Name: The Decay of Lying
ISBN: 9780141192659

Oscar Wilde

Calling on diverse examples from Ancient Greek sculpture to contemporary paintings, this title creates a witty, paradoxical world in which the only art worth loving is that built on complete untruths.

And Other Essays

The Decay of Lying

In the library of a country house, Vivian writes an article about the importance of lying until he is interrupted by Cyril, who tries to tempt him away. Instead the two men are plunged into a discussion about art, nature, literature, and imagination. Set in the form of a witty dialogue between two speakers, this is an in-depth exploration of the relationship between life and art, as well as an examination of the work of such writers as Shakespeare and Balzac.

An Observation

Lucía RG

"The object of Art is not simple truth but complex beauty".

Lovely writing as always! And such an interesting debate on art, life and nature. At this point, I think that Oscar Wilde could convince me of anything he wanted to. 
Once again, I wish I could rate 4,5 stars.

'Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life' The two works brought together here, 'The Decay of Lying' and 'The Critic as Artist', are Oscar Wilde's wittiest and most profound writings on aesthetics, in which he proposes that criticism is the highest form of creation and that lying, the telling of a beautiful untruth, is the ultimate aim of art. One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.

The Decay of Lying And Other Essays

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