The Critic as Artist
The Critic as Artist by Oscar Wilde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Critic as Artist is an essay written in the form of a dialogue between Ernest, who believes that criticism is easy, worthless and art-killing, and Gilbert, who is certain that criticism is a separate form of art. Gilbert states that being a critic can be (and normally is) more challenging than creating a masterpiece. Prior to reading this book, I had the same views as Ernest, but now I'm not so sure. Gilbert's reasoning seems logical, but nowadays the uniqueness of each individual and the importance of creation are exaggerated imensely, and thus the role of criticism is very much underestimated.
I will not praise Wilde on his style and talent, as this would be the most trivial thing to do, but I must say that I've never felt so dumb and uneducated as when reading this book. Wilde is definitely one of those authors who make one want to become better and wiser (even if only to fully understand his work). The book is gushing with allusions to literature, art and music of all times.
It is a must-read for every person with the slightest aspiration to do anything artistic with his life.
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