Tag Archives: oscar wilde

Would You Like to Smell Like Your Favourite Author?

27 Monday May 2013

Posted by in Authors, Excerpts, From Life...

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What were the signature scents of famous authors?

Thanks to a post made at Book Riot, I got to thinking about my two favourite things in life: perfumes and books. I have a prodigiously large collection of both; yet it never occurred to me to find out what type of scents my favourite authors actually wore during their lifetime. Amanda Nelson of the irreverent book blog Dead White Guys came up with some cool concoctions of her own; and it inspired me to have a synesthete moment.

This is a bit of a tough mission, but one that yielded surprising results! Here’s what I have come up with so far…

4. ANAIS NIN

Some authors like Anais Nin have already inspired a perfume, so admired were they in their lifetime. Anais Anais was the first perfume produced by Cacharel in 1978. To me, it evokes the scent-memory of France, my mother and the sweet yet deceptive innocence at the heart of all women. I also adore the fresh green smell and the O’Keefe-inspired artwork that has been used for many decades.

Notes
Top: Bergamot, galbanum, hyacinth, honeysuckle, orange blossom
Middle: Lily, lily of the valley, rose, ylang-ylang, tuberose, carnation
Base: Cedarwood, sandalwood, amber, oakmoss, incense, vetiver

3. OSCAR WILDE

What would a notorious super-dandy and aesthete like Oscar Wilde possibly wear as a perfume? Apparently the now discontinued (yet aptly named) Malmaison of Floris of London. It is described by experts as having a linear smell – that of almost purely red carnations. At first I couldn’t imagine a carnation as being Wilde’s smell, yet there is a certain exotic woodsy, clove-like aroma to carnations that does fit in with Wilde’s character. Red is certainly his colour too! The reintroduction of Malmaison Encore by Floris means people can relive the original fragrance in a more modern version.

NOTES

Top notes: bergamot, black pepper, cardamom
Heart notes: clove, nutmeg, rose, ylang ylang
Base notes : amber, cedarwood, frankincense, heliotrope, tonka bean, vanilla

2. F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

Many famous people including F. Scott Fitzgerald and later Marlene Dietrich wore Lieber Gustav #14. The perfume was created by celebrated nose Albert Kriegler and he states that ‘Perfume #14 was chosen by Fitzgerald because of its depth, and the connection between Berlin and Provence.’ I also find that scents hold geographical memories for me, yet even more interesting is that Lieber Gustav #14 was inspired by a love letter between a young girl and her fiancee… Reminds me of The Great Gatsby!

NOTES

Leather, Black tea, Lavender, Musk and Woody notes.

1. SIDONIE-GABRIELLE COLETTE

Colette is another author who is epitomises sensuality and whose work’s forever obsess with the gratification of the flesh and of the soul. She owned her own beauty salon and being something of a perfumer herself used only the petals of white flowers. However, it has been recorded that she had a particular penchant for Coty’s Jasmin de Corse, which is again very hard to find. A 1925 ad described it as, ‘For the Woman of the Dreamy Elusive Type: Jasmine de Corse, La Jacinthe & Lilas Blanc.’ I can only imagine the closest we can ever get to this perfume with it’s heavy, smoky Jasmine undertones would be Lanvin’s Arpege which was created 20 years after.

So, that’s all I could find on authors and their favourite fragrance’s. Is there any I’ve missed out that should be in the list? Let me know.

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Book Review | ‘Salome’ by Oscar Wilde

19 Sunday Feb 2012

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SalomeSalome by Oscar Wilde

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“Salomé, Salomé, dance for me. I pray thee dance for me. I am sad to-night. Yes, I am passing sad to-night. When I came hither I slipped in blood, which is an evil omen; and I heard, I am sure I heard in the air a beating of wings, a beating of giant wings. I cannot tell what they mean …. I am sad to-night. Therefore dance for me. Dance for me, Salomé, I beseech you. If you dance for me you may ask of me what you will, and I will give it you, even unto the half of my kingdom.”

