Wilde, Oscar Fingall O’Flahertie Wills. [De profundis.] [**]$1.25. Putnam.
A masterpiece of literary expression penned by Oscar Wilde during his detention in Reading jail, and the last prose he ever wrote. Into it he has put his bitterness in his downfall, his misery in the first two months of prison discipline, and the final triumph of a chastened spirit, a conviction that “there is not a single degradation of the body which I must not try to make into a spiritualizing of the soul.”
“He has added to our literature a work which from its intrinsic value is sure to command the attention of thinking men, from its style the admiration of literary artists, from the tragedy of which it records a part the pity of human hearts.”
| + + + | Ath. 1905, 1: 397. Ap. 1. 1070w. |
“The essay has ... great literary charm, and possesses unquestioned authenticity as a contribution toward the comprehension of the abnormal and in many ways inexplicable psychology of its author.”
| + + | Dial. 38: 359. My. 16, ‘05. 330w. |
“‘De profundis’ is one of the orchids of literature. As a self-revelation, for it is sincere even in its manifestation of his fundamental insincerity, this little book ranks with the ‘Confessions of Rousseau’ and the ‘Journal of Amiel.’ Both from its style and as a study in abnormal psychology ‘De profundis’ is one of the most noteworthy and interesting books that have appeared for a long time.”
| + + | Ind. 58: 842. Ap. 13, ‘05. 920w. |
[*] “Is one of the saddest, most terrible, yet most fascinating books of recent times.”
| + | Ind. 59: 1161. N. 16, ‘05. 30w. |