Ebook The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde Books

Product details Paperback 58 pages Publisher CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 1, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 1503331741

The Importance of Being Earnest Oscar Wilde Books Reviews

• Written in 1915, The Importance of Being Ernest takes on the idle nobility of London and their ceaseless hunt for unique and clever entertainment, matrimony and mistresses.
  
  Combining a rapier wit, a sense for the ridiculous that could give Monty Python a run for its money and a scathing indictment of the uselessness of the upperclasses, Wilde pulls no punches in this humorous, silly, outrageous tale of the odd couple of single men and their antics as they each force life changing epiphanies out of each other causing shocking results.
  
  As these nobility were together at musicales, balls, parties, and dinners virtually every night during the season, it created an environment where witty and clever conversation became a requirement to being a successful guest, or your dinner companions, card players dance partners and potential suitors would think you were dull, or shockingly simple. Filthy rich covered a lot of sins, but everyone else had to be entertaining.
  
  This play revolves around two very different men Jack and Algernon. Jack is not noble, nor is he clever. He is a responsible man who is in love with Algernon's cousin Gwendolin. He gets frustrated by Algernon's trivial nature his witty banter and his capacity for causing trouble, yet they remain friends.
  
  Wilde takes this a step further by having Algernon have all the negative characteristics of a noble he's impoverished, immoral, corrupting, lazy, unethical, revels in lying, loves to take risks and cause trouble. He is also amazingly attractive, extremely charming at times and has very expensive taste in clothing. His wit is unparalleled. He maligns love, marriage and family among the many topics at which he takes aim. He is my favorite character in the play.
  
  In the first act, Jack drops in on Algernon at his home in London uninvited. Algernon is expecting a visit from his stuffy Aunt Augusta and cousin Gwendolin. The repartee between the two men during this act is the best in the play.
  
  Wilde not only skewers the nobility for their entertainment and courting practices, but also their behaviors, reading and conventional wisdom. You can expect many extreme occurrences. Secret identities are discovered not once, but twice. Two marriage proposals are tendered and there is much chaos. A Count of Monte Christo mystery is solved based on a simple accessory. Romance novels take many direct hits as being excessively silly. A fake person died in Paris and was reanimated in the English countryside on the same day. Old women play pretend better than children.
  
  Luckily, everyone changes for the better - they become more like Algernon. The Importance of Being Ernest; he finally becomes himself.
  
  There is an art to using language so skillfully with such elan. It was a joy to read. This play was just a kick in the pants.
  
  Highly Recommended!
• an everything I ever read be like this? Sparkly and caustic and just kind of alive? I would spend my days lost in words.
  
  Oscar Wilde is undoubtedly one of those rare real life quotemachines whom I'm undyingly jealous of. You know, those people who manage to speak as though their words were meant to be graven for the ages and not just immediately swallowed up by the void. From profundity to wittiness, he has a knack for presenting small truths in exquisite packages.
  
  I suspect that every review of this play quickly devolves to listing the best quotations and who am I to upset tradition?
  
  All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.
  
  The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her, if she is pretty, and to some one else, if she is plain.
  
  Well, I can't eat muffins in an agitated manner. The butter would probably get on my cuffs. One should always eat muffins quite calmly. It is the only way to eat them.
  
  I dislike arguments of any kind. They are always vulgar, and often convincing.
  
  The very essence of romance is uncertainty. If ever I get married, I'll certainly try to forget the fact.
  
  Humor, tips on proper muffin consumption, unserious lessons on the importance (though truly more so, the unimportance) of sincerity. Wilde is always ready to entertain.
• Oscar Wilde is one of my favorites because his writing is tongue-in-cheek and he is known for being so off-the-wall that in his time he was controversial enough that he and his works were banned in many markets and he was jailed from time to time, which didn't seem to faze him. Love that about anyone, writer or not. "The Importance of Being Earnest" is strange enough that you never know what direction it is to going to take. This is a work you cannot skim over; you really need to take your time reading it to get the full meaning (and catch all the chuckles). Definitely not for someone who wants a fast, throwaway read; this one makes you think. I selected this particular edition because (1) it was free and (2) reviews stated it was better edited than the others. I'm glad I did. Having read the book before, I was not disappointed; nothing was left out (and I love an edition that doesn't have words misspelled or incomplete sentences!) If you love the slightly outlandish and a story that has twists and turns, you should definitely read this one.
• I happened to get this book from by chance and got it since it dint cost me anything )
  I loved the humor element in the book, so subtle and so to the point .
  
  The story is simple, 2 guys in love with 2 females. Both of them portraying themselves as EARNEST in front of the females. Both the females infatuated with the name Earnest and wanting to marry someone with the same name.
  The story moving to a chaos and how a small mystery getting solved in the end clearing the chaos and ending in an HAPPILY EVER AFTER moment.
  
  Loved the story and narration awesome book.
  
  5/5 from me
  
  Devil D
• This was silly, and fun. Rather light, but with moments of sociological insights that are timeless. The thing that struck me the most was how Monty Pythonic it was, and in a snap I realized of course the boys were influenced by Mr. Wilde. Anyway, this is the best place to start if you want to catch up on classic English literature. Short, funny and sweet.
• Review is for this edition, not the classic Wilde drama. Put simply, there is NO TABLE OF CONTENTS. This is the very least you can expect from an eBook these days. Really there should be a TOC, illustrations, introduction and essays. There are none of these things. The fact that there is no Table of Contents which is the very least a publisher can do when putting out an eBook means ONE STAR for lameness.