Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The Nightingale and the Rose


"What a silly thing Love is," said the Student as he walked away. "It is not half as useful as Logic, for it does not prove anything, and it is always telling one of things that are not true."
(From The Nightingale and the Rose by Oscar Wilde)
I don't actually agree with that at all, but the cynic in me (the one that ruled my teens and the first few years of my twenties) enjoyed it.
I've been reading The Complete Short Stories of Oscar Wilde...Mostly because I loved The Picture of Dorian Gray so much. The conclusion I've come to so far is that these stories are beautiful. Normally, if I'm reading a short story, it includes dialogue such as, "The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter." (Except, not THAT line, because that's actually from The Maltese Falcon, which was not a short story.) But these stories are beautifully written...And they end tragically. So in the end, I'm left feeling confused. Not confused by the stories, but confused by conflicting emotions. Still, I'm enjoying them.
This is my terrible attempt at keeping my word about more book reviews. The past two weeks were hectic. I'm trying.

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