The first half of this book is tedious. Wilde's uses these long monologues to establish characterization which get a bit tiresome. But stick with it. I read the second half in 1 night because it was such a page turner. All the sin that the painting depicts of Dorian is never revealed but we get a sense of how the picture became so grotesque in the second half. I won't give it away but I assure you, if you can slog through the first half the second is that much more rewarding.

Share/Like this Review?

I thought I could handle overwhelming decadence and debauchery, but oh, was I wrong! Excellent read, though!

Share/Like this Review?

Dorian Grey is a dark and psychological look at a beautiful boy who goes very, very, bad.

Share/Like this Review?

This is one of my favorite books. The storyline is absolutely amazing and rings true in some aspects in today's world.

Share/Like this Review?

I've heard about this book for years and glad to have finally gotten to it. It left me with a variety of emotions: melancholy, a feeling of creepiness, a sense of vindication, much saddness, thoughtfulness,...

The entire story held moral dilemmas that are timeless. "Beauty above all else is nothing". "your actions will have consequences, maybe not immediately but they will occur." "How easily one can be influenced" or "Is one influenced or did someone bring out what is truly inside of you" And many more ideas flow through this book. But as relevant as they are in 1890's, they still stand true today.

It does have it's dull points. Chapter XI was misery and I skimmed it. Hopefully I didn't miss something! As well, the constant footnotes were distracting. (But that could just be that I'm easily distracted)

The final 1/3 of the book was by far my favorite and I would like to hope that the wheels in my head will keep turning, and I will continue to think about the concepts it brought up.

Share/Like this Review?

Although I have seen various movie versions of this including the 1945 classic, I had neglected reading the book until now. I remember also enjoying the Showtime TV series Penny Dreadful which included Dorian Gray as one of the key characters.

So of course the story is quite familiar about a young man, Dorian, who is the subject of a painting by Basil Hallward. The artist and his friend, Lord Henry Wotton, are stricken with Dorian's beauty. Dorian meets Sir Henry who gives Dorian a view on life in that the only things worth pursuing are beauty and pleasure. Dorian realizes that his beauty will fade as he grows older and expresses a desire that the painting age instead of him. Well he gets his wish and his life becomes a series of debaucheries which show up in the changes to the painting while Dorian remains ageless. At one point, Lord Henry gives Dorian a scandalous French novel which inspires Dorian to perform every form of vice he can. (The title of the book is not given but at Wilde's trial he admitted that he had Joris-Karl Huysman's A Rebours or Against the Grain in mind.) Early in the story, Dorian falls in love with an actress but when he later rejects her, she commits suicide. Her brother vows revenge but doesn't know Dorian's real name. As the novel progresses, Dorian gets more vile and his picture gets uglier until the climax of the story that is still quite shocking.

I enjoyed the dark nature of the book and I probably should read more of Wilde. The book was used in Wilde's trial where he was accused of "gross indecency with other men" and there is definitely a thread of homoeroticism running through the narrative but it is pretty mild by today's standards.

Share/Like this Review?

I just finished reading this book and I have to say it is not as good as I had anticipated. I am glad to have read it, but it is definitely dull in some parts. The main characters are so vain and shallow I could not work up any feeling for them at all. This is a classic, which is why I read it, but it just did not do anything for me.

Share/Like this Review?

I love the story, though I take some issue with the way Wilde presents it. There are almost entire chapters that could be stricken from the book without affecting the story at all. The bits where Wilde starts pontificating, or writing out "witty dialogue," are sleepers. However, as a previous reviewer mentioned, the second half of the book is very good. Skim the first half if you have to; the last bit is worth it.

Share/Like this Review?