Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - El retrato de Dorian Gray

fuck lord henry all my homies hate lord henry. good on victoria for leaving that miserable POS. rich people should have their excesses seized. get a job. my copy of this book was old and withered and musty like dorian gray and his crusty ass. basil <3 bby you didnt deserve what you got <3

Content Warnings

athenian_frog's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

I loved the atmosphere as well as the SEVERAL footnotes clarifying all the LGBT references Oscar Wilde made for his time. The ones describing what publishers wanted to change were also hilarious, 90% of it was because Wilde was letting his characters act too gay lmao.

The book kinda lost me around the 70% mark, but I came back around to finish it. I think the page-long moments of people speaking were starting to get to me. Reminded me of Plato’s essays where Socrates will talk for a really long time, and I needed a bit of a break during that RIP.

I definitely recommend reading this, though. There are a lot of interesting things to be said about morality, the value of beauty, and how both can influence our perception (like the halo effect).

Content Warnings

winter_b's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I was expecting this book to mainly be a character study, so I somehow hadn't expected there to be as much plot as there was. Very engaging!

Content Warnings

kreglow's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

One of those books where I understand why it's a classic, but it just doesn't resonate with me. Mainly, the story would have been engaging if there was more focus on the plot rather than meandering and focusing on Wilde's philosophies. Honestly, this would have worked better as a stage play, something akin to Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest.

Content Warnings

lenorayoder's review against another edition

Go to review page

Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The plot and characters in this book are both really interesting. Dorian’s internal monologue and Henry’s creeping influence are both well done. Unfortunately, Wilde frequently goes on long tangents, often philosophical or referential in nature, that are a real chore to get through and don’t really feel like a part of the story. You don’t have to make your readers suffer to show that a character is insufferable.

If you are planning to read this book I recommend this edition, the notes were informative and provided details about what was censored or changed between the early versions of the novel. It felt worth it to read this once, but I suspect I would like a good adaptation better and will seek one out.

Content Warnings