Lord Arthur Savile Crime

I almost always hate parodies of the gothic genre. I love the gothic, so when someone slates it, I slate them. It’s just how these things work. But, this, this was good. Rather than completely pissing on the genre, Wilde pokes fun at it; he teases it and makes it humorous. He doesn’t make it seem absurd or ridiculous, but a little silly in places. And it’s all it good humour rather than a tasteless satire. This is a great piece of writing.<br><br>Moreover, the parody was also directed at London’s higher society perhaps even more so than the gothic suggestions. It’s all to do with self-fulfilling prophecy, and how easy the upper echelon could be lead. Fashion changes with the wind, as does opinion and personality. Well, at least if you exist under the scrutiny of your peers. The current phase is palm reading (cheiromantology) and Lord Arthur embraces it with an open bosom. When he hears his fortune, one which tells of evil deeds in the future, he simply accepts it. He shrugs his shoulders and gets on with the destiny he only just realised he had: <br><br><b> <i>“Murder! That is what the cheiromantist had seen there. Murder! The very night seemed to know it, and the desolate wind to howl it in his ear. The dark corners of the streets were full of it. It grinned at him from the roofs of the house.”</i> </b><br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1458379235i/18480883._SX540_.jpg" width="400" height="150" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>This raises questions of Sir Arthur’s intellect, his sanity and his obedience, obedience to what he perceives as fate. He doesn’t ever question the situation; he takes it as an actuality: a simple task that he must perform. So he sets out to murder a few of his friends, then when that doesn’t work, he plans to take down a few of his relatives. But he isn’t a very lucky individual. All his plans don’t work, the situations become increasingly comic as the victims manage to escape. Sir Arthur becomes frustrated; the palm reader said to him that he couldn’t marry his fiancé until he’d committed the murder. So he gets desperate. <br><br>And the ending, the ending is hilarious. It’s so appropriate and so well-timed. The desperate outburst was just awesome. The story is so fun to read. Arthur’s choices make no sense for society doesn’t make sense either. He just does what he is told and doesn’t really think outside of the box. The wittiness delivered at the end really brought the nature of this story to my attention. It’s such a wonderful spuming of dark humour and perceptive wit. This is my favourite quote: <br><br><i>“Fortunately also, for him, he was no mere dreamer, or idle dilettante. Had he been so, he would have hesitated, like Hamlet, and let irresolution mar his purpose. Life to him meant action, rather than thought. He had the rarest of things, common sense.”</i><br><br>Yes. Oh so clearly, such perfect common sense. What a brilliant man you are Oscar Wilde. I’m going to be reading <i> The Importance of Being Earnest </i> very soon. I’m looking forward to that; it’s on my university module so there’s no escaping it either. Not that I need to escape it. And I think a re-read of <i> The Picture of Dorian Gray </i> is very much overdue.<br><br>Penguin Little Black Classic- 59<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/photos/1425942623p8/1151585.jpg" width="400" height="313" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> <br><br>The Little Black Classic Collection by penguin looks like it contains lots of hidden gems. I couldn’t help it; they looked so good that I went and bought them all. I shall post a short review after reading each one. No doubt it will take me several months to get through all of them! Hopefully I will find some classic authors, from across the ages, that I may not have come across had I not bought this collection.<br><br><br><br>

<b>¡Qué bien la he pasado!</b><br /><br />Al elegir nuestras próximas lecturas muchas veces ignoramos los relatos o libros pequeños, y lo hacemos porque preferimos abordar esos mastodontes de papel con cientos y miles de páginas, en donde seguramente, encontraremos historias increíbles con un argumento excelente y con personajes tan bien desarrollados que parecerán reales y se convertirán en nuestros amigos. Pero, no hay que engañarnos: También lo hacemos por ese orgullo que sentimos al cumplir un objetivo que creíamos difícil o imposible. Y si bien, hay muchísimos libros extensos que son espectaculares, los relatos también cumplen roles muy importantes: Con los relatos podemos enamorarnos de la lectura; con los relatos podemos cambiar una tarde aburrida por una para recordar por siempre; con los relatos podemos compartir en familia e influenciar a los más pequeños a participar en esta preciosa actividad; con los relatos podemos conocer la prosa de un autor y decidir si leer sus obras más extensas: Precisamente esa es la razón por la que he leído este libro. Mi padre siempre ha insistido en que lea El retrato de Dorian Gray y aunque desde hace mucho lo tengo en mi estantería, hasta hoy ni una página había leído de Oscar Wilde. Pero como este relato me ha encantado seguiré la recomendación de mi padre más adelante.<br /><br />Me ha encantado porque encontré una historia sencilla, con pocos personajes y descripciones, pero que he disfrutado muchísimo por la sátira inmersa en la narración. Fue muy gracioso ver la aventura de Lord Arthur Saville y ver sus intentos desesperados por cumplir con su “destino”, cuando realmente todo le salía al revés. Por esa particularidad de estar riéndome quedé atrapado hasta el final y conocer lo próximo que le ocurriría a Arthur fue mi ansiedad. Aunque tengo que reconocer que al inicio no fue así porque sentí pereza por las conversaciones tan educadas y sofisticadas que se muestran en esa parte, que me llevaron a pensar, que todo el libro sería así. Afortunadamente eso no sucedió. <br /><br />Para mayor claridad, este es un pequeño fragmento que representa la sátira que fue usada por Wilde en esta historia, que por cierto, tiene cierta similitud con la de Mark Twain:<br /><br /><blockquote>“Con todo, Lord Arthur no era feliz. Todos los días leía minuciosamente la lista de defunciones del Times, esperando la noticia del fallecimiento de Lady Clementina; y todos los días sufría la misma decepción.”</blockquote><br /><br />Si les gusta este tipo de humor y quieren leer algo corto y divertido, les recomiendo esta pequeña historia que seguramente les encantará. Pero no solo nos reiremos, sino también encontraremos una crítica muy interesante que nos hará pensar en las personas supersticiosas y sus falsas creencias: Bañarse con una planta para tener pareja, guardar una botella con hilos y sangre para evitar embrujos o que creen que el destino puede averiguarse por medio de las cartas o de la quiromancia. <i>El único destino en el que tienen que creer es en el que construyen con sus propias acciones. </i>Finalizo muy satisfecho.

This is Oscar Wilde’s “Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime”.<br /><br />The author’s razor-sharp language sparkles even in its Greek translation!<br />Wry humor, witty dialogues, fifty pages of pure reading pleasure. Lord Savile’s story delightfully attests to human capacity to occasionally adjust facts and principles in the way that best suits us.<br /><br />Ethics sur mesure…

3.5 stars for this satirical Victorian-era novella by Oscar Wilde. Young Lord Arthur, engaged to the lovely Sybil (interesting name choice, there!) goes to a posh party hosted by Lady Windermere, where one of the amusements is the eerily accurate fortune-telling by her pet palm reader, Mr. Podgers. Lord Arthur decides to take his turn:<blockquote>Lord Arthur smiled, and shook his head. ‘I am not afraid,’ he answered. ‘Sybil knows me as well as I know her.’<br /><br />‘Ah! I am a little sorry to hear you say that. The proper basis for marriage is a mutual misunderstanding. No, I am not at all cynical, I have merely got experience, which, however, is very much the same thing.'</blockquote>Unfortunately, Podgers (on the hush) predicts an ominous future for Lord Arthur: he's going to murder a distant relative. Arthur decides to take fate by the hands and commit the murder sooner rather than later, so he can wash his hands of it and marry his sweet, beautiful fiancee without this burden on his soul. &lt;--- This totally didn't make sense to me but you just have to roll with it.<br /><br />But fate has its own plans for Lord Arthur. <br /><br />I never was able to really buy into the nonsensical central premise, but I guess that's the beauty of this parody of the Gothic genre. Oscar Wilde's engaging wit and epigrams raise this story several notches, and the ending was a pleasant surprise.<br /><br />Read online or download for free at <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/773" rel="nofollow noopener">Project Gutenberg</a>.

I really, really enjoyed this one! This was an absolutely hilarious parody of the Gothic genre in true Oscar Wilde fashion. Highly recommend this for a short and funny introduction into Wilde's writing.

<i>“Early in life she had discovered the important truth that nothing looks so like innocence as an indiscretion;”</i> <br>― Oscar Wilde, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1554445149i/27317536._SY540_.jpg" width="400" height="562" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br>(D8U getting Wide)<br><br><b>Vol N° 59</b> of my Penguin <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/24611766.Little_Black_Classics_Box_Set" title="Little Black Classics Box Set by Various" rel="noopener">Little Black Classics Box Set</a>. This volume contains the title story, which first appeared in 1891.<br><br>I loved it. A dandy drawn by Oscar Wilde tries to keep fate from destroying his upcoming marriage. If there is a will, and a dandy, there is always a crime. The story was fun, clever, light, and makes me wonder why I do much in life beyond just reading Oscar Wilde. He thrills me.

Una raccolta di racconti spumeggiante, che ha in sé tutto il grande Wilde. <br />Luci e ombre, piccoli gioielli nati dalla sua penna. Mi sono divertita con Lord Arthur e i suoi tentativi di uccidere qualcuno. Mi è calata la lacrima sul Gigante egoista, dolcezze quasi rare in Oscar, come nel caso dell’usignolo e la rosa, o del principe felice. Il fantasma di Canterville, con le sue catene oliate e le sue ciabatte fa sorridere, ma il racconto presto scivola su un altro piano. Mi stupisco sempre del genio di Wilde, eppure ormai per me, che ho un debole per lui, dovrebbe essere assodato. Invece ogni volta le sue righe sono una scoperta bellissima! <br />

Oscar Wilde is one of the few writers whose short stories I can tolerate. He had his obvious wit and his subtle humour to go along with characters that are both expressly Victorian and curiously of the new age. Intriguing tale of fortune telling that gives both pleasure and something indeed to think upon.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.infiniteanddarling.co.uk/blogs/infinite-variety-books" rel="nofollow noopener">Blog</a> | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/infiniteANDdarling/" rel="nofollow noopener">Instagram</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/infinitedarlin" rel="nofollow noopener">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://uk.pinterest.com/infinitedarling/" rel="nofollow noopener">Pinterest</a> | <a href="https://www.infiniteanddarling.co.uk" rel="nofollow noopener">Shop</a> | <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/infiniteANDdarling" rel="nofollow noopener">Etsy</a>

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Amo la portada de este libro, el perfil de Wilde me encanta. Y la historia espectacular, tienen que leer algo de este autor.<br />Me encantaron las similitudes con el retrato de Dorian Gray, y amé el final.