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The Complete Fairy Tales

Oscar Wilde

4.34 · Rating details · 10,061 ratings · 259 reviews

The Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde includes the two definitive story collections The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888) and A House of Pomegranates (1891). This volume collects exquisite and poignant tales of true beauty, selfless love, generosity, loyalty, brilliant wit, and moral aestheticism, such as "The Birthday of the Infanta," "The Selfish Giant," The Nighting ...more

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Paperback, 144 pages

Published February 13th 2007 by Norilana Books (first published 1891)

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Jul 24, 2008 Ruth rated it it was amazing

I came upon it in my grandmother's library when I was a kid. Read it furtively, convinced it was dangerous stuff. Read it compulsively, swept away.

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Mar 04, 2017 Ana Rînceanu rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories, irish-literature, european-literature, fairy-tales, 19th-century, fiction

The Happy Prince and Other Tales

The Happy Prince - a swallow who was left behind after his flock flew off to Egypt for the winter, meets the statue of the late "Happy Prince" (4 stars)

The Nightingale and the Rose - a nightingale overhears a student complaining that his professor's daughter will not dance with him, as he is unable to give her a red rose (4 stars)

The Selfish Giant the Selfish Giant owns a beautiful garden which has 12 peach trees and lovely fragrant flowers, in which children love ...more

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Aug 30, 2017 La Talpa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017august, klassiker

Eine sehr schöne Sammlung an Märchen. Manche fand ich natürlich besser als andere, aber gefallen hatten sie mir alle. Der Schreibstil ist sehr leichtfüßig und wunderbar zu lesen und das obwohl diese Märchensammlung von 1888 ist.

Besonders das Märchen vom glücklichen Prinzen hat mich in meine Kindheit zurückgebracht, da ich es bereits aus den "Erzähl mir was"- Bänden kenne und ich als Kind diese Märchen- und Kindergeschichtenreihe geliebt habe.

Ein richtig schönes Lesevergnügen ❤
...more

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Jul 05, 2015 Arun Divakar rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a book that I have been waiting to read for a while now for two reasons. The first is the need to read up on fairy tales from across the World. This was one of those interests that was forever doomed to be in the attic of my mind. I would glance at my wish list and keep the fairy tales aside for just one more time. So finally I mustered up enough resolve and got this book to read. The second reason was that I hadn’t read anything by Oscar Wilde yet and thought of starting from here. It c This is a book that I have been waiting to read for a while now for two reasons. The first is the need to read up on fairy tales from across the World. This was one of those interests that was forever doomed to be in the attic of my mind. I would glance at my wish list and keep the fairy tales aside for just one more time. So finally I mustered up enough resolve and got this book to read. The second reason was that I hadn’t read anything by Oscar Wilde yet and thought of starting from here. It certainly was a good start. This book combines nine stories from two separate volumes : The Happy Prince and The House Of Pomegranates which to sum up are all pretty bleak and depressing. Maybe this was a problem with my expectation of the word fairy tale for I anticipated conclusions which are better and finer for the key characters. Wilde however shows a different world view altogether. He does have the key ingredients of fables in his stories : magic, animals who talk, gods and demons but the situations and occurrences in his stories are closer to real life than fantasy. The good does not always succeed, nice people get cut down fastest and selfishness almost always wins the day. This is not to say that the stories are not enjoyable, they are little gems of the writing craft and quite beautiful in terms of the language.

Oscar Wilde is rather unmatched in his description of beauty. Descriptions of nature and of human beings are stunningly evocative and made me yearn for more of it. There is this story of ‘The nightingale and the rose’ which talks about the ultimate futility of sacrifice and the irony of being in love, where at the start of the tale itself you sense that things won’t go right for the poor nightingale making the ultimate sacrifice. The sense of irony in these stories are as sharp as knives. A prime example for this is ‘The Star Child’ where almost everything seems to be going well when in the last one sentence, Wilde turns the whole story on it is head. The story of the happy prince is heartbreakingly beautiful and so is the one of the selfish giant. They filled me with awe and the all-encompassing power of having a gentleness to one’s behavior to fellow beings. The descriptions of lands from far away as told in ‘The fisherman and his soul’ are perhaps the finest descriptions of cultures and people of lands that never will be in existence.

To say that Oscar Wilde is brilliant is laughingly absurd and yet this is a must read for anyone who ever wants to know what a really brilliant fairy tale feels like.
...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Angela rated it it was amazing

"The Selfish Giant" and "The Happiest Prince" are some of the best stories ever written. Poor, tortured Oscar Wilde--how did he turn out such beautiful stuff??? A beautiful soul in a tormented body perhaps. I love these stories--everyone should read them multiple times.

