A Minor Planet for You and Other Stories Book

3.5 stars for this satirical Victorian-era novella by Oscar Wilde. Young Lord Arthur, engaged to the lovely Sybil (interesting name choice, there!) goes to a posh party hosted by Lady Windermere, where one of the amusements is the eerily accurate fortune-telling by her pet palm reader, Mr. Podgers. Lord Arthur decides to take his turn:Lord Arthur smiled, and shook his head. 'I am not afraid,' he answered. 'Sybil knows me as well as I know her.'

'Ah! I am a little sorry to hear you say that. The proper basis for marriage is a mutual misunderstanding. No, I am not at all cynical, I have merely got experience, which, however, is very much the same thing.'Unfortunately, Podgers (on the hush) predicts an ominous future for Lord Arthur: he's going to murder a distant relative. Arthur decides to take fate by the hands and commit the murder sooner rather than later, so he can wash his hands of it and marry his sweet, beautiful fiancee without this burden on his soul. <--- This totally didn't make sense to me but you just have to roll with it.

But fate has its own plans for Lord Arthur.

I never was able to really buy into the nonsensical central premise, but I guess that's the beauty of this parody of the Gothic genre. Oscar Wilde's engaging wit and epigrams raise this story several notches, and the ending was a pleasant surprise.

Read online or download for free at Project Gutenberg.