‘Salome’ is probably the most notorious femme fatale in literature. But through no fault of the historical or biblical accounts mind you; but rather because of Aubrey Beardsley‘s grotesque ink panels that were inspired by Wilde’s play. Like most people, I became aware of the play through these oriental drawings, yet had a devil of a time finding a translated English version (Wilde originally wrote it in French) anywhere on the web. However, thanks to pinkmonkey.com I have finally sated my curiosity. But…

Yes, big but. I’m not sure why, but this one didn’t really come across as particularly good. I’m holding the quality of the translation to blame, as I’m sad to say that this is very different to Wilde’s other plays. To start with, the brilliance of language that we are used to is totally lacking. The dialogue between the characters are monotonous and annoyingly repetitive which is NOT a Wilde trademark. It could possibly be that Wilde’s prose may have been butchered through bad translation. Until I learn to read French fluently, this is what I am hoping it is. If it is not the case and the translation is faithful, then this play exposes a very different side to Wilde.

The ending was also quite abrupt, hurried and somewhat ‘missing’. However what I did like about it was the inclusion of many characters from different religions. I really got a sense of cultural mix and tolerance of difference (even though John the Baptist gets killed because of his heretical beliefs!) King Herod had many people in his court and this is clearly illustrated that. But beauty of language was what I was looking for. Hell, scrap that, I was expecting Art Nouveau decadence, a poisonous, deadly grace. But that wasn’t to be. All that is left is for me to gaze on the ink panels and dream serpentine thoughts of how good it would have been if things had gotten a bit more… ‘Macbeth-ish’. And how it possibly could have done with a few more scenes/acts.

A prose version of ‘Salome’ could have been more interesting interspersed with some of Aubrey Beardsley’s fantastic drawings. Having said that, I’d give anything to see this on stage. The choreography of the ‘seven veils’ would be wonderful to watch!

A generous 3/5 stars.

To read the version I have, please go to: http://pinkmonkey.com/dl/library1/salome…

For more reviews on Oscar Wilde see: ‘House of Pomegranates’  and ‘The Model Millionaire’.

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Book Review | ‘The House of Pomegranates’ by Oscar Wilde

16 Friday Dec 2011

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A House of PomegranatesA House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Life is one fool thing after another whereas love is two fool things after each other.”    

Oscar Wilde might just be the greatest fiction writer of all time. Having said that, it’s a pity there are so few of his works. He certainly has a very special place in my heart, and this collection of beautiful children’s stories show just how talented he really was. Wilde is famous for his ‘epigrams’ and his razor-sharp wit. His command of the English language made him a literary trend-setter. Yet these innocent fables allow people to see a lesser-known side of him, a more human side; a glimpse of the ‘mortal’.

As mercurial and glamorous as he was (or made himself out to be), the work he produced here for younger audiences stands as a homage for ancient story-telling that reaches out to the likes of Hans Christian Anderson or the Brother’s Grimm. In fact these aren’t mere stories, but rather ‘fables’, and unfortunately fables are an almost extinct form of story-telling these days. When people think of Oscar Wilde, no one ever thinks of morals, yet these tales each hold a deep moral lesson.

The ‘Star Child’ is rather like ‘Dorian Gray‘ re-worked for children, in that it warns them of the dangers of vanity and to respect ones’ elders. The ‘Mermaids Soul’ explores the rather complex issue of the soul, or rather the difference of making decisions with your head or your senses, and how one must have a little of both facilities in, otherwise chaos ensues. The most famous of this bunch is probably ‘The Happy Prince‘, who when I first read it many moons ago mistook it for an Andersen fable.

