What do you think?
Rate this book
The Young King and Other Stories
[Penguin Active Reading Level 3]
Classic / British English Strange and wonderful things happen in t seven short stories. Oscar Wilde takes us into a world of kings and queens, mermaids and witches, giants and dwarfs, and talking animals. Exciting and amusing, happy and sad, these stories are for all ages.
Classic / British English Strange and wonderful things happen in t seven short stories. Oscar Wilde takes us into a world of kings and queens, mermaids and witches, giants and dwarfs, and talking animals. Exciting and amusing, happy and sad, these stories are for all ages.
- GenresShort StoriesClassics
Paperback
Published February 19, 2009
4 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Oscar Wilde
5,522 books38.9k followersOscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is best remembered for his epigrams and plays, his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and John Ruskin. After university, Wilde moved to London into fashionable cultural and social circles.
Wilde tried his hand at various literary activities: he wrote a play, published a book of poems, lectured in the United States and Canada on "The English Renaissance" in art and interior decoration, and then returned to London where he lectured on his American travels and wrote reviews for various periodicals. Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversational skill, Wilde became one of the best-known personalities of his day. At the turn of the 1890s, he refined his ideas about the supremacy of art in a series of dialogues and essays, and incorporated themes of decadence, duplicity, and beauty into what would be his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Wilde returned to drama, writing Salome (1891) in French while in Paris, but it was refused a licence for England due to an absolute prohibition on the portrayal of Biblical subjects on the English stage. Undiscouraged, Wilde produced four society comedies in the early 1890s, which made him one of the most successful playwrights of late-Victorian London.
At the height of his fame and success, while An Ideal Husband (1895) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) were still being performed in London, Wilde issued a civil writ against John Sholto Douglas, the 9th Marquess of Queensberry for criminal libel. The Marquess was the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to his own arrest and criminal prosecution for gross indecency with other males. The jury was unable to reach a verdict and so a retrial was ordered. In the second trial Wilde was convicted and sentenced to two years' hard labour, the maximum penalty, and was jailed from 1895 to 1897. During his last year in prison he wrote De Profundis (published posthumously in abridged form in 1905), a long letter that discusses his spiritual journey through his trials and is a dark counterpoint to his earlier philosophy of pleasure. On the day of his release, he caught the overnight steamer to France, never to return to Britain or Ireland. In France and Italy, he wrote his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 4, 2012
(Review of The Young King as part of the Complete Works of Oscar Wilde).
This is one of Wilde's handful of fairy tales - short and sweet. It tells the story of a young shepherd boy who is the illegitimate son of a king who has recently died. When he's taken to the palace to take the throne, he has three dreams, all of which reflect on the struggles of the poor. The young king wakes and decides to fashion his own robe, scepter, and crown.
This is one of Wilde's handful of fairy tales - short and sweet. It tells the story of a young shepherd boy who is the illegitimate son of a king who has recently died. When he's taken to the palace to take the throne, he has three dreams, all of which reflect on the struggles of the poor. The young king wakes and decides to fashion his own robe, scepter, and crown.
December 2, 2021
A wonderful adventure to the other side of imagination.
I did enjoyed reading the stories a lot, full of good manners and kindness. And it was indeed a marvelous adventures with words and thoughts.
I did enjoyed reading the stories a lot, full of good manners and kindness. And it was indeed a marvelous adventures with words and thoughts.
August 12, 2021
Read this as a teenager and my mother has just sent it packing to me as she cleans out her house!
December 19, 2015
absolutely brilliant little collection. I plan on reading more of Oscar Wilde's work now.
January 23, 2017
I've enjoyed reading these beautiful stories . I like his imagination and his romantic side
January 16, 2024
"The Nightingale and the rose" Un cuento nunca me había hecho llorar tanto por dios 😭
August 27, 2020
Bhadra 11, 2077, Thursday
The Young King and Other Stories - Sue Harmes (Retold by), Oscar Wilde (2000)
[Penguin Readers Pre-Intermediate (Level 3)]
Genres: EnglishGradedReaders/ Fiction/ Short Stories Collection/ Adaptation
Pages: 50
Rating: 2/10
Themes: Religion/ Repentance and Salvation/ Love/ Abuse of Power/ Kindness
Opener:
“The young king was alone in his beautiful room in the palace. He was only sixteen years old and he was wild-eyed, like an animal of the forest. The old king’s servants found him in the forest. At that time, the boy believed that he was the son of a poor forester. He was brought up by the forester. But now he knew that he was the child of the old king’s daughter.”
Summary:
Seven short stories that have various moral lessons from needing to be kind to others, that the soul and the body being indivisible, about repentance to the notion of power and money corrupting people.
Final Review:
Hardly any of the seven stories indulged me.
The Young King and Other Stories - Sue Harmes (Retold by), Oscar Wilde (2000)
[Penguin Readers Pre-Intermediate (Level 3)]
Genres: EnglishGradedReaders/ Fiction/ Short Stories Collection/ Adaptation
Pages: 50
Rating: 2/10
Themes: Religion/ Repentance and Salvation/ Love/ Abuse of Power/ Kindness
Opener:
“The young king was alone in his beautiful room in the palace. He was only sixteen years old and he was wild-eyed, like an animal of the forest. The old king’s servants found him in the forest. At that time, the boy believed that he was the son of a poor forester. He was brought up by the forester. But now he knew that he was the child of the old king’s daughter.”
Summary:
Seven short stories that have various moral lessons from needing to be kind to others, that the soul and the body being indivisible, about repentance to the notion of power and money corrupting people.
Final Review:
Hardly any of the seven stories indulged me.
December 30, 2021
Ni entendi ni mergas you nou hablar inglish
February 15, 2023
I loved most the happy prince
October 29, 2023
Definitivamente "The happy prince" y "The selfish giant" son mis favoritas, que joya de cuentos y más en su idioma original tienen una escencia hermosa.
June 3, 2013
-PENGUIN READERS,Level 3
-Time 5/29=10minutes 5/30=10minutes 5/31=10minutes 6/1=15minutes 6/2=15minutes
-7 words summary:king-birthday-dwarf-dance-angry-die-heart
-Discussion question
Q:What is your memory in your birthday?
A:When I was an elementary school student, my friends held my birthday pirty and celebrated me. Then, all of them gave me present, such as a cake, an album, and a sportswear. It was my great memory.
This book has seven short stories. Some of them are related to king, rich person. They had little difficult words, so I could not understand well. However, I knew the difference of thinking between rich people and general people (just in the case of this book).
-Time 5/29=10minutes 5/30=10minutes 5/31=10minutes 6/1=15minutes 6/2=15minutes
-7 words summary:king-birthday-dwarf-dance-angry-die-heart
-Discussion question
Q:What is your memory in your birthday?
A:When I was an elementary school student, my friends held my birthday pirty and celebrated me. Then, all of them gave me present, such as a cake, an album, and a sportswear. It was my great memory.
This book has seven short stories. Some of them are related to king, rich person. They had little difficult words, so I could not understand well. However, I knew the difference of thinking between rich people and general people (just in the case of this book).
September 6, 2020
'In war, answered the weaver, 'the strong make slaves of the weak, and in peace the rich make slaves of the poor. We must work to live, but they pay us so little that we die. We grow the corn, but we have no bread. We are slaves, ...
Oscar Wilde, The young king and other stories, Essex: Longman, new edition 1976, p 3.
Oscar Wilde, The young king and other stories, Essex: Longman, new edition 1976, p 3.
April 26, 2016
I'll certainly read it again
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews