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    The Canterville Ghost
    The Canterville Ghost
    The Canterville Ghost
    Ebook104 pages1 hour

    The Canterville Ghost

    By Oscar Wilde

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Oscar Wilde's spooky tale of a genteel English ghost clashing with a brash American family is endearing, hilarious, and perfect reading for all ages

    Canterville Chase possesses all of the trappings of a standard haunted country house—including large suits of armor and Gothic paneled library walls. However, it soon becomes difficult to ignore the spooky signs that "Sir Simon" is haunting the house—the usual Halloween fare of rattling chains and bloodstains. Surprisingly, and hilariously, the Otises, a modern American family, refuse to be scared; despite all of Sir Simon's best flamboyant efforts and costume changes: stain remover is deployed to clean bloodstains and oil is applied to clanking chains. Instead, the poor revenant is faced with practical jokes from the two young twins in the family—and seeks solace by befriending 15-year-old Virginia instead. Told from the unusual point of view of the ghost rather than the haunted party, it bears the trademark Wildean moral message but the message is carried lightly in this entertaining, amusing, and heart-warming Christmas story. Two other Wilde short stories are included: "The Sphinx Without a Secret" and "Lord Arthur Saville's Crime."

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHesperus Classics
    Release dateFeb 1, 2015
    ISBN9781780943626
    Author

    Oscar Wilde

    Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on the 16th October 1854 and died on the 30th November 1900. He was an Irish playwright, poet, and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. Several of his plays continue to be widely performed, especially The Importance of Being Earnest.

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    Reviews for The Canterville Ghost

    4/5

    608 ratings17 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Review from BadelyngeNo tour through the literary landscape of The Ghost Story would be complete without Oscar Wilde's clever little tale The Canterville Ghost. He turns the whole concept on its head with the ancient titular ghost, who has spent several centuries not paying for the sins of his life by blithely terrifying the old house's residents and visitors to death and insanity, being driven to his own wits end by the American family who bring their own blithe modernity to bear in dealing with him. The results are very funny; Wilde is justly famous for his wit and his command of satire. It's not just a comedy though. There are more serious themes at work, not least the chance for redemption. Wilde also can find time between the fun to show he can use lyricism to evoke pathos with equal mastery. This is one you can read more than once, because like good poetry it doesn't always give everything up with the first reading.
    • 4/5
      This was a quaint, short, and neat little tale by Wilde. I thought that it got to the purpose, the epitome, of the story in an efficient way. However, it did not have the same majesty of language that Wilde possessed with his other works and I felt that to be a lacking quality about it. Nevertheless, the ending was fulfilling and the developments that occurred during it were palatable. For a quick, swift, and short read (for those interested in Wilde), I recommend this one.3.5 stars.
    • 4/5
      It was great re - reading The Canterville Ghost. I've always loved this story and never get tired of Sir Simon and Canterville Chase. This is a perfect book to read when it's raining and there's a log fire in the hearth. Pleasant memories with this one.
    • 4/5
      Quick and fun! Poor old Simon! Those silly Americans can't even allow themselves to be haunted properly! what's a ghost to do? I read this in 4 installments through the Serial Reader App and really enjoyed it!
    • 4/5
      Picked this up on recommendation from another LTer and I'm so glad I did. It's charming ghost story about a ghost that can't quite figure out how to haunt the new American family that has come to his home — with many hilarious shenanigans that ensue. It's such a quick read and so much fun. A great book to recommend to young people as an introduction to the classics.
    • 4/5
      I had never read The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde before although I have seen the 1944 movie featuring Charles Laughton in the title role a few times. The written story has very little to do with the movie however. The movie, being filmed in 1944 was all about the war and bravery, whereas the book is written with Mr. Wilde’s tongue firmly in his cheek and has more to do with American sensibilities as compared to the English.This short, humorous story is about an American family that moves into an English manor house called Canterville Chase. They are warned about the presence of a ghost, but this does nothing to deter them. At first they notice a blood spot on the floor that the housekeeper informs them is the blood of Lady Canterville, cruelly murdered by her husband and that the blood stain has been there for hundreds of years. The eldest son soon takes care of that with his Pinkerton’s Champion Stain Remover. And although the ghost works hard at having that bloodstain reappear every morning, the Stain Remover takes it away just as quickly every day. Although the ghost does his best to frighten this family nothing seems to work and instead, Sir Simon, the ghost, is terrorized by the family’s twin boys. He eventually makes the acquaintance of the daughter of the family and at first she tries to interest him in moving to America where she is sure he would be appreciated, but the ghost is weary and wishes more than anything to sleep so she helps him find his eternal rest.The Canterville Ghost is a short, delightful tale that is far more amusing than scary. The author delivers a typical English haunted house, with a fearsome ghosts but then peoples the house with a practical, down to earth American family that refuse to be frightened. The ending was a little too sentimental but overall this is an imaginative, clever tale that was a lot of fun to read.
    • 5/5
      I fell in love with the TV adaptation of this story decades ago, but only recently went searching of the original story. Well, of course, the two are very different. Oscar Wilde's book is much more about the ghost's comeuppance, with a firm jab at American consumerism and involves a lot more children in the household. Those kids pranked Sir Simon so ruthlessly I felt sorry for him as I was giggling. Virginia's efforts to help the ghost move on hardly take up a chapter and there's nothing at all about what happens to her after she passes through that wall with Sir Simon. Of course I like the book better; but the TV adaptations have their charm too; they are almost equivalent to fan fiction, as they take the story between Virginia and Sir Simon further than Wilde did. I think this might be a fun one to read to my nieces next Halloween.
    • 5/5
      This story may be short, but it is highly amusing. I did not experience a single second of boredom when reading this. I felt so sorry for the poor ghost, having to deal with obnoxious Americans who refused to pay him the respect he deserved. This entertaining tale from Oscar Wilde is definitely worth reading!
    • 5/5
      Fabulous illustrations with hilarious story. Lisbeth Zwerger is a favorite illustrator of Carole Joy Seid. Boys ages 11 and 13 really enjoying the tale.Wish it was available in Hardcover!Ordered the DVD starring Patrick Stewart.
    • 5/5
      This story is terrible and exciting story! Lord Canterville's family lives in horrible house. There has been a ghost in the house for three hundred years. One day American family buys the house and ghost... Then many exciting things happen!!I think this book is not only horrible but also interesting and everyone will enjoy reading.
    • 4/5
      This is a story about one rich family and ghost.Mr.Otis is American person.And his family moved to England.Their new house was told that there was a ghose.But Mr.Otis's family didn't mind about that.So the ghost didn't satisfied about this.I know this book by textbook of reading class.This book is easy to read and interesting.So I like this book.
    • 3/5
      What a crazy folk Americans are.??!
    • 3/5
      I've read some of Wilde's other work, and in general I like it more than this; the first story, 'The Canterville Ghost', is kind of funny, making a comedy out of a ghost story, and some of it is genuinely funny. The second and third stories in this little collection, though, were more disappointing: 'Lord Arthur Savile's Crime' seems a pretty standard exercise in a story of self-fulfilling prophecy, and 'The Sphinx Without A Secret' was just kind of bloodless.

      Still, Wilde's writing is always good, which kept the mediocre level of plotting from being just boring. 'The Canterville Ghost' is the best of the three, I think.
    • 3/5
      a fun little classic snack to read. new world clashes with a ghost in England and handles it rather respectless until the girl feels sorry for the ghost.
    • 5/5
      Sir Simon is not the kind of ghost one might choose to haunt a mansion, being that he is rather a despicable ghost, having killed his wife. He carries on his nefarious deeds even as a ghost, enjoying his escapades in the terrorizing of the people he encounters. But his joy is cut short when an American family moves in and he comes upon twin boys who may actually be more scary than Sir Simon. Oscar Wilde has a way with words, and his stories never disappoint.
    • 3/5
      Oscar Wilde, the King of Satire.

      I don't want to give too much away because it is only a short story but essentially this story is about a ghost of a manor who just can't seem to scare the new American owners, who are totally unperturbed by his attempts to scare them.

      Oscar Wilde is the right amount of funny, smart and snarky for this sort of story. I found it super light and readable and felt pity for the poor Canterville Ghost, whose favourite past times include holding his head away from his body, making blood stains on the carpet and scaring the maids into mental institutions.

      A fun lil romp and something I would not have read if it weren't for Serial Reader. c:
    • 3/5
      Humorous story about a ghost that haunts an ancient mansion of Canterville Chase. The new occupants are undisturbed by the ghost's presence. A humorous take of the classic Gothic ghost story.

    Book preview

    The Canterville Ghost - Oscar Wilde

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