A review by athenian_frog
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

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).
Expand filter menu Content Warnings