This is a witty short story (a parody) about young lord Arthur Savile, who has his palm read by a chiromant at a party and then proceeds on blindly believing (and fulfilling) without a question the "dark fate" which awaits him.

For the first time lord Arthur is experiencing a hardship, though it is one of his own making (or imagining). Lord Arthur manages to convince himself that, for the sake of his precious innocent fianceé, he must do what is prescribed to him by destiny and kill somebody. And, as he is not selfish (or completely silly and delusional) at all in his decision, he won't choose somebody who he hates, but a distant relative for whom he has no ill feelings. What follows are a few failed attempts with several of his relatives and lastly the chiromant in the river Themes.

I would recommend this absurdist little tale on "fate", self-fulfilling prophecy, blind belief and so-called "common sense", and overall silly human behaviour to anybody who wants to explore more of Wilde's work. 3.5 stars