Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

41 reviews

hamarhemmo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Stalking, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Grief, and Dysphoria

Minor: Outing and Alcohol

jasperdotpdf's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i am. losing it. actively. WHAT THE FUCK

good book. v good prose. lord henry‘s opinions made me want to punch him in the face. incredibly gay subtext. the occasional completely unchallenged sexism & use of antisemetic stereotypes were bothersome. chapter 11 was pure torture. really funny at times & frequent slander of the british. absolutely iconic ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Antisemitism

Minor: Drug use and Stalking

velokei's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was beautiful, I adored its writing and it’s incredibly interesting takes on philosophical topics. So many great one liners! I loved Dorian’s development and the ending shocked me and left me feeling so curious for more. Oscar Wilde is an icon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Antisemitism, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Racism

Rip Dorian you would have loved the neighbourhood

feelinwitchy's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

obsessed obsessed obsessed obsessed

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Stalking, and Alcohol

cinthiaurora's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The real tragedy of The Picture of Dorian Gray is actually that the most boring character (Lord Henry) speaks throughout most of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Sexism, Violence, and Antisemitism

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicide, Stalking, and Gaslighting

madinhoa's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

rory_john14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Confinement, Racism, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

crisi_books's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

4/5 ⭐️

Oscar Wilde is wild and blatantly gay for writing this. The homoerotic undertones were severe and despite its vagueness, it’s honestly a wonder how this ever got published in 1890 with how obviously gay it is.

Is it bad to say I almost hated every character in this book, and yet still really enjoyed it? No? Okay.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a fascinating examination of vanity, greed, and all those things that just make you hate people. The prose is mystical and keeps that feel about it that most gothic novels have, which I’ve learned is difficult to read more than a paragraph of when you’re running on four hours of sleep and the sheer force of will.

I could hardly put this book down despite finding it a difficult to read, which says a lot on how gripping and compelling it is. If I put it down for a second it was all I could think about and so I had to pick it back up. Oscar Wilde has wormed his way into my brain and will probably stay there for a solid while.

A lot of the discussions about aestheticism and philosophy do come off as a little preachy (especially bc Henry Wotton can’t help but spew a paragraph about how lovely youth is and other shit every two pages), and there is sexist and misogynistic commentary, but overall it is thought provoking and intriguing.

Oh, Dorian. Poor Dorian. You dumb, dumb boy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Suicide, Violence, and Stalking

xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

4.25! I really enjoyed the concept of this book. Morality and ethics are interesting to explore. The first half of the book is so subtle and slow, so I wasn't expecting what happened in the second half. I hated all the characters but the development of events kept me hooked to see it through.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Stalking, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Suicide

ggcd1981's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

O Retrato de Dorian Gray (The Picture of Dorian Gray) por muito tempo foi um arrependimento meu da época da Universidade. Durante uma disciplina da graduação um dos livros indicados para leitura foi O Retrato de Dorian Gray, só que não o li e não sei realmente o porquê disso. Então no ano de 2021 decidi que iria corrigir essa falha e assim o fiz. Não deveria me surpreender, mas aconteceu mesmo assim, com a qualidade da escrita de Oscar Wilde. No primeiro capítulo já me encontrei embasbacada pelos diálogos, pela beleza e inteligência das frases escritas por Wilde. É uma pena que não tenho uma cópia física do livro (ouvi a versão em audiobook narrada por Russell Tovey) para poder citar algumas dessas frases elaboradas de forma brilhante. Escrevo este review em Janeiro de 2022 então posso dizer com propriedade que este foi o livro mais bem escrito que li em 2021. Os personagens foram fascinantes, o cenário bastante atmosférico e durante toda obra se tem o sentimento de tragédia iminente. Destaco todos os diálogos em que Lord Henry esteve envolvido. Henry era o agente de corrupção da narrativa e era tão hábil com as palavras que ele deturpava ideias e princípios de forma “melodiosa”. O Retrato de Dorian Gray é tão bem escrito que é mais fácil apontar os poucos pontos negativos que citar tudo que foi brilhante na obra. Esses pontos negativos foram poucos, o primeiro deles foi a Misoginia presente no texto, mas isso é esperado de uma obra escrita em 1890 sobre personagens de moral questionável; o segundo e último ponto negativo é o capítulo em que a coleção de belos itens que Dorian colecionou é detalhada, acredito que é o capítulo 11 (mas não tenho certeza). Se fala nesse capítulo sobre as paixões e interesses de Dorian ao longo dos anos e os itens que por esses interesses coletou. A descrição da coleção foi longa e detalhada, e sim passa a ideia do materialismo e paixão pelo “Belo” e pelas “Sensações” que vieram a caracterizar Dorian, mas a leitura demorada das descrições de objetos que quase durou o capítulo inteiro foi bem maçante. 

A obra teve diálogos fantásticos sobre beleza, paixões, arte e morais. O livro faz você pensar e, apesar de discordar de Lord Henry e Dorian em quase todas suas opiniões sobre os tópicos citados, consegui entender a lógica que guiava seus argumentos. O Retrato de Dorian Gray ainda me deixou com a questão de que a corrupção de Dorian, e este mesmo como agente de corrupção de outros jovens, esteve em foco durante todo o livro, mas o que dizer sobre Lord Henry que foi o gatilho e principal influência na corrupção do personagem principal? O personagem Lord Henry era em si mais corrupto que o próprio Dorian, porem parecia ser um voyeur que apreciava mais assistir ao processo de corrupção do que realizar ele mesmo atos condenados pelo seu meio. Teria sido fantástico ter lido este livro junto com outra pessoa pois existe muito material para discussão. Isso não foi possível, mas mesmo assim o livro me entreteve bastante e me fez pensar. Assim só posso dar 5 estrelas para esse livro que é merecidamente um clássico consagrado.     

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Suicide, and Stalking