pimklasagna's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Antisemitism, and Sexism
zia_c's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved everything about this but I don't know where the lgbtq section was in the whole story. Maybe it was in thr one I skimmed through.
Don't care about others opinion of Henry (Harry) but he's my favourite character.
Don't care about others opinion of Henry (Harry) but he's my favourite character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Misogyny, Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexism, and Transphobia
anaveragedork's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide and Murder
genz_reads_classics's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-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
4.25
The book itself may not be special but holy CRAP those last 8 chapters had me shook.
First off, the characters are brilliant! (I’m sorry if I’m bad at analyzing character, that’s one of my main weaknesses. This book is very based in human thought and reasoning and i have trouble understanding those sorts of ideas. Which is why Harry is such a riot lmao)
Basil Hallward is probably the best one, he’s just so caring! Lord Harry sure loves talking and holy shit his thoughts on women are problematic..it’s so clear how his charm and cunning spread to Dorian and in turn corrupting everyone else Dorian ever met with. It’s so tragic how Alan and Sibyl ended up because of Dorian. James was also so compelling! His love and determination and the fact he DIED FROM SHOOTING AT A RABBIT OR SOMETHING AND DORIAN WAS HAPPY?!
I swear Dorian is the most eerie character I’ve ever seen. He was perfectly calm talking to Harry, as managed to influence him so horribly. especially the fact he was calm after killing Basil (which is a such a pretty name btw) aswell as his friends/lovers committing suicide and similar.
And the second Basil started giving good advice and care for Dorian he gets mad! Poor Basil gets a dozen stabs to the neck. And then gets referred to as « the thing » for the next several pages. Horrific.
The ending was very good. If the book has me giggling and kicking my feet like a little goblin it’s a good one!
First off, the characters are brilliant! (I’m sorry if I’m bad at analyzing character, that’s one of my main weaknesses. This book is very based in human thought and reasoning and i have trouble understanding those sorts of ideas. Which is why Harry is such a riot lmao)
Basil Hallward is probably the best one, he’s just so caring! Lord Harry sure loves talking and holy shit his thoughts on women are problematic..
I swear Dorian is the most eerie character I’ve ever seen. He was perfectly calm talking to Harry, as managed to influence him so horribly.
And the second Basil started giving good advice and care for Dorian he gets mad!
The ending was very good. If the book has me giggling and kicking my feet like a little goblin it’s a good one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Drug use, Suicide, Racism, and Stalking
remuslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
one of the best. books. ever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, Murder, Classism, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Suicide and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Infidelity, Blood, and Drug abuse
kim_lommaert's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Suicide
kmoyer07's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
river69rat's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
slow-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
3.0
Heard so many good things about this one but it just didn't hit for me unfortunately. None of the characters were particularly interesting and Henry was especially annoying with his contrarian sexist rants. Dorian Gray himself was just fine, but it felt as if he was just a corruption of Henry and the parts in Henry's PoV were just better. Shame as I wanted to love this book :/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Sexism
Moderate: Suicide
inoshiiro's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The Picture of Dorian Gray has always been on my TBR, and has been collecting dust since I purchased the Penguin Classics version sometime around 2020. This year, for an English course concerning literature in the fin de siècle, I was given the excuse to finally read the novel when it appeared in the course readings.
I think my reading was likely a bit coloured by the literary/societal concepts we were learning about alongside the texts. The mentions of degeneration, aesthetes, and cultural biases were jumping out at me when I read the text, highly influencing the way I approached its themes. I feel like if I read this novel earlier in my life, I would likely have had a very different viewpoint on it.
I think the themes of homosociality and queer sexualities are prominent, but I felt more drawn to the way the characters and its story embodied the prevailing ideas about degeneration, social-Darwinism, and the role of the arts.
As a femme reader as well, the attitudes towards women were of course, unappealing. I wasn't put off the story or anything--and I very well know that the attitudes are definitely a product of their time--but that didn't stop me from feeling baffled at Lord Henry's remarks about female intelligence, and sympathetic to the the OTT cruelty towards Sybil Vane .
Despite this, I did enjoy the book. The storyline was something I vaguely already knew about due to the plots prevalence in pop culture, and the fact that the book was recommended to me by an ex-highschool friend. However, the way the novel unfolded, as well as the more intimate details were unknown to me until I was actually sitting there and reading. I finished the thing in two sittings, well before we had to discuss it in class.
My rating of 3.75 stars can be concluded like this: The book was entertaining and I found myself looking forward to the plots progression. That being said, it is still a book about men and their morals, which isn't exactly my cup of tea. And the fact that I had to write a 2500 word comparative essay about it for class probably didn't boost my enjoyment either.
I think my reading was likely a bit coloured by the literary/societal concepts we were learning about alongside the texts. The mentions of degeneration, aesthetes, and cultural biases were jumping out at me when I read the text, highly influencing the way I approached its themes. I feel like if I read this novel earlier in my life, I would likely have had a very different viewpoint on it.
I think the themes of homosociality and queer sexualities are prominent, but I felt more drawn to the way the characters and its story embodied the prevailing ideas about degeneration, social-Darwinism, and the role of the arts.
As a femme reader as well, the attitudes towards women were of course, unappealing. I wasn't put off the story or anything--and I very well know that the attitudes are definitely a product of their time--but that didn't stop me from feeling baffled at
Despite this, I did enjoy the book. The storyline was something I vaguely already knew about due to the plots prevalence in pop culture, and the fact that the book was recommended to me by an ex-highschool friend. However, the way the novel unfolded, as well as the more intimate details were unknown to me until I was actually sitting there and reading. I finished the thing in two sittings, well before we had to discuss it in class.
My rating of 3.75 stars can be concluded like this: The book was entertaining and I found myself looking forward to the plots progression. That being said, it is still a book about men and their morals, which isn't exactly my cup of tea. And the fact that I had to write a 2500 word comparative essay about it for class probably didn't boost my enjoyment either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Drug use and Stalking
thirza's review against another edition
dark
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide and Murder