lybrarie's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is the first adult classic I ever read and I have it to thank for all the classics I have read since. I absolutely fell in love with this book the first time I read it, and several years later I still love it just as much. In fact, I'd even go as far to say that I love it more.
On my journey of reading classics I have come to be used to and even greatly enjoy the style of writing that typically comes with classics, and I have adored a lot of the classics I have read. But I always find myself comparing the love I have for whatever classic I have recently finished to my love for this book. It has been a real joy to come back to.
Since first reading this book, I have read some more of Oscar Wilde's writing and I truly do love it. Coming back to this book I really got to appreciate Wilde's writing and the beauty of it. This is a great book and I really recommend it to everyone. For me it was the perfect gateway into reading classics - it is short and pretty easy to read (as far as classics go), and I love the plot and the message of the book.
I originally only gave this book 4 stars, but now I am increasing it to 5. This book is not perfect, but since I rate off of overall enjoyment I still want to give this 5 stars.
On my journey of reading classics I have come to be used to and even greatly enjoy the style of writing that typically comes with classics, and I have adored a lot of the classics I have read. But I always find myself comparing the love I have for whatever classic I have recently finished to my love for this book. It has been a real joy to come back to.
Since first reading this book, I have read some more of Oscar Wilde's writing and I truly do love it. Coming back to this book I really got to appreciate Wilde's writing and the beauty of it. This is a great book and I really recommend it to everyone. For me it was the perfect gateway into reading classics - it is short and pretty easy to read (as far as classics go), and I love the plot and the message of the book.
I originally only gave this book 4 stars, but now I am increasing it to 5. This book is not perfect, but since I rate off of overall enjoyment I still want to give this 5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Antisemitism, and Racism
warlockdorian's review
challenging
dark
funny
informative
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
bxnnny's review
challenging
reflective
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
1.0
i found this book to be incredibly dull. the first 60 pages or so consist entirely of two introductions to the story, giving context for the political climate of the time this was published and the fact that so much of the original story was altered or removed. this is supposed to be the original, unaltered, more "graphic" version. but it wasn't graphic at all and was in fact quite a boring and dense letdown. i struggled to get through this because the writing was so dense, the monologues were long, and i just wasn't absorbing much of the information, mainly when lord henry would go on his long, misogynistic rants or the entire chapter in which about a decade of dorian's life passes. i truly have little clue what all was said in that chapter because it was just nonsense! long paragraphs of nonsense. the homosexuality was tame and mildly alluded to and nowhere near as graphic as it was made out to be and if i could travel back in time, i would simply tell everyone to grow up.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, and Antisemitism
blackberryjambaby's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Suicide, and Misogyny
Moderate: Xenophobia and Antisemitism
Minor: Racism
thetallestbird's review against another edition
dark
reflective
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
4.0
It's a slow start, but once it picks up it hooks ya! The prose, while gorgeous, did make for a bit of a slog at times. Overall, I'm glad I read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Classism, and Drug use
Moderate: Antisemitism, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Racism
sagelikesscats's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
I will definitely return to this book. Great writing, great characters, and an amazing ending. I did find that all of the rich people problems get annoying towards the end, but still a fantastic book about beauty, morality, and heathenism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Murder, Mental illness, Death, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Addiction, Classism, Drug use, and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual content, Classism, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Suicide
The classism is less of a thing that happens and more of a general presence throughout the book.kananineko's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.0
I loved this! Great classic. Probably one of the most digestible bc of its relatively short length. My only complaint would be that some sections dragged in the middle to me (all the super long descriptions of what Dorian was learning)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death, Gun violence, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Stalking, Classism, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, and Death of parent
thequeercaseofmarius's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
4.75
Dark, bewitching, and so very gay.
‘Why is your friendship so fateful to young men?’
In The Picture of Dorian Gray; Oscar Wilde crafts a narrative of Queer love, desire, vanity, and fear, embodied in a twink who wishes to remain young and beautiful forever. Wilde’s only novel is one that is both frighteningly fantastical, but also harrowingly personal. In Dorian we see the picture of the dark version of ourselves; the Hyde to our Jekyll, and it is his ability to transform with each reader that makes The Picture of Dorian Gray so enduring as a staple of Queer Literature, and one of the bestselling titles in Penguin’s Classics series.
Wilde’s writing and descriptions are breathtakingly beautiful, so much so that I would find myself rereading the same sentences over and over again. Wilde’s genius and intellect is also evident in the text, and his use of Queercoding through historical and art references is very clever.
Our main cast of characters are so very gay, and it’s crazy because it’s almost like Wilde met my gay friends and acquaintances and wrote a book about us (I like to think that I am Basil). But I also see each character as a different side to the Queer experience; Basil being the Queer artist who represents the beauty and tenderness of love between men, Lord Henry as the witty sass Queen that gay men are often viewed as from the outside, and Dorian represents Queer fears and anxieties that most of us have experienced some point in our life. The result is one of the most ingenious Queer horror stories ever written.
Our main cast of characters are so very gay, and it’s crazy because it’s almost like Wilde met my gay friends and acquaintances and wrote a book about us (I like to think that I am Basil). But I also see each character as a different side to the Queer experience; Basil being the Queer artist who represents the beauty and tenderness of love between men, Lord Henry as the witty sass Queen that gay men are often viewed as from the outside, and Dorian represents Queer fears and anxieties that most of us have experienced some point in our life. The result is one of the most ingenious Queer horror stories ever written.
The Picture of Dorian Gray should be a (not-so) straight five-stars, however it does contain some racism and anti-semitism that I can’t ignore. It is a book of it’s time, but I’m also aware of writers and people from Wilde’s time who tried their best at not being racist. I think it’s important to appreciate this novel for everything good about it, but also to recognise it’s faults rather than excuse them, so that we as the readers can grow as people.
‘Each man sees his own sin in Dorian Gray. What Dorian Gray’s sins are no one knows. He who finds them has brought them.’
-Oscar Wilde
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Violence, Body horror, Drug use, Murder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug abuse, and Death
Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicide, Antisemitism, Classism, and Racism
Minor: Misogyny and Sexism
This novel is VERY dark as it covers a lot of internalised homophobia and fear of your own Queerness.leniornot's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
ashybear02's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Misogyny
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism