Cover Image: Conversations with Wilde

Conversations with Wilde

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

I love Oscar Wilde's writing and I find his life story incredibly interesting, so I was very excited when I received this book from Netgalley and it did not disappoint!

Was this review helpful?

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a big fan of Oscar Wilde and his works are definitely my cup of tea. Therefore, I was really curious to read this new kind of book about him. The book was very interesting and it's written in a very conversational way, which was really cool. If you're a fan of this author and you know to want more about him, than that's the right book for you!

Was this review helpful?

I love Oscar Wilde and this was certainly an interesting biography. It's written very conversationally which I'm not sure how I felt about. But overall, a short, informative biography.

Was this review helpful?

This book was something different for sure. I don't know much about Oscar Wilde but this story opened my eyes much more and i really enjoyed it. While reading it, i had to add so many other stories to my to be read list because it's so engaging and unputable down.
Will recommend this book to all my friends for sure.

Was this review helpful?

A really wonderful insight to the fabulous world of Oscar Wilde. Just a delight to read from start to finish

Was this review helpful?

Oh how I loved this , I could have read three times as much. Great fun and so much more.. Oscar Wilde was a man born out of time . Along with Dickens I read an abridged Wilde as a child and never lost the love of either. This should be available in all school libraries. Well done on bringing him to life on these pages.

Was this review helpful?

Rather sparse - I would be interested in Merlin Holland's imagined conversations with the grandfather he never knew if they were insightful, interrogative, questioning, probing his family history and what the trial and loss of Wilde meant to Merlin Holland's father Vyvyan and to himself in turn; why has Holland taken up the memorialisation of Wilde in this book and past books so often? What drives him?

I'd read that book. this is not htat book; this is Holland ventriloquising Wilde's biography in his best Wilde voice. It's not bad, but I wonder if Holland ever asks himself what prompted him to write this?

Was this review helpful?

The first thing I'd like to say about this, no matter what else I think, is that it's very apparent to me that Holland was passionate about this project, and took it seriously. This as a whole is so well researched that there were times I actually forgot that Holland was not, in fact, having a conversation with Wilde himself. I feel he did a really great job of recreating Oscar's unique voice.

In this, Holland briefly describes significant points in Wilde's life, and "together" the two of them discuss Wilde's thoughts and recollections during those time periods, as well as any topics related to those time periods. All of these thoughts and recollections are taken from different Wilde texts, and the information contained within them are pieced together to bring factual information to the reader in a concise manner.

For these reasons, as well as my love for Oscar, I am glad to have read this. However, I didn't feel that the content itself was anything new—not that I'm sure it was supposed to be.

Though this was a quick read—and fun for me, as a Wilde fan—I don't see this being a book I would return to in the future to reread. I just feel like if I wanted to read Wilde, I would read Wilde, and if I wanted to read about Wilde, I would pick up a biography.

Was this review helpful?

3,5 Stars

I like the idea of this book series - to have fictional interviews with famous persons and thus share some interesting biographical facts with the reader.
In this case the author is even the grandson of the VIP. Although I'm not sure how much this really helps, since he was born 45 years after the death of Oscar Wilde, and his own father has lived with Wilde only for the first few years of his life and apparently never talked about his father at home after he fell in disgrace.

I wasn't familiar with the fact that Oscar Wilde was sent to prison for being gay. So the chapters about his relationships (also to his wife and sons), the trial and his time in prison were very interesting to me. But I was missing info on Oscar Wilde as a writer! About where he got his ideas from, what he wanted to convey with the texts, what reaction it got from the audience of that time...

Maybe Merlin Holland thought that there is so much secondary literature out there on each of his novels and plays that he does not need to breach these subjects in this very concise little book. And maybe he is right. But for me this book still felt incomplete.

Was this review helpful?

Thanks to Watkins Publishing and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Many years ago, when Marks & Spencer was called St Michael my mother bought my siblings and I a video. It was a double feature of The Snowman and The Happy Prince. I know what you’re thinking but it was the eighties, traumatising your children was de rigeur. Since those days my siblings and I have quoted The Happy Prince hundreds of times. It’s part of our “make someone cry” challenge and it’s the only VHS I still own.

From that, in my teens I developed a love of Wilde’s other works and he has a firm place on my list of fantasy dinner party guests. I went to his grave at Pere Lachaise in Paris (before they put the barrier up) so long story short, I thought this sounded intriguing.

This is a short book, and essentially is a fictional interview with Oscar Wilde. This is a brave undertaking for anyone to commit to, but I think overall, it was done well. It felt a bit jarring at the beginning but once things got into their stride it started to flow more naturally. It’s not easy to capture a voice as unique as Wilde’s but it felt credible. The author managed to capture Wilde’s wit and charm whilst also exploring some of the more difficult things he experienced in his life before his tragic early death. Do Lord Byron next!

Overall, an enjoyable read and an interesting concept to explore.

Was this review helpful?

I’ve always been a fan of Oscar Wilde and his work so it was very interesting and intriguing to me to read this fictional conversation with Wilde. Especially due to the fact that it was imagined by his own grandson.

Was this review helpful?

What a fascinating look at Oscar Wilde. I loved this! HIghly recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Was this review helpful?

This was a very unique way to educate and entertain the reader! I enjoyed the conversational element of this book. Very well-written!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book- after doing my MA in Dublin, my love for Wilde only grew. Wilde is endlessly fascinating, and this book is quite a fun way to quickly cover all of the interesting bits of his life. It also isn't bound to conventional biographical style; Holland (the only grandchild of Wilde) takes a playful and sarcastic approach to Wilde, and it entirely suits him.

Was this review helpful?

I struggled to get into this simply due to the interview style format. To begin with Wilde’s answers felt forced and fake but the book grew on me slowly as I got sucked into Wilde’s life.
I still wouldn’t say I loved it but I did enjoy reading it and would generally say it’s worth a try and if you can overlook the format then it might be for you.

Was this review helpful?

I'm pretty sure Oscar Wilde has made my "Dinner List." so I do like the idea of a conversation with him. It was so well done and his voice was captured perfectly. It's a great, brief biography in his "own words."

Was this review helpful?

I'm a huge fan of Oscar Wilde and was very happy when this ARC was approved.
It was great to read something about him from a new and refreshing perspective and the Q&A part was great.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Was this review helpful?

I wanted to read this book because I could imagine myself hanging out with Oscar Wilde .

Someone who , in my opinion , born in the wrong century. He was so ahead of his time.

He would have been a great friend to have around . He was a brilliant man , quick-thinking, witty man , sarcastic , worldly and cosmopolitan man ; who loved beauty and pleasure to the max. . I imagine him a mix of David Bowie , Banksy, Freddy Mercury and Andy Warhol

Unorthodox , nonconformist and maverick Wilde left a wonderful body of work but he left to soon .

I enjoyed reading this fusion of fiction and biography, written by Oscar Wilde's grandson . A dream up , conversation with his grandfather.

Thank Netgalley and Watkins Publishing for a free copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.

#ConversationsWithOscarWildeByMerlinHOlland #NetGalley

Was this review helpful?

Genre: Fictional Biographies & Memoirs, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Watkins Publishing
Pub. Date: June 11, 2019

This story is one in a series regarding other imagined conversations with legendary people. The infamous Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854-1900) is easily one of the most paramount playwrights of the Victorian age. This novel was originally published under the title “Coffee with Oscar Wilde.” No matter the name, what a treat to review this clever novel about a fictional conversation with Oscar Wilde, over coffee and a cigarette. The premise of the tale is that Wilde is being interviewed by an unnamed interviewer. What makes this book so clever is that he is being interviewed in the present. The author never explains how this phenomenon happens. Still, much fun to read Wilde’s possible views on histories’ take on him. Or how appalled Wilde might be to learn that smoking is now frowned upon. “A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure.”― Oscar Wilde, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

Set in Paris, where he fled once released from prison after the scandalous trial that revealed his homosexuality. During the trial, he was actually accused of being his character, who never ages, from his novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” The story comes so close to spelling out homosexual desire. In 1945 the book was turned into a movie. In Holland’s book, the author is at his wittiest channeling Wilde’s feelings about the trial. He does a wonderful job of showing Wilde’s misjudgment on what would be the trial’s outcome. After all, at that time in his life, Oscar was the darling of upper-class society.

In the books prologue the author explains that in writing the novel he did not cut out Wilde’s quotes and sew them back together. He feared that would become a book of one-liners. Instead, he wrote Wilde’s words without always being recognizable. He did this by heavily researching his works and letters. The result feels fresh. This book is a fast (under 200 pages) and a delightful read. However, it is easy to imagine that if you are familiar with all the aspects of Wilde’s life it may not be as impressive. Personally, I was surprised to learn that Oscar was married and had two children. I enjoyed reading about the close relationship he had with his mother, and the lover who caused his downfall. I was so impressed with this concept of a fictional memoir that I hope to read “Conversations with Mozart” by Simon Parke.

Was this review helpful?

I adored this, I love Oscar Wilde and I wish there was much, much more of his work. This was so interesting to read something new and a different perspective which shows even more to the great man.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Was this review helpful?