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A review by jonscott9
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
5.0
This book comprises a believable tragedy of errors. A dialogue lover's dream, Dorian Gray is packed with Uzi-style exchanges between English debutantes of the late 1800s. The Wilde Thing's style is crisp and upbeat, just as fresh 115 years later as it was in the days when he penned it.
This is the ultimate read for studying human self-absorption, depravity and the lengths that one will go to save one's reputation or, perhaps better put, to simply save one's face. Witness what a difference one chance encounter, one wee conversation in a wee garden, has on the impressionable, fresh-faced Dorian Gray when he encounters Lord Henry Wotton, a crony of Basil Hallward, the painter whose most inspired, best work is a detailed portrait of Dorian, his friend who serves as the muse for his art.
This book begs the question, What is more important: beauty or goodness? What wonders and horrors await the youth (and the reader) when a whimsical prayer for eternal youth becomes the curse that may eat him in the end. This book is a brilliant study in the glaring differences between the pleasures that one seeks and the treasures that one needs. It is rich in language and scope, abounding in supernatural intrigue, and ripe with the verbal volleying among three striking characters--Dorian Gray, Lord Henry and Basil Hallward. Dorian Gray is simply a delight of an observation, if an intensely cruel one.
The embattled author was near-perfect with this book. It really just has to be read.
This is the ultimate read for studying human self-absorption, depravity and the lengths that one will go to save one's reputation or, perhaps better put, to simply save one's face. Witness what a difference one chance encounter, one wee conversation in a wee garden, has on the impressionable, fresh-faced Dorian Gray when he encounters Lord Henry Wotton, a crony of Basil Hallward, the painter whose most inspired, best work is a detailed portrait of Dorian, his friend who serves as the muse for his art.
This book begs the question, What is more important: beauty or goodness? What wonders and horrors await the youth (and the reader) when a whimsical prayer for eternal youth becomes the curse that may eat him in the end. This book is a brilliant study in the glaring differences between the pleasures that one seeks and the treasures that one needs. It is rich in language and scope, abounding in supernatural intrigue, and ripe with the verbal volleying among three striking characters--Dorian Gray, Lord Henry and Basil Hallward. Dorian Gray is simply a delight of an observation, if an intensely cruel one.
The embattled author was near-perfect with this book. It really just has to be read.