Book Review: Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellman

Author: Richard Ellman

Title: Oscar Wilde

Genre: Biography, Non-fiction

Format: Paperback

Pages: 736

Published: January 1, 1987

Where I got It: My shelf (Used Book store)

Summary: 

The biography sensitive to the tragic pattern of the story of a great subject: Oscar Wilde - psychologically and sexually complicated, enormously quotable, central to an. alluring cultural world and someone whose life assumed an unbearably dramatic shape.

Review:

I love Oscar Wilde so I picked this up at a used book store in 2022 (I can't remember the name of the place....I know it was a little place). I heard this was a good biography to check out if you are interested in learning more about the man and his works. Technically, Hubby picked this book for me to read. I literally couldn't decide on what physical book to read from my shelf so I had him pick a number and it landed on this one!

But yes, this is a biography about one of the greats....Oscar Wilde. Wilde was complicated and controversial during his time. 

So this was written in the 80s. I wonder how much of it is still true. I feel like there were a couple of notes or observations that I "mmmmed" about especially Wilde's sexuality. It felt too.... oblique. Wilde's sexuality LITERALLY was his downfall in society and I think to properly write a biography we need that deep dive into that part of his life. He was a complicated man and sometimes the book tried to simplify it too much or gloss over things. I should find a more recent biography to compare. 

This was pretty dry. The author tried to make it exciting and etc, but it felt like a textbook for the majority of the time. Which is fine, but it makes it a slow read and I felt like I was preparing for an exam. 

I loved all the added pictures! There were so many I have never seen before especially those pics of his family! :D Love!

We also got some snip bits of letters to and from Oscar. I loved that! I would love a book of just pictures and letters. That would be fun. 

All-in-all, this was extremely informative. I loved the pictures and the snip bits of letters. However, it was extremely dry at points and I feel like there were some important and key things that needed more of a deep dive. However, it was written in the 80s so I think that was a contributor. I'll stamp this with 3 stars. Even with some of my issues, it was a nice read.