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A review by vivian_m_anderson
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
reflective
5.0
truly a triumph of a novel. it is just the perfect length; not so long that it drags on, but just long enough to watch the infection of dorian gray's "pure" soul. deep and profound, with insightful takes on a myriad of subjects, but still witty and at times perfectly clear. we all know i have an obsession with beauty, and thus i found the central theme of beauty absolutely fascinating in this novel. oh, and not to mention its wonderfully and obviously homoerotic. next doppelganger story on my list: the double by dostoevsky!
quote to highlight (though there were many amazing ones): "There was a horrible fascination in them all. He saw them at night, and they troubled his imagination in the day. The Renaissance knew of strange manners of poisoning—poisoning by a helmet and a lighted torch, by an embroidered glove and a jewelled fan, by a gilded pomander and by an amber chain. Dorian Gray had been poisoned by a book. There were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his conception of the beautiful."
quote to highlight (though there were many amazing ones): "There was a horrible fascination in them all. He saw them at night, and they troubled his imagination in the day. The Renaissance knew of strange manners of poisoning—poisoning by a helmet and a lighted torch, by an embroidered glove and a jewelled fan, by a gilded pomander and by an amber chain. Dorian Gray had been poisoned by a book. There were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his conception of the beautiful."