Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - The Picture of Dorian Gray

I don't know why I always assumed Dorian Gray was the top of this bad influence pyramid scheme, I'd not heard much about Lord Henry before reading. I thought I was gonna be turned off by the philosophical discussions, but it was just banger line after banger line whether or not it was an actually insane thing to say. Only one snooze fest chapter, where is was just 'heres the history of jewels and embroidery and shit'. Kinda miss when characters who symbolize something came with a name to match (Vane wants to kill Dorian, are you kidding me?).

Content Warnings

imjumokay's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark funny 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

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

katbotelho's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

this was a reread bc i originally read it when i was too young to comprehend its complexities.

i was also prompted to reread bc i heard recently that netflix is picking it up as a series and theyre going to absolutely butcher if. but that nonsense aside-

i found this much easier to understand and enjoy this time around. the first time i read it i found it difficult to understand how this was an lgbtq+ classic, but although there is no explicit instances of homosexuality (although basil’s confession is a pretty gay if you ask me) you kinda have to look at it through a queer theoretical lens in order to see and understand the queer/ homoerotic subtext.

though i have heard their is an ‘uncensored version’ which i would be interested in getting my hands on to see how it compares to this version

Content Warnings

lucyatoz's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

3.0

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is about a rich young man, who sits for an artist who paints his portrait. However, there is a curse attached to the painting and the sitter as the painting will age and the man will not!

This results in Dorian's life ultimately spinning out of control, leading to a suicide of a young woman, who is an actress, and the murder of the one man who could be called his only true friend.

The story sometimes felt like it was stuck in a loop, and although is wonderfully written and deserves it place as a classic in literature, it was a struggle for me to read with some chapters feeling out of place whilst others were deeply engaging and moved the narrative forward.

I borrowed a copy of this book from Taunton Library and listened to it on CloudLibrary. I read this for the 52 Book Club Summer Reading Challenge 2024, for prompt 23, Closing Ceremonies, author who hasn't released a book in the past four years.

Content Warnings