My Recent Reads

Books relax me.  Not just fiction books I can get lost in.  Books that make me think, books that teach me something I didn't know, books that allow me to dig into another peron's life or an idea I have been wanting to explore.  Books relax me.  So this post is going to be all about books I have been reading the past few weeks.  

• I start with The Solitary House by Lynn Shepherd simply because it's the last one I finished reading - just last night.  It's an interesting murder mystery set in Victorian England.  The author uses several characters from Charles Dickens' Bleak House in her novel. The Solitary House is well-written.  The only part that bugged me as I was reading was how the author talks to the reader throughout the book. However, I will probably explore more of Shepherd's historical fiction mysteries.  

• Oscar Wilde and His World by Vyvyan Holland (son of Oscar Wilde) is one I read for my Oscar Wilde research. (There will be more in this list). This is the second of Vyvyan's books I have read. The first being perhaps his most well-known, Son of Oscar Wilde. It is important to read the children's perspective of any person. While I think Vyvyan Holland was somewhat limited in what he wrote, most likely due to the era in which he lived, I enjoy adding his writing to my research. 

• I read Forgotten God by Francis Chan for a Bible study I am facilitating. I have to say I was impressed with Chan's teachings.  I do confess there are some Bible teachers with whom I become frustrated because of what I feel is an air of superiority about them.  I'm reading one right now that kind of comes across this way.  However, I did not feel this with Forgotten God.  Chan reveals his own vulnerabilities, which is important to me.  I also enjoyed the biographical stories at the end of each chapter. The story of a man who gave up a successful restaurant business to cook at a homeless shelter still inspires me. 

• Robbie Ross: Oscar Wilde's Devoted Friend by Jonathan Fryer was a pleasant surprise to me. To be honest, I have questioned Ross in my mind as I have researched Oscar Wilde. I questioned why he appeared to be so good.  I am skeptical of people who appear to be too good, too devoted, too loyal, too... too perfect.  In some of the biographies of Oscar Wilde I have read, too perfect is just how Robbie Ross appears. Fryer's book, however, gave me some perspective.  It shows how Ross could be vengeful and frustrated and, at times, he even felt like giving up on one of his dearest friends (and, no doubt, a lover). I like books that reflect human vulnerability, and this book made me like Robbie Ross much more.  

• I recently read two books by Lady Jane "Speranza" Wilde for my Oscar Wilde research. According to my studies, the research for these two books - Ancient Legends of Ireland and Irish Cures, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland - was compiled by Sir William Wilde (Oscar's father).  After Sir William died, Speranza, in need of money, wrote these books that William never did. I enjoyed reading a little about the beliefs of Ireland.  I could also see how some of these beliefs may have haunted Oscar Wilde throughout his life. 

• Oscar Wilde: The Importance of Being Irish by David Cookley is a fun biography of Oscar Wilde. I am always impressed when I see in an Oscar Wilde biography that Merlin Holland (Oscar's grandson and Oscar Wilde scholar) contributed to the research contained in the volume. Holland did contribute to this research and even wrote an introduction for the piece. This one fit nicely with the portion of my study over - well - Oscar's Irish hertitage and how that heritage affected him.  

• Hey, I told you there would be more books from my Oscar Wilde research in this list.  Constance: The Tragic and Scandelous Life of Mrs. Oscar Wilde by Franny Moyle is one of my favorites. This is an interesting book that proves Constance was a unique and fascinating person in her own right.  She was intensely devoted to Oscar, even when he did not deserve it.  However, she did not allow that devotion to overshadow her sons' needs. Other than being wife to Oscar and mother to Cyril and Vyvyan, Constance was a proponent of women's rights, a political activist, a writer, and even a member of a secret society. 

• Speaking of secret societies, I have to include in this list Conspiracy by Charlotte Greig. My sons and I have been studying this book for a while as a part of their cult study in our unschooling.  I'm not a huge conspiracy theorist, but this was a fun book that led into deeper discussions and historical research. 

• I adore primary sources for my historical research.  I have several for my Oscar Wilde research.  This is one of my favorites.  My fifteen-year old bought me this book for my birthday.  It is a good scholarly/academic source that includes both the notebook entries Wilde kept during his Oxford college years and an article, written by the authors, about how Oscar's college philosophy is apparent in his later works.  

• I recently read both F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night and Zelda Fitzgerald's Save Me the Waltz as a part of my celebration of the 1920s. The books are both classics in their own right. The story behind the books is fascinating as well. F. Scott Fitzgerald worked on Tender Is the Night for years. Zelda had read his project. Scott had stolen part of her life to include. Later, while Zelda was in a mental institution, as part of her healing, she wrote Save Me the Waltz.  It took her just a few weeks, and she sent it off for publication. When Scott finally saw the work, he was furious.  Zelda had taken some of his ideas and included them in her book.  He made her edit the book to his specifications. (It is said part of this editing included changing the name of her main male character from Amory Blaine - the name of the protagonist in Scott's first novel, This Side of Paradise). Both Tender is the Night and Save Me the Waltz reflect the intensity of Scott's and Zelda's love and marriage. 

   

• Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman is outside of the genres I generally read.  However, I became a fan of the series when we recently checked it out on DVD from the library. This was a fun, mindless, relaxing read.  And this list is all about relaxing. 

• I am ending my list with a classic I probably would never have picked up had it not been for my Oscar Wilde research - Joris-Karl Huysmans' Against the Grain.  The original French title is A Rebours. A Rebours has come to epitomize French decadent literature - literature that finds beauty in decadence, even in the grotesque. It is said Oscar Wilde read A Rebours on his honeymoon.  When Oscar Wilde was asked, during his trials, what book Lord Henry Watton gave to Dorian Gray in his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde replied he had A Rebours in mind. It was A Rebours that so influenced Dorian Gray into a life of sin and debauchery.  I can see a lot of A Rebours in Dorian Gray.  It is an interesting read that I do recommend for students of historical literature. 

I should really do this more often. There are more books I could list from the past month or two, but I will stop here and save those for later.