Book Review: The Importance of Being Earnest (Wilde)
Have I read this before: No.
Review: Haha, this was great. It’s not often that a book (or play) makes me laugh out loud, but this one did on several occasions. All I really knew about this play going into it was that it had been criticized as one of Wilde’s only works that did not “contribute” something or have a deeper meaning/message (at least compared to his other works). After reading it, though, and reading more about it (I try to not look at info about a book/play I’m going to read before reading it if at all possible), at the time it was written, others argued that the humor itself was its contribution.
Favorite Part: I’ve obviously never seen this performed, but I think the way the lines are written allows for a lot of flexibility and actor interpretation in the deliveries. I can imagine there are a lot of variations in the performance due to that, which would be great to see.
Rating: 7/10
Book Review: The Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde)
Have I read this before: Nope! I think I started reading it when I was down in Tucson, but then I moved back up to Moscow and had to return the book to the library, so that was that.
Review: This book was different from what I was expecting it to be. That’s probably because I had a very vague notion of what it was about that had been pieced together by random references to the book and was thus not a super accurate reflection of what the book was actually about. But I enjoyed it. I actually expected things to be expounded upon more (“things” meaning the incidents leading to the change in the thing in the book that changes…hahaha, vague enough? Don’t wanna spoil it) and I think I would have liked it more if there were more details in that respect, but it was still good.
Favorite part: I love the way that youth and beauty were described near the beginning of the book. For example, here’s Lord Henry talking to Dorian about his (Dorian’s) youth:
“It should matter everything to you, Mr. Gray.”
“Why?”
“Because you have the most marvellous youth, and youth is the one thing worth having…Some day, when you are old and wrinkled and ugly, when thought has seared your forehead with its lines, and passion branded your lips with its hideous fires, you will feel it, you will feel it terribly. Now, wherever you go, you charm the world. Will it always be so?…And beauty is a form of Genius – is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned. It has its divine right of sovereignty. It makes princes of those who have it.”
Rating: 6/10
Eigenblogger 