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Earlier this year a friend and I started a book club. There are only six of us and we don’t always have everyone present at our get togethers, but we talk books and movies and work and life and we drink wine, always wine, and we eat yummy things.
Last month we read ‘The Picture Of Dorian Grey’ by Oscar Wilde. Except I didn’t finish it. Shhhh. I had a block. I started it while sitting in the car waiting for the clock to tick over before work and when the five pages I read in that time didn’t really grab me, I found it very hard to go back to it. And so I didn’t. And read five other books instead. Oops.
We did get together earlier this week though to watch the 1997 biopic ‘Wilde’, starring Stephen Fry. It was quite lovely and sad and funny. Mr Wilde was just ridiculously insightful and witty and clever and hilarious.
This quote appeared in the movie
Alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, may produce all the effects of drunkenness
And this afternoon I’ve been enjoying these also
A man can be happy with any woman, as long as he does not love her.
Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same.
I have nothing to declare except my genius.
I can resist everything except temptation.
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.
I visited his grave when I was in Paris a couple of years ago. It was covered in lipstick kisses. These are regularly removed from the headstone by maintenance staff I believe… only to be immediately replaced by more. I love this.
UPDATE: Oh no! Glad I visited when I did – no more lipstick kisses!
It All Started With Carbon Monoxide 
Such a fantastic post. I belong to two book groups. Tough going, but always makes me starter, I think. Love your Lipstick photo. Excellent.
Two! That’s awesome. Any recommendations?
And thanks for nice words.
Ha! So much for being “smarter”.
Favorite books of mine include Bel Canto, I Was Amelia Earhart, The Secret History, A Visit From The Goon Squad, Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, My Year Of Meats, Nice Work, Love Is A Mixtape, Juliet Naked, Strange Fits Of Passion, The Other Boleyn Girl, Bridge Of Sighs, The Road, Out Stealing Horses, Fingersmith…..
There’s always more, but those jump off the top of my head.
Have a great weekend!
I have likewise started some books and was unable to finish. I hate it when that happens because I feel inadequate to judge the quality of the book. Don’t worry, I won’t tell any of your book members that you couldn’t finish. haha.
Recommendations: I Know this much is true (Wally Smith), The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
Those books have stuck with me. Enjoy!
Hi Tiffany, thanks for stopping by! I have tried The Handmaid’s Tale TWICE now and just haven’t been able to get into it. Absolutely love Margaret Atwood’s Year Of The Flood and Oryx & Crake though so it seems to me it’s just that one I don’t like. Perhaps it’ll be third time lucky!
JUST read ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ this week! Loved it – such a weird, quirky, sad tale. I think I’ve read ‘Juliet Naked’ too but I can’t remember a single thing about it – am hopeless like that! Tried ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ but couldn’t get into it. The rest are new suggestions to me and I’ll be trolling my library next week to track them all down – love book recommendations, so thanks!
Oh – and I knew what you meant re smarter! It matters not.
Lovely honest post, Agnes. And great images. I’m a huge fan of Mr Wilde of course, though I admit that you have to be in the right head-space to read him. My favourite Wilde quotes? ‘There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.’ And ‘All art is quite useless’.
Love the ‘all art is quite useless’ comment too. He certainly didn’t take himself too seriously, did he?
Thanks for the kind words.
Books, books and music serve up all the best things in life.
Agreed! Thanks for stopping by FM.