Reader's Diary #1027- Oscar Wilde: The Selfish Giant

The Selfish Giant's cousin, the Envious Giant

Yesterday I read an article by Brian Galindo called "11 Literary Giants Who Have Penned Delightful Children's Books." I wasn't terribly surprised to find Oscar Wilde on the list, though I didn't know he'd had a couple sons of his own. It certainly didn't seem to fit with the bohemian lifestyle I believed him to have led. Then again, I realized, I didn't really know much about his personal life.

So, in honour of this unexpected father, I decided that today's short story would belong to Oscar Wilde. One of the five stories in The Happy Prince and Other Tales, "The Selfish Giant" is about a giant who drives children away from his garden only to discover that in doing so he has also banished the spring and summer.

Trying not to give away the ending too much, I hope it suffices to say that there's a twist. Unlike most twist endings in which the story seems to depend on it, I actually felt this twist was unnecessary and a little over the top, especially as I'd been thinking the story was charming up to that point. The ending did, however, offer another surprise about Wilde himself as I'd not pegged him as a religious sort.

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