"I have no desire to complain," says Wilde, as he complains for ninety pages. Admittedly, his complaints do seem to have serious justification. If everything happened as De Profundis indicates, then Alfred "Bosie" Douglas was a leech, a coward, and someone absolutely lacking in gratitude or sympathy for anyone in his life. He also appeared to have quite the temper, and frequent tantrums. Mostly he seems extraordinarily childish. If Wilde is to be believed (and I've got no reason to disbelieve him, but there are two sides to every story and we're only getting one here) then Douglas dropped him in the shit and then ran off and left Wilde to suffer conviction, prison, and bankruptcy alone.

He sounds absolutely nasty, a right little tosser, and I don't blame Wilde for being so bitter. Yet I've got to admit, I spent a lot of time thinking "You had plenty of chances to get shot of this brat, don't blame him for driving you to penury when you kept buying him expensive presents, knowing he was an ungrateful wastrel. And if he's bothering you when you're writing, lock the bloody door and tell him to sod off!" Wilde does, to marginal credit, take on some of the blame for this, but not very much. A great deal more is complaint.

Where Wilde does deserve credit, and lots of it, is his extremely compelling emotional journey, as he tries to come to terms with what his prison experiences mean for his life and for his faith. In many ways this is a profoundly religious text, one that takes Christ as an inspiration for not just surviving suffering and sorrow, but for transforming them into something redemptive. It's clear that Wilde is struggling to do this - the loss of his children is particularly devastating - but he is trying, and the glimmers of his success are enormously affecting.

This particular edition has very little background added to it. I'd have liked to have seen an afterword, something that explores contemporary reaction to the book (I believe it was published after Wilde's death?) And of course I'd love to know Douglas' reaction to this lengthy letter... though I can't help but believe that, if his character is painted here accurately, that reaction will be both temporary and superficial.