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A review by bledoux
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
3.0
I could not have finished this book any quicker than I did.
I have decided, after reading a few of his plays and now his only novel, that Oscar Wilde is not an author that I like.
I wanna preface my thoughts with i understand that everything Wilde writes is a critic on his life and the society that he lives in, I understand that and can respect that.
With that being said I could not have cared any less about the characters in this book. I'm sure you all know the premise, a beautiful young boy is the muse of a famous enough painter and then said muse sells his soul to stay young and vibrant forever but then he learns the price of that deal and grapples with it and the horrors it brings. It's an interesting plot I have to admit.
Basil Hallward, the painter, deserves better. His fate was sad and not too surprising but nonetheless he didnt deserve it. Lord Henry is one of the most unlikable characters I have ever read, I know that is intentional, at least it has to be to justify Wilde's choices. Dorian Gray, well he lives up to his annoying image.
I don't have much to say about Wilde's writing style/tone/etc. other than did he not understand editing? I found myself being ruthlessly dragged across the pages of scenes that were longer than they should've been (or not even existed at all). I had to skip an entire chapter in the middle because if not I quite frankly would have DNFd the book right there. Maybe I'm too harsh. I'm very much a reader, and writer, that relies heavily on characters and characters I care about. What makes me want to finish or sometimes start a book are the characters but in this book I didn't care about them nor what they were up to. What Dorian does throughout the book makes sense for the type of person he is and becomes but I still couldn't find myself wanting to know what else he does. His spiral into demise is obvious and inevitable and I guess that can be something to look forward to reading, for some people.
The ending though I must admit is very satisfying and I almost gave it another star for it. Endings of books I have learned are important to me but this one couldn't tip the scale of annoyance I had throughout my reading experience.
I mainly finished this book because I wanted to use it in my queer book blog and boy do I have a lot of content to write about.
Maybe if I read this book a few years ago or perhaps when it was first published I would feel different. I can understand why it is considered a classic, I mean no one writes like Wilde (thankfully) so I understand why his writing and story telling holds up. Like I said before he is a master at taking the lives of the society he lives in and making them exaggerated to prove a point. I won't take that away from him but I don't see myself reading anything else from him.
I know this seems like I absolutely hated the book but I think it deserves to be smack in the middle of a rating.
Wasn't terrible, certianly wasn't amazing, it is simply okay.
I have decided, after reading a few of his plays and now his only novel, that Oscar Wilde is not an author that I like.
I wanna preface my thoughts with i understand that everything Wilde writes is a critic on his life and the society that he lives in, I understand that and can respect that.
With that being said I could not have cared any less about the characters in this book. I'm sure you all know the premise, a beautiful young boy is the muse of a famous enough painter and then said muse sells his soul to stay young and vibrant forever but then he learns the price of that deal and grapples with it and the horrors it brings. It's an interesting plot I have to admit.
Basil Hallward, the painter, deserves better. His fate was sad and not too surprising but nonetheless he didnt deserve it. Lord Henry is one of the most unlikable characters I have ever read, I know that is intentional, at least it has to be to justify Wilde's choices. Dorian Gray, well he lives up to his annoying image.
I don't have much to say about Wilde's writing style/tone/etc. other than did he not understand editing? I found myself being ruthlessly dragged across the pages of scenes that were longer than they should've been (or not even existed at all). I had to skip an entire chapter in the middle because if not I quite frankly would have DNFd the book right there. Maybe I'm too harsh. I'm very much a reader, and writer, that relies heavily on characters and characters I care about. What makes me want to finish or sometimes start a book are the characters but in this book I didn't care about them nor what they were up to. What Dorian does throughout the book makes sense for the type of person he is and becomes but I still couldn't find myself wanting to know what else he does. His spiral into demise is obvious and inevitable and I guess that can be something to look forward to reading, for some people.
The ending though I must admit is very satisfying and I almost gave it another star for it. Endings of books I have learned are important to me but this one couldn't tip the scale of annoyance I had throughout my reading experience.
I mainly finished this book because I wanted to use it in my queer book blog and boy do I have a lot of content to write about.
Maybe if I read this book a few years ago or perhaps when it was first published I would feel different. I can understand why it is considered a classic, I mean no one writes like Wilde (thankfully) so I understand why his writing and story telling holds up. Like I said before he is a master at taking the lives of the society he lives in and making them exaggerated to prove a point. I won't take that away from him but I don't see myself reading anything else from him.
I know this seems like I absolutely hated the book but I think it deserves to be smack in the middle of a rating.
Wasn't terrible, certianly wasn't amazing, it is simply okay.