This was just one of those weeks. Thanksgiving break is just out of reach, the semester is winding down (meaning we all have about three times as much work as we usually do), and we just can’t wait to immerse ourselves in a five-day food coma. So I needed a very specific kind of book to get me through the week – something fun, comfortable and, most importantly, something short. So I opted for a re-read for this week’s selection – Oscar Wilde’s classic The Importance of Being Earnest.
If you don’t know a lot about Oscar Wilde, he’s one of the most interesting authors and people in general. You may think of him as someone whose work belongs in a high school classroom, I think his double entendres and pithy dialogue make Earnest much more enjoyable than most stuffy old English novels. His clever yet silly personality shines through in Earnest as he pulls his characters through a series of very funny misunderstandings. If you’ve taken a British literature class in high school or college you’ve probably already read Earnest, but I think it definitely deserves a re-read! I’ll admit, there were a lot of very clever jokes that went straight over my head the first time around.
And of course, for those HCers with little time to spare, there is a super-hilarious film adaptation of the play starring Colin Firth and Reese Witherspoon! Definitely worth a viewing.