Reviews

Портрет Дориана Грея by Oscar Wilde

floating_pebbles's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

djgarwood's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

queenofdyslexia's review against another edition

dark 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

3.5

I absolutely loved the first few chapters but of course, the characters became distasteful. I truly felt the love that Basil had for Dorien and the way this book wrote about that was wonderful. That part about the book was great, I also enjoyed the narcissistic side of Dorien, BUT Lord Henry was such an annoying character. Of course that was the point but still.  

julietreads's review against another edition

so boring goodbye

jellafon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.75

charlottelevack's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.75

luthienneslibrary's review against another edition

5.0

"Behind every exquisite thing, that existed there was something tragic".

The young protagonist Dorian Gray is obsessed with youth and beauty. After a famous painter has realised him on canvas, Dorian wishes that his portrait would age for him. Only too late does he realise that although his wish is coming true, his soul is becoming uglier and uglier.
Dorian's pursuit of beauty and pleasure leads to his moral decline, which highlights the consequences of human behaviour and the importance of ethical integrity.


Other themes of the book are
▫️Egoism.
▫️Narcissism.
▫️Misogyny (sometimes I sat there with my mouth open and was shocked at how much the elite of the time despised women).
▫️This book dealt with the eternal struggle between conscience and temptation.
▫️The story contains some references to the homosexuality of some of the protagonists, which was of course paraphrased as it was forbidden at the time. After publication, the work was heavily criticised and even became one of the pieces of trial evidence or speculation about the sexual orientation of the author, Oscar Wilde.

The moral of the story is: be careful what you wish for, it can be misinterpreted.

5/5 ⭐

audrey_azul's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.5

junojunejunie's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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

martesplan's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0