Eight of us met to discuss this book which was a brilliant turn out given that just three had finished reading it!. Two were 'almost there', two were still only a quarter of the way through and one had not started. Why so lax? it was over Christmas and a busy time, there were lots of Christmas gift books to read, the library didn't get it on time and all this coupled with the 'lots of pages' intense and challenging nature of this read led us to slow it down.
Our list of excuses is totally valid: this is indeed a long, complex, challenging read. Once into it however, it is not a hard book to read and enjoy. We all intend to finish the book and most of us had plenty to discuss at out meeting. Indeed, we had one of our longest book group discussions for some time.
At the beginning of the story William and Jane Wilde, the eccentric Anglo-Irish parents of Oscar Wilde, are the main subject. We were surprised to learn that they were both highly accomplished in their own right. By the time he was 30 years old William was specialising in eye and ear surgery, had written a popular travel book and made important contributions to archaeology. He was also an aficionado of Irish folklore. Aged 36 William married Jane who was already a popular revolutionary poet, well known and respected in literary and political circles - she was a nationalist and was involved in, yet unscathed by, the 1848 uprisings and was an early advocate of women's rights and campaigned for better education for women.
We concluded that Oscar Wilde was raised by amazing parents in an incredibly lively and vibrant home environment. There were other children too: Willie was Oscar's older brother and Isola a younger sister who died in childhood. William Wilde also had three illegitimate children.
Despite great fame and fortune, the family faced financial ruin following the death of William, and yet continued to spend vast sums almost seemingly operating on a higher intelletual plane. Willie, Oscar's brother, failed to achieve his potential whereas Oscar, though seriously flawed, self important and arrogant went on to contribute significantly to the literary world. All three lived hand to mouth and (lavishly) spent whatever money came their way (in some instances this was very significant amounts).
The early Oscar was kind to his mum and when asked to do so he would support her through each financial crisis. Jane remained strongly independent and frequently returned any payments made on her behalf as soon as she could. Jane was a fabulous mum, loyal and supportive of her two boys, despite their faults (which were many!) The photographs of Jane in the book were surprising as she appears to have been far more beautiful than the text implied.
We discussed Oscars work and concluded his brilliance! though we did not all 'like' him as a person. Not one of us could deny that his extensive work as a critic and as a writer was truly impressive and still today his novels, childrens books, plays, letters and poetry are central to English literature.
By the end of our discussion the member who had yet to start the book announced 'I am quite looking forward to reading this' which we think is enough said. This is a great read and a good choice for book groups - we recommend it as a worthwhile read.
Our next book is A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and we will be discussing it on Thursday March 15th at The Hundred, 8pm.
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