Happy Prince and Other Tales Review

Happy Prince and Other Tales By Oscar Wilde  

                                                 …I like hearing myself talk

One cannot but drool over the sweet tales of one's childhood. And Oscar Wilde’s stories are just like that, only with a subtle political satire and outright irony. I can hardly imagine a reader not gasping while reading this book. This book is a package of five bittersweet short stories about sympathy, sacrifice, love, selfishness, greed, vanity and self-love. The stories do not have surprising ending , nor do they have any descriptive parts. They are simple fables meant to win the hearts and minds of all.

There is something extraordinary about Wilde’s writing style. Though animals and candles have been personified many a time in literature but Wilde’s characters seem to be utterly novel, almost magical. It is not without pangs of childlike excitement that a reader will turn the pages of this book. The words are beautiful and nothing less. Wilde knows his flowers and stones quite well. The nature is distinct and each flower has its own entity in Wilde’s world. His writing is sincere, magical and appealing. His stories leave no doubt that he was a romantic at heart. I had envisaged him as a self-loving person when I read De Profundis. But this book changed his image in my mind. I feel closer to him in some way through the characters he brought to life. He has gratified the child inside me, and I am very thankful to him for that. Needless to say, this book is a must read.