A review by dany_casimiro
Intentions: The Decay of Lying, Pen, Pencil and Poison, the Critic as Artist, the Truth of Masks by Oscar Wilde, Percival 1869-1911 Pollard

4.0

As said by Wilde himself right at the beginning of this book “thinking is the most unhealthy thing in the world, and people die of it just as they die of any other disease”. In his paradoxical, puzzling way, he then starts to reflect on matters such as Beauty, Nature, and Art – quite the unexpected follow-up, as he himself has just apparently criticized the act/state of thinking. If this little detail does not sum up a bit of what he was as a writer and as a person, nothing else will. It is in his own name – bewildering – and his texts, beautiful works of art themselves, are eternal proof of that. Intentions consists of a collection of essays on topics around art, literature, criticism, and society. Once again, each sentence is a dignification of the Art which he endorsed above else – “Art has no other aim but her own perfection”. They show this writer at the best of his capabilities: educated, easy-going, and especially witty. But, above all, they show how perceptive he was, as a lot of his thoughts can still be applied to our present century.