Prologue and Introduction

*Non-fiction

Reviews

by Oscar WILDE (1854 - 1900)

Wilde’s literary reputation has survived so much that I think it proof against any exhumation of articles which he or his admirers would have preferred to forget. As a matter of fact, I believe this volume will prove of unusual interest; some of the reviews are curiously prophetic; some are, of course, biassed by prejudice hostile or friendly; others are conceived in the author’s wittiest and happiest vein; only a few are colourless. And if, according to Lord Beaconsfield, the verdict of a continental nation may be regarded as that of posterity, Wilde is a much greater force in our literature than even friendly contemporaries ever supposed he would become. It should be remembered, however, that at the time when most of these reviews were written Wilde had published scarcely any of the works by which his name has become famous in Europe, though the protagonist of the æsthetic movement was a well-known figure in Paris and London. (Summary from Introduction by Robert Ross)

Listen next episodes of Reviews:
Some Novels , A Batch of Novels , A Bevy of Poets , A Cheap Edition of a Great Man , A Chinese Sage , A Fascinating Book , A Good Historical Novel , A Handbook to Marriage , A 'Jolly' Art Critic , A Literary Pilgrim , A Modern Epic , A New Book on Dickens , A New Calendar , A Note on Some Modern Poets , A Politician's Poetry , A Ride Through Morrocco , A Scotchman on Scottish Poetry , A Sentimental Journey Through Literature , A Thought-Reader's Novel , Adam Lindsay Gordon , Aristotle at Afternoon Tea , As You Like It at Coombe House , Australian Poets , Balzac in English , Ben Jonson , Béranger in England , Common-Sense in Art , Dinners and Dishes , Early Christian Art in Ireland , Great Writers by Little Men , Half-Hours with the Worst Authors , Hamlet at the Lyceum , Helena in Troas , Henry the Fourth at Oxford , Index of Authors and Books Reviewed , Literary and Other Notes--I , Literary and Other Notes--II , Literary and Other Notes--III , Literary and Other Notes--IV , Literary and Other Notes--V , M. Caro on George Sand , Miner and Minor Poets , Modern Greek Poetry , Mr. Brander Matthews' Essays , Mr. Froude's Blue-Book , Mr. Mahaffy's New Book , Mr. Morris's Completion of the Odyssey , Mr. Morris's Odyssey , Mr. Pater's Imaginary Portraits , Mr. Pater's Last Volume , Mr. Swinburne's Last Volume , Mr. Symonds' History of the Renaissance , Mr. William Morris's Last Book , New Novels (August 20, 1887) , New Novels (October 28, 1886) , News from Parnassus , Olivia at the Lyceum , One of Mr. Conway's Remainders , One of the Bibles of the World , Ouida's New Novel , Our Book-Shelf , Parnassus Versus Philology , Pleasing and Prattling , Poetical Socialists , Poetry and Prison , Primavera , Shakespeare on Scenery , Sir Charles Bowen's Virgil , Sir Edwin Arnold's Last Volume , Some Literary Notes--I , Some Literary Notes--II , Some Literary Notes--III , Some Literary Notes--IV , Some Literary Notes--V , Some Literary Notes--VI , Some Novels , The Cenci , The Children of the Poets , The Gospel According to Walt Whitman , The Letters of a Great Woman , The New President , The Poetry of the People , The Poets' Corner--I , The Poets' Corner--II , The Poets' Corner--III , The Poets' Corner--IV , The Poets' Corner--IX , The Poets' Corner--V , The Poets' Corner--VI , The Poets' Corner--VII , The Poets' Corner--VIII , The Poets' Corner--X , Three New Poets , To Read or Not to Read , Twelfth Night at Oxford , Two Biographies of Keats , Two New Novels (May 15, 1885) , Two New Novels (Sept. 16, 1880) , Venus or Victory