Reviews cover

Reviews

Rating 3.8
Word count
947K words
Chapters
95

Tags

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Reviews by Oscar WildeAuthor: Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Dec 2, 2004

Editor's review

This is a collection of reviews by Oscar Wilde, released free in the original English by Project Gutenberg. Wilde, a leading figure of late nineteenth-century Aestheticism, brings the same distinctive style to his criticism: wit, irony and epigram are dense, and seemingly casual remarks often yield judgments on art, criticism and taste. The book’s value lies not in systematic literary theory but in showing a writer performing through the medium of criticism—readers encounter responses to specific works and the contentious atmosphere of the Victorian literary world. For Chinese readers it is supplementary material for understanding Wilde’s prose style and critical views, best read alongside his plays and fiction. Being a public-domain electronic text, it has no notes or introduction, and some historical figures and titles must be looked up. Read it as occasional essays rather than for continuous plot.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers who have read Wilde’s plays or fiction and want to know his criticism
  • Literature lovers interested in Victorian literary debate and the review as a form
  • English learners who want to practice reading short English essays

Not a good fit for

  • Academic readers expecting a textbook of systematic literary theory or criticism
  • Readers who rely entirely on Chinese translations and do not wish to read English
  • Beginners who need detailed background notes to understand historical references

Reading tips

  1. Read one or two pieces at a time; guess the subject from the title first, then read to confirm.
  2. Mark unfamiliar names and titles, and look them up together after finishing the piece.
  3. Copy out epigrammatic expressions and feel Wilde’s ironic tone and rhetorical rhythm.
  4. Read alongside Wilde’s Intentions to observe the continuity and change in his critical views.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
  94. 94
  95. 95

FAQ

Is this a theoretical work of Wilde’s literary criticism?
No, it is not a systematic theoretical work but a collection of reviews and critical articles. Wilde comments on specific works and literary phenomena in a witty, casual style closer to occasional criticism. For his systematic critical views, read the dialogue essays in Intentions.
How difficult is the English, and what level is it for?
The text is late nineteenth-century English prose with elaborate sentences, dense irony and references to then-current names and works. It suits readers at university English level who are willing to look things up; beginners may struggle with the historical references and rhetorical density, and should first read a Chinese selection for background.
Does the Project Gutenberg edition have notes and an introduction?
Usually not. Project Gutenberg mainly provides public-domain electronic texts in plain typesetting, generally without scholarly notes, introduction or index. Readers needing background can consult Wilde biographies, histories of Victorian literature or annotated Chinese translations of related works.

Comments

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About the author

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish writer known for his plays, fiction, fairy tales and epigrams. The collection here contains 55 of his works, including the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (also appearing as Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray, Le portrait de Dorian Gray and Dorian Grayn muotokuva) and the fairy-tale collection The Happy Prince, and Other Tales. The Picture of Dorian Gray centres on a portrait and its subject's fate, exploring beauty, youth, morality and indulgence through polished dialogue and an aesthetic style; The Happy Prince, and Other Tales uses fairy-tale form to portray sacrifice and compassion in clear, gently ironic prose. Wilde's writing is witty and ornate, marked by paradox and epigram, and his works have long circulated in many languages. Beyond his dates, public information is limited, so no biographical details are conjectured here.

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