Summer Reading Challenge: Book #7 - The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

After my last book, The Great Gastby, I wanted to read something silly. At the library I found an audio book recording of an actual performance of the play The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by Oscar Wilde, and it was the perfect follow-up read. If you haven't read this little play, you're missing out on what may be Oscar Wilde's best work. It's full of satire and wit and double entendres that are so fun to read. You can find free copies of this book at Amazon's Kindle store and other places online as well as the library, of course. If you want to also watch a cinematic adaptation, the 1952 Criterion Collection version is the best. Don't fall for the horrible 2002 adaptation. That film does not stay true to the timeless perfection of Wilde's brilliant lines.

My Rating: 5 out of 5  

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The play is about two men engaged to women who have been led to believe their beaus' names are Earnest (both women have expressed great fondness for the name); however, neither of the men's true names are Earnest. Add a baby buggy, an old handbag and a misplaced manuscript into the mix and you have a delightful comedy of mistaken identity. I almost felt like I cheated in my challenge because it took less than two hours to finish this book, but it is a great read so I'll count it. Maybe if I have time I'll read an extra book (I know, twist my arm right?).

FINISHED BOOKS:
#1 - The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
#2 - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
#3 - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
#4 - Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
#5 - Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
#6 - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
# 7 - The Importance of Being Ernest (a play) by Oscar Wilde

NEXT BOOK: # 8 - The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson