Showing results for "Wild Fictions" in Education & Learning

A great collection of short stories based on the theme of love. Stories by famous writers including Katherine Mansfield and Oscar Wilde.

"Lord Arthur Savile's Crime" is a masterpiece of polished cynicism in which poison, explosive clocks, and finally murder forerun married bliss. Also included are: "The Canterville Ghost", "The Model Millionaire", "The Young King", "The Fisherman and His Soul", "The Happy Prince", "The Devoted Friend", and "The Portrait of Mr. W. H." These eight stories were produced in the heyday of Wilde's career.

The first four stories were first published as a collection in 1891. The final story, "The Portrait of Mr W. H.", originally published separately in 1889, was later added to an expanded collection. All the stories deal with personal relationships and their inevitable influence on the course of a person's life.

When men find gold in the frozen north of Canada, they need dogs – big, strong dogs to pull the sledges on the long journeys to and from the gold mines. Buck is stolen from his home in the south and sold as a sledge-dog. He has to learn a new way of life – how to work in harness, how to stay alive in the ice and the snow... and how to fight. Because when a dog falls down in a fight, he never gets up again.

Vera; or, The Nihilists is Oscar Wilde’s first play. It features Russian revolutionaries who seek to assassinate a reform-minded Emperor, and is loosely based on the life of Vera Zasulich who shot the Governor of St. Petersburg in 1878. Contemporary events in Russia, as published in the British press of the time, clearly influenced the plot and characters. The first public performance of Vera; or, The Nihilists was in New York City in 1883. The play was a failure and folded after one week. It remains fascinating as part of a study into the development of Wilde's work.

Lady Windermere's Fan is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde. Like many of Wilde's comedies, it bitingly satirizes the morals of Victorian society, particularly marriage. The story concerns Lady Windermere, who discovers that her husband may be having an affair with another woman. She confronts her husband but he instead invites the other woman, Mrs. Erlynne, to his wife's birthday ball. Angered by her husband's unfaithfulness, Lady Windermere leaves her husband for another lover. Or does she?

Passion and intrigue among the upper classes form the basis of Lady Windermere's Fan, Oscar Wilde's first successful play, which displays his trademark wit and wisdom. Beautiful and innocent Lady Windermere finds out that her husband has been keeping company with the scandalous and mysterious Mrs. Erlynne. Her discovery unleashes a host of tensions at her 21st birthday party, where London's elite have gathered to gossip.

"When we are happy, we are always good," says Lord Henry, "but when we are good, we are not always happy." Lord Henry’s lazy, clever words lead the young Dorian Gray into a world where it is better to be beautiful than to be good; a world where anything can be forgiven - even murder - if it can make people laugh at a dinner party. Oxford Bookworms Library reader for learners of English, adapted from the Oscar Wilde original by Jill Nevile.

This is one of the great recordings of a great play. John Gielgud stars as Earnest and Edith Evans gives her indomitable performance as Lady Bracknell in this classic radio recording from 1951.

Many consider "The Canterville Ghost" the most famous ghost story of all time. It is a parody featuring a dramatic spirit named Sir Simon and an American ambassador named Mr. Hiram B. Otis. Mr. Otis travels to England with his family and moves into a haunted castle. Lord Canterville, the previous owner of the castle, warns Mr. Otis that the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville has haunted the castle ever since he killed his wife, Eleonore, centuries ago.

Adapted from the classic story by Oscar Wilde.... There has been a ghost in the house for 300 years, and Lord Canterville’s family have had enough of it. So Lord Canterville sells his grand old house to an American family. Mr. Hiram B. Otis is happy to buy the house and the ghost - because of course Americans don’t believe in ghosts. The Canterville ghost has great plans to frighten the life out of the Otis family. But Americans don’t frighten easily....

Miss Lily's fabulous pink feather boa is the most wonderful thing the Last Potoroo has ever seen. When Miss Lily dances the tango, the Last Potoroo can't take her eyes off it. And when she wraps it around herself, she feels, for the first time in her life, that she can do anything and everything! Something so fabulous just has to be magic. With an original music score, this audiobook will captivate and delight youngsters.