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Dec 20, 2015 Sophie VERStand rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: klassiker

Bisher habe ich mich ja erfolgreich um Oscar Wildes Werke herummanövriert, dabei fiel mein Interesse schon recht früh auf seine Geschichten. Der "Dorian Gray" ist leider nach wie vor ungelesen, kam mir aber als stilistische Adonis-Narziss-Mischung bereits in Aufsätzen vor.
Wildes "Märchen" sind öfter eher Parabeln, Fabeln und traurige Kurzgeschichten mit märchenhaften Elementen. Die Metaphern sind angepasst-überbordernd, manchmal arg kitschig, aber trotzdem treffend und passend für diese merkwürd ...more

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Aug 28, 2007 Heidi rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: sensitive souls

It's sometimes hard to read--you can almost see Oscar Wilde mentally beating himself up while he's writing some of these stories, particularly when he writes about beauty. He wrote some of these while in prison, after all. But they're beautiful stories, and my favorite has always been The Happy Prince. Never fails to make me cry.

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Mar 21, 2018 Bookish Indulgenges with b00k r3vi3ws rated it really liked it

I was swept away to the lands where the stories are set. And I enjoyed every moment of it.
The stories are simple fairy tales, probably meant for kids... but as an adult I found them very engaging and thought provoking.
There is a charm in the words of the authors that is just irresistible.

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Jul 26, 2009 PurplyCookie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-books, classics, fairy-tale, fantasy

This collection comprises both the Happy Prince compilation and the House of Pomegranates compilation of Oscar Wilde's short stories. I suppose this wonderful collection has been buried so long because of Wilde's sexual orientation. That's so sad because it means that millions of children growing up over the past several decades have missed experiencing these tales. I'm glad to see that the collection is back in print and have finally found it in my local bookstore.

The "Complete Fairy Tales of O ...more

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Feb 05, 2010 David Edmonds rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2010

I'll admit up front that I've never read anything by Oscar Wilde before now, and I think that I'm sorry that I've waited this long. I thoroughly enjoyed his fairy tales, and even found myself underlining multiple passages in the book for future reference. I felt that his insight into life and love and all the joy and troubles that come with both was quite remarkable and still very relevant for our time, even though these stories were written over 100 years ago. I'm sure that if I were more verse I'll admit up front that I've never read anything by Oscar Wilde before now, and I think that I'm sorry that I've waited this long. I thoroughly enjoyed his fairy tales, and even found myself underlining multiple passages in the book for future reference. I felt that his insight into life and love and all the joy and troubles that come with both was quite remarkable and still very relevant for our time, even though these stories were written over 100 years ago. I'm sure that if I were more versed in fairy tales and folklore as a whole I might see more relations between his stories and those that came before, but taking these for what they are I enjoyed them immensely. The particular volume that I have contains both of Wilde's collections, The Happy Prince and Other Tales and A House of Pomegranates, in one volume, and I while I enjoyed all the stories, I found that I did enjoy the stories that were from The Happy Prince and Other Tales slightly more.

The stories contained in The Happy Prince and Other Tales are "The Happy Prince", "The Nightingale and the Rose" (my favorite), "The Selfish Giant", "The Devoted Friend" (probable my next favorite), and "The Remarkable Rocket". A House of Pomegranates contains "The Young King", "The Birthday of the Infanta", "The Fisherman and His Soul" (a unique reworking of "The Little Mermaid"), and "The Star-Child" (another unique reworking of "Beauty and the Beast").

The stories can easily be enjoyed just as much by adults as by children, and I think that adults as a whole may actually get more out the stories than children. The tales deal broadly with love and individualism and being true to your self even when others may look down on you. The views of love are both in and out of favor of it, and my favorite passage from the book deals with Love and how it can lead one astray: "What a silly thing Love is. 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 going to happen, and making one believe things that are not true. In fact, it is quite impractical..." Like I said, the insights that Wilde has on love and life are quite remarkable and I found them very relevant for my life right now. I would highly recommend this book to anyone. ...more

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Aug 27, 2009 Doug rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, young-adult