My favourite, ‘The Infanta’, is about innocent ignorance, class-divide, love and mercy. It teaches us NOT to judge by appearances, and to accept people as they are. Wilde was famed as an aesthete, yet in all his stories there is a very firm dislike of artifice, and a reverence of the beauty of the soul as opposed to the flesh. Even though this is blatantly obvious in his writing, people still insist on ignoring it, which is sad. Judging by these stories (and stories are a window to the soul) I think Wilde was a deeply moral man whose choices in life must have pained him given the social/ cultural atmosphere of the time.

This collection would make a wonderful gift for any child. I read the Gutenberg e-book version, which unfortunately didn’t have the titles, but rather interestingly had a dedication at the beginning of each story telling the reader who it was written for. I think ‘The House of Pomegranates’ is a real gem of a book. I’m glad I rediscovered it this year. It is absolute story perfection.

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Literary Blog Hop | What’s Your Ultimate Book in Times of War?

19 Saturday Feb 2011

Posted by in Meme

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Don\

Welcome to the ‘Literary Blog Hop’, a meme hosted by The Blue Bookcase for book bloggers who focus on reviewing literary fiction. This weeks’ hop comes with the question:
 
If you were going off to war (or some other similarly horrific situation) and could only take one book with you, which literary book would you take and why?
 
This is a very, very interesting question. It has never occurred to me to think what book I’d take if I were ever caught in the middle of a war.
 
Imagine this: you are living in a country that is known for its’ political unrest. Two opposing parties are constantly trying to overthrow each other, and civilians are the ones getting caught in the cross-fire for victory. It has come to a point where you are not allowed to sit on the fence as far as your beliefs go. You are either the fundamentalist, the religious fanatic, the nationalist or you are a member of the democratic camp who believes in liberty and freedom of speech. No one meets anyone halfway anymore; it’s all or nothing. One morning, you are violently awoken to the sound of sirens blaring through empty streets. You stumble out of bed and rush downstairs to discover that there has been a coup d’état. Faced with the very real threat of a bloody civil division which would bring the entire country to its’ knees, the army has decided to take drastic steps and overthrown the current corrupt government. You and the entire population are now at the mercy of a military regime, that will swiftly and surely weed out all troublemakers from every level of society, including you.
 
What does a military coup mean? What does it entail? You know full well. Someone calls for everyone to calm down and listen, that there is still time. The soldiers haven’t reached your neighbourhood yet, but they are close, and they will be ransacking every house for evidence of conspiracy against the state or clues that point to affiliations with terrorist organisations. The person in charge is now shouting orders left and right. People rush to try to hide their personal belongings the best they can. You run to your room trying to remember everything that might offend or cause suspicion. 
Foreign DVDs, personal journals, posters of Che Guevara; all get torn down, shoved in a box. You hear the shuck-shuck of someone digging a hole in the backyard. It’s already knee-deep, but not deep enough to hold everything. You look out the window and see black smoke billowing from other houses. Some prefer burning to digging.
 
There is one thing you left to last: the books. Hundreds of them are lined up behind the glass cabinet doors. Voltaire, Spinoza, Freud, Jung, Godwin; all free-thinking, dangerous men that sow seeds in your head and watch it grow from their graves. You have the Marxist Manifesto, but not because you are a Communist. There’s also Miller’s ‘Tropic of Cancer’, not because you are a nefarious sex-freak. Rushdie’s ‘Satanic Verses’ gleams like a conspiratorial dagger as does Wilde’s ‘Dorian Grey’. Huysmann’s ‘Against Nature’ is ready to play Russian roulette with your life if it’s ever discovered, and Orwell’s ‘1984’ mocks your hopelessness by merely existing: a mirror to everything that is happening around you. You smash the cabinet and throw all the books out the window, where people are shoving them into the ever-deepening hole. Once buried, the soldiers finally storm the house. They find nothing. Oddly enough, they are content to overlook the ungainly dirt-mound at the back.
 
