundis conversely is steeped in betrayal and the weakness of the flesh. Wilde probes along, establishing detailed accounts of his troubled relationship-- one which bankrupted him and led to his imprisonment. His love for Bosie Douglas is painted patiently, paragraph by paragraph. Bosie isn't a straw man but a talisman of desire, despite how destructive it proved. Bedding Bosie became an enchanted portrait: the cost of such was but everything. It is interesting reflecting on this how martyrdom becomes an enveloping proposition.