What I learned:
I have been in a fit of deliberation as to how I would rate these tales. I am ashamed to say that I first wanted to give this five stars for the mere magnificence of the author. I say ashamed because ever since the preface of The Picture of Dorian Gray, I have shared a belief that, although an artist cannot ever create a piece of art without putting his or her self into it, each piece of art can and should only ever be criticized for the ideas it has been loaned. I have thankfully What I learned:
I have been in a fit of deliberation as to how I would rate these tales. I am ashamed to say that I first wanted to give this five stars for the mere magnificence of the author. I say ashamed because ever since the preface of The Picture of Dorian Gray, I have shared a belief that, although an artist cannot ever create a piece of art without putting his or her self into it, each piece of art can and should only ever be criticized for the ideas it has been loaned. I have thankfully decided it would be the greater honour to Mr. Wilde that I agree with his audience-artist integrity and appraise the art for the art's sake (get it?! because the aesthetic motto is art for art's sake! hohoho.)

Now that the disclaimer is over: this collection surprised the hell out of me. Oscar Wilde is known for his beautiful language, and so I had expected him to be in his element with tales of make-believe, but I did not think I would be able to enjoy as many of these as I did and I'll explain why next paragraph. In addition to the style of writing, there are near-paraphrases in the tales where I would see... the same way that Lord Henry threw his head back on a couch in chapter one of Dorian gray, or the same scene of gaunt trees as one of Wilde's poignant poems. I had to just smile to myself and move on before I ended up losing my place and trying to find a deeper significance. Every lover of the Wilde style should read these.

The thing that stops me from five, though: I don't really like short stories. I had an entire class on the American short story, and I've had to read even more than that because my friend/professor of five of my classes is obsessed with them. The only difference between a short story and a fairy tale, aside from the language, obviously,--usually--is the purpose. While I do, and I think everone else does as well, enjoy that instant gratification of my achievement which accompanies instantly understanding the purpose/significance of what I was reading, I miss the depth of character development and having to work for my conflicts. ...more

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May 18, 2018 Summer rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, classics

If you know me, you know I love Wilde. In fact, his wit, writing, humor, and being prone to dramatics establish him as one of my favorite authors. Most of the stories in this anthology enchanted me; others were unforgivably boring (ahem I'm looking at you, The Fisherman and His Soul.)

I bet Wilde is rolling in his grave because I called one of his stories boring. Oops.

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Sep 03, 2010 Petra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I enjoyed these tales. Each is a credit to the wonderful and dark mind of Oscar Wilde. Although each tale is "typical" in the fairy tale style, Oscar Wilde has added his particular style and flair to them. Slightly off the norm, with a twist of dark.

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Jul 31, 2016 Christina Rothfusz rated it really liked it

I'm a sucker for fairy tales. New fairy tales, never heard before - double the pleasure.

Any author that can write "The Happy Prince" or the "The Selfish Giant" with as much feeling as any of he's famous poems demands respect.

By far my favourite was the Nightingale and the rose.

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Aug 15, 2011 Emma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, fiction

Love love love! Very, very depressing though. It you want a cute story, don't turn to this. The cutest sounding one in the book is "The Nightingale and the Rose", and guess what: The Nightingale ends up dieing in the end. Such good stories, but be prepared.

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Feb 25, 2012 La rated it it was amazing

Best fairy tales ever...just perfect and thoughtful and glorious and irreverent and sad and clever.

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Jul 06, 2012 C rated it it was amazing

My very favorite is "The Happy Prince". Such love and compassion!

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Dec 21, 2017 Trí Trần rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Chọn cuốn này để đọc vào cuối năm là quá chuẩn luôn. Nhẹ nhàng và rất sâu sắc.

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Jun 26, 2018 Giuliana Gramani rated it liked it · review of another edition

Embora algumas histórias deixem transparecer a ironia e o sarcasmo que tanto amamos em Oscar Wilde, algumas chegam a ser irreconhecíveis de tanto que enfocam nos bons valores e na moral da história.

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Apr 07, 2018 Marko Bađun rated it really liked it

The Young King - 4
The Birthday of the Infanta - 4
The Fisherman and his Soul - 3
The Star-Child - 5

The Happy Prince - 5
The Nightingale and the Rose - 4
The Selfish Giant - 4
The Devoted Friend - 3
The Remarkable Rocket - 3

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Jan 16, 2012 Kelly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

“Oscar Wilde offended Victorian society by producing works of social mockery, aside from living a scandalous life. Although Wilde's fairy tales were intended for a young audience, they contain social overtones that most children would not understand, but that are meant to project a higher social ethic upon later generations. The criticism of the Victorian society in Wilde's fairy tales is apparent in the parallels between the situations he imagines and real-life situations, and also in the high “Oscar Wilde offended Victorian society by producing works of social mockery, aside from living a scandalous life. Although Wilde's fairy tales were intended for a young audience, they contain social overtones that most children would not understand, but that are meant to project a higher social ethic upon later generations. The criticism of the Victorian society in Wilde's fairy tales is apparent in the parallels between the situations he imagines and real-life situations, and also in the high moral standards that Wilde holds up by contrasting the bad behavior with the good.

