Book Review #89
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde
This is one of the most beautifully written and thought provoking books I have ever read. It is an examination of the pursuit of youth and beauty at the expense of losing one's soul and a thinly disguised examination of "the love that dare not speak its name." It is also a satiric look at the English upper class, as well as a Gothic horror tale of narcissism, betrayal, murder and the cursed relationship between a painting and its eternally handsome but ultimately doomed subject.
Wilde fills this, his only novel, with dozens of clever bon mots and well-known epigrams. Unfortunately, there are two chapters that frustratingly slow down the pacing of the story. One is a virtual litany of indulgences to which Dorian Gray is drawn. The other, to use two words often uttered by Lord Henry, Dorian's mentor, is a "tedious" and "tiresome" dinner party which only serves as a digression from the dramatic events immediately preceding it. Still, it is a wonderful read, adding to Oscar Wilde's reputation as not only an excellent playwright but also as a brilliantly witty and profound novelist.
by Oscar Wilde
This is one of the most beautifully written and thought provoking books I have ever read. It is an examination of the pursuit of youth and beauty at the expense of losing one's soul and a thinly disguised examination of "the love that dare not speak its name." It is also a satiric look at the English upper class, as well as a Gothic horror tale of narcissism, betrayal, murder and the cursed relationship between a painting and its eternally handsome but ultimately doomed subject.
Wilde fills this, his only novel, with dozens of clever bon mots and well-known epigrams. Unfortunately, there are two chapters that frustratingly slow down the pacing of the story. One is a virtual litany of indulgences to which Dorian Gray is drawn. The other, to use two words often uttered by Lord Henry, Dorian's mentor, is a "tedious" and "tiresome" dinner party which only serves as a digression from the dramatic events immediately preceding it. Still, it is a wonderful read, adding to Oscar Wilde's reputation as not only an excellent playwright but also as a brilliantly witty and profound novelist.
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