The Young King - 3/5
The Birthday of the Infanta - 2/5
The Fisherman and His Soul - 2/5
The Star Child - 5/5 ( )

The Young King ⭐⭐⭐
The Birthday of the Infanta ⭐⭐⭐
The Fisherman and His Soul ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Star-Child ⭐⭐⭐ ( )

I love Oscar Wilde, but this is a very strange little collection of tales. None of Wilde’s stories are unique in and of themselves, but they attempt to take a place among the tradition of folk and fairy tales with their use of traditional themes, imagery, and characters in a rather enjoyable way. Of the four tales I’m not sure if I truly enjoyed any of them, since they are all steeped in Victorian Christian ideals (was this book an attempt to insert himself back into overly moral society?), but I did enjoy his take on the legends of mermaids and selkies in “The Fisherman and his Soul.” The mermaid herself didn’t play as big a part as I would have liked, but at least the foolish fisherman got what he deserved and the priest changed his ideas by the end of the tale. I’m sure there are many parallels between Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of the Little Mermaid and Wilde’s story, but I’ll leave that to the academic writers. ( )

Huerto de granadas - El sacerdote y el acolito de Oscar Wilde
Calomino - La Plata - 1945

Huerto de Granadas:
Contenido del índice:
- El rey adolescente.
- El pescador y su alma.
- El natalicio de la infanta.
- El niño-astro.
El Sacerdote y el Acolito.

A House of Pomegranates is a collection of fairy stories written by Oscar Wilde that were originally published in 1891. There are four stories in this collection:

The Young King
The Birthday of the Infanta
The Fisherman and His Soul
The Star-Child

These stories were written for children and are, in fact, morality fables. One warns of the danger of vanity while another explores the complexities of one’s soul. We read of “The Young King” as he learns the value of spiritual over the material. By far, the strangest story was ‘The Birthday of the Infanta” which tries to teach us not to judge on appearances but was quite tragic. In all these stories Wilde stresses beauty of the soul over the artifice of good looks.

There was a certain amount of charm to these stories but like many Victorian tales they come across as rather preachy and are harsh in their judgments. Each story seemed to find a certain amount of joy in suffering and punishment. While I didn’t love this collection, I did enjoy experiencing Wilde’s wit and creativity. ( )