Instead of beginning his works with a conflict and ending with a resolution, Wilde builds up the conflict without offering a resolution, and unlike most fairy tales, his do not have "happily ever after" endings. The lack of resolution causes the reader to finish the work feeling unfulfilled and dissatisfied with the lack of positive outcome, just as Wilde was dissatisfied with the lack of improvement in his so-called "progressive" Victorian society.

The perspective that Wilde conveys in his fairy tales is that society, in general, does not progress. The "paralyzing immobility of life" is directly associated with the exclusive social hierarchy in which people could not transcend their class nor could they be promoted.

Though it may seem odd that so many social criticisms were included in fairy tales meant for children, in many ways fairy tales are the best vehicle for criticism. The setting of fairy tales is often ambiguous, and therefore, can be likened to almost any place in real life. Fairy tales, being considered a work of fiction provided the author with a safer way to criticize society, rather than him just stating his criticisms directly. Though they were written in the nineteenth century, and in pertain to Victorian society, they are also adaptable to modern times. Also, fairy tales, being meant for a younger audience, are a practical way of instilling the moral values of the author in future generations. Wilde's fairy tales are, and have been, immensely popular, and they contain important messages about humanity, and the injustices of life. They provided a means of criticism that virtually no other form of literature could supply.”

[Excerpts taken from Zia Course’s essay “Oscar Wilde’s Fairy Tales: No one lived happily ever after.”]

...more

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May 17, 2012 Ana A rated it really liked it

1. The Happy Prince ★★★★★
12/28/15: It was lovely! Heartwarming, sad, yet still had some funny moments.

2. The Nightingale and the Rose ★★★★☆
1/2/16: What the heck. I can't believe the ending! (view spoiler) Ugh, I'm so irritated. But it's still mostly beautifully written, though.

3. The Selfish Giant ★★★★★
1/13/16: I was anticipating Wilde's ...more

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Mar 22, 2018 Sassafras Lowrey rated it liked it

I liked this book much more than I thought I would. I think that Wilde does some really interesting things with keeping a fairytale voice while telling new stories - heavy Christian themes, heavy handed morals a very interesting read

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Nov 17, 2017 Selenita rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Amo los cuentos de Wilde; algunos más que otros y en especial me molesta cuando se pasa con la moratina cristiana o si le da por escribir páginas aunque no haya nada que contar, pero en general tiene una prosa hermosa que hace que la lectura sea disfrutable en cualquier caso. Es poética y evocadora sin por ello ponerse rimbombante. Y la gran mayoría de sus historias contienen el balance justo de melancolía y crítica para revolverte por dentro y hacerte reflexionar. No son cuentos felices, son hi ...more

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Aug 21, 2017 Antonia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5 stars

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Oct 06, 2015 Maja Shinigami rated it it was amazing

Shelves: prose, favorites

Idealno nakon Metabaruna za vrijeme trudnoće.

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Apr 15, 2017 Kenneth rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Really enjoyed these stories.

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Jan 25, 2014 Tracey rated it liked it

Fluffy Mr Wilde very nicely written but sugar sweet.

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Jul 06, 2018 Ria rated it it was amazing

A charming compendium of tales that I would describe as some of the saddest fairy stories I have ever read.
I can openly cry at The happy prince, the Nightingale and the rose and the selfish giant.
Every one has a moralising aspect, pride, greed, lack of respect, the sin of thinking oneself greeter than you actually are, the mocking and putting down of others you perceive as beneath you either in looks or station in life, each is didactic and tries hard to tell the reader that if they have some of ...more

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Dec 06, 2018 Paula rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, children-s-books, fantasy, classics, short-stories, car-reading

These fairy tales have very strong moral lessons to teach, not only to children, but as a reminder to adults as well. Of course, the writing was superlative. I listened to the book in the car, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

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Never too Late to...: * 2017 September YA Classic: The Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde	37	28	Sep 29, 2017 07:19AM
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About Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde

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Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet, and author of numerous short stories, and one novel. Known for his biting wit, and a plentitude of aphorisms, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. Several of his plays continue to be widely performed, especially The Importance of Being ...more