You are commanded into single-file, and searched. As the last one, you look around the house one final time. The soldiers pat down your pyjamas and the greatcoat you have on. You get the urge to say a prayer for all the books buried in the dirt, breathless, cold and dead. The soldier suddenly shouts, and cocks his gun at your face. He kicks you in the stomach and makes you kneel with your hands behind you back.
 
You venture to look up. He waves a bit of tatty paper at the others. Something he found in your pocket. Something he found. What was it? Think. On the way to the market, the guy in the fatigues, the one that handed you that stupid propaganda leaflet. The one with ‘death to the president’ written on it in big, bold red font. You knew you should have thrown it away.   
 
HAHA! Talk about a fantasy man! That was intense. But yeah, if you put yourself in the shoes of someone in the middle of war, you’ll quickly realise it’s not so easy to carry books with you. Books are always deemed dangerous during times like that. Some could even get you into a whole load of trouble. Even execution. Luckily for me, I’ve never had to witness anything as devastating as that in my lifetime, but I have read books that describe the terrors of war; especially the effects it had on children. If I were ever caught up in a battle and had the opportunity to have ONE book and get away with it, I’d probably choose Anne Frank’s Diary, or do as Anne did and get my hands on a blank journal and a pencil. I’d see it as my duty to record everything that went on around me.  
 
When I think about all the things that one would face in wartime, I’d have to make sure that my chosen book serves my emotional and spiritual needs in times of distress. Great hefty classics like ‘War and Peace’, and ‘Les Miserables’ come to mind, but since they are written from a third-person perspective, I don’t think I’d necessarily connect with them. I’d imagine war to be the kind of thing that is too big and complex to look at from an omniscient place. Everybody would be living their own nightmares, their own problems. Your world would be tightly coiled around you. The circumference of your existence extending only into the next few seconds ahead, maybe not even that. So that’s why I choose Anne Frank, because it’s honest and from a girls perspective (closer to me) and has equal moments of hope and despair.
 
What would your choice be?

Quick Review | ‘The Model Millionaire’ by Oscar Wilde

17 Sunday Oct 2010

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This is turning out to be a ‘Wilde’-flavoured week for me as I came across a wonderful post by fellow book blogger Mel U over at ‘The Reading Life’ that led me to read one of Wilde’s lesser known short stories: ‘The Model Millionaire’.

She put it down as a very quick read (which is always good when you want to brush up on your favourite authors without spending too much time) and a quick read it is at only 6 pages.

First of all, ‘The Model Millionaire’ came across as a very simple version of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. Take out the fragrant, descriptive language and the gothic horror element and you are left with a humorous observation of London society that nods in the direction of Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’. The first line of the story is almost a parody of Austen’s most memorable opening passage:

WILDE: “Unless one is wealthy there is no use in being a charming fellow. Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profession of the unemployed. The poor should be practical and prosaic.”

AUSTEN: “IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

 As Austen puts it, wealth and eligibility are absolute necessities; money being the great attractor of love. But what of the poor? Do they not deserve the right to be happily married? This Victorian frame-of-mind is indeed a problem for our poor protagonist Hughie. As a handsome chap he has everything except the lucrative mind of a business man. He has tried his hand at stock broking to being a tea merchant, but things never go his way. The only fortune he can speak of are his father’s cavalry sword, a fifteen-volume collection on the History of the Peninsular War  and a meagre 200 pounds annual allowance from a deceased aunty. Hardly the kind of income to support a wife and children. Apart from a pleasant demeanour and an average IQ, these are the only things to his name.

However, Wilde shows us that a young man who is nothing but handsome must also be in need of a wife as Hughie’s love for Lucy, the General’s daughter brings him face to face with a challenge: to somehow obtain £10’000 in order for the wedding to proceed. From hereon the narrative takes a turn as themes from ‘Dorian Gray’ begin to enter the fray. Hughie’s visit to his painter friend enables him to witness a beggar modelling for a portrait. Hughie being a simple, honest chap with a good heart feels sorry for the old beggar after he learns how much he’ll get for his services and takes the opportunity to give all the money in his purse to the old man. But as things go, the old man isn’t quiet what he seems and Hughie is in for a nasty surprise when he finds out.

Again, it was good to see the Wilde touched on themes of deceiving appearances. He was a fervid believer in the term that art often imitates life. Being an aesthete he made this theme one of his signature plot devices. It’s great to see it here stripped down to its bare bones. The language is very simple for this short piece but still carries a few of Wilde’s  epigrams here and there.

I give this 3/5 Stars. If you’d like to read ‘The Model Millionaire’, then I suggest the website recommended by Mel U.

10 Things You Should Know About Oscar Wilde

16 Saturday Oct 2010

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 Oscar Wilde –
photograph taken in 1882 by Napoleon Sarony

1. His  full name is Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde and he was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1854.

2. His mother, Jane Francesca Elgee, was a celebrated writer who went by the pen-name of ‘Speranza’. She is said to have mastered 12 languages and frequently translated many works into English from Italian, French, German, Russian, Turkish and Spanish.

3. His father, William Robert Wills Wilde, was a physician who specialised as an ear-eye surgeon. He fathered at least 3 illegitimate children before he married Jane Francesca Elgee.

4. The Wilde’s often dined with other famous writers and poets such as John Butler Yeats and George Henry Moore.

5. Oscar Wilde had photographic memory. While studying at Magdalen College in Oxford, he was famous for his ability to recall long passages of writing.

6. His only published novel is ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. All his other works are either plays, poems or short children’s stories.

7. His most controversial play is ‘Salome’, which was refused permission to be staged because of biblical content. Acclaimed actress Sarah Bernhardt would have played the lead role.

8. He was accused of, tried and sent to prison to Holloway for two years on account of sodomy and gross indecency.

9. ‘De Profundis’ was written while in prison and recounts his thoughts and feelings on his incarceration. It was partially published in 1905, then fully in 1962 in ‘The Letters of Oscar Wilde’. You can read ‘De Profundis’ it in it’s entirety here.

10. Wilde died of cerebral meningitis on 30th November 1900 in Paris. Reginald Turner, close friend and fellow writer was with him when he passed away.  He is buried at Pere Lachaise Cemetery and his tomb was designed and built by Sir Jacob Epstein in the form of a stylised angel.

 ____________________________

There we are. Ten facts about Wilde that you may or may not have known about. His was a very interesting life and makes for a brilliant read. If you are interested in finding out out more about this great author, then I suggest Barbara Belfords ‘Oscar Wilde: A Certain Genius’.

Belford specialises in Victorian literary figures and has also written biographies of Violet Hunt and Bram Stoker. I highly recommend her work.

Click here to read ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ online.

Famous Quotes | Oscar-worthy Wilde Witticisms

16 Saturday Oct 2010

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Oscar Wilde
Celebrating Google.com’s tribute to the epigrammatist extraordinaire, Oscar Wilde. Today is the 156th birthday of the author of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, the gothic masterpiece of horror and suspense.

Welcome to the first of my posts on ‘Famous Quotes’. This ongoing series will look at individual authors and their famous words of wisdom. And what better way to start off the series than on the birthday of Oscar Wilde; the master of witticisms, double-entendres and epigrams. I’d like to share some of his most celebrated quotes and a few facts about the life of the most flamboyant literary genius to have ever lived.

        “Books are never finished, they are merely abandoned.”

“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an  idea at all.”

“I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.” “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone elses opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” “A poet can survive everything but a misprint.”  “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.” 
 “Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter.”

“Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.” “I can resist anything but temptation.” “A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” “A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.” “A man’s face is his autobiography. A woman’s face is her work of fiction.” “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.” “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” “Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.”

There it is, just a small selection of Wilde’s genius. There were so many more I’d like to have included, but it would make the list too long to read. Choosing a favourite out of these is tough work, but I’d say it would be ‘I can resist everything but temptation’. What’s yours?