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The Picture of Dorian Gray
by
Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life; indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman inthe eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The novel was a succès de scandale and the bo
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Hardcover, Clothbound, 213 pages
Published
November 6th 2008
by Penguin Classics
(first published June 1890)
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Start your review of The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oh Dorian. Oh Dorian.
When I first read this book in the fruitless years of my youth I was excited, overwhelmed and a blank slate (as Dorian is, upon his first encounter with Lord Henry) easily molded, persuaded, influenced, etc.
Certain Wildisms (Wildeisms?) would take my breath away. Would become my mottos to believe in. To follow. To live.
Lines like:
"It is silly of you, for there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."
"But beauty, real ...more
When I first read this book in the fruitless years of my youth I was excited, overwhelmed and a blank slate (as Dorian is, upon his first encounter with Lord Henry) easily molded, persuaded, influenced, etc.
Certain Wildisms (Wildeisms?) would take my breath away. Would become my mottos to believe in. To follow. To live.
Lines like:
"It is silly of you, for there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."
"But beauty, real ...more
Arguably literature's greatest study of shallowness, vanity, casual cruelty and hedonistic selfishness, Wilde lays it down here with ABSOLUTE PERFECTION!! This was my first experience in reading Oscar Wilde and the man’s gift for prose and dialogue is magical. This story read somewhat like a dark, corrupted Jane Austen in that the writing was snappy and pleasant on the ear, but the feeling it left you with was one of hopelessness and despair.
The level of cynicism and societal disregard that ...more
"The sitter is merely the accident, the occasion. It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself. The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul."
And so begins this tale of art and sin.
I would highly recommend first watching the movie Wilde, a film which takes the audience on a journey through the life of the tormented writer, from the beginnings of h ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Facts that I know for sure:
1. I got this edition because I'm a slave to the aesthetics and that's exactly the kind of motive the ghost of Oscar Wilde would approve of
2. It’s safe to assume that no matter what I’m doing, at any given moment in time, at least 20% of my brain capacity is perpetually dedicated to making sure I’m clever enough, flamboyant enough, petty enough, gay enough, dramatic enough to earn the approval of the ghost of Oscar Wilde ...more
1. I got this edition because I'm a slave to the aesthetics and that's exactly the kind of motive the ghost of Oscar Wilde would approve of
2. It’s safe to assume that no matter what I’m doing, at any given moment in time, at least 20% of my brain capacity is perpetually dedicated to making sure I’m clever enough, flamboyant enough, petty enough, gay enough, dramatic enough to earn the approval of the ghost of Oscar Wilde ...more
instantly a new all time favorite
I finished reading this last night, and afterwards I spent an entire hour staring into space so I could contemplate over the majesty of this work. It left me speechless. This book is exquisite; it is an investigation into the human soul, the power of vanity and the problems of living a life with not a single consequence for your actions. It’s truly powerful stuff.
It begins with a simple realisation, and perhaps an obvious one. But, for Dorian it is completely life changing. He realises that bea ...more
It begins with a simple realisation, and perhaps an obvious one. But, for Dorian it is completely life changing. He realises that bea ...more
Some of u have never damned ur soul to remain forever young and it shows
2021 - I re-read this for university and loved it even more the second time round... Lord Henry is a paradigmatic sophist and his epigrams are delightful (partly because it's easy to forget that he is more rhetoric than truth). The connection between youthful appearance and character is also so fascinating, especially since Wilde is writing at the end of the century where physiognomy is an outdated science. What does it mean to be young? And can innocence ever be restored?
2017 - If you haven't a ...more
2017 - If you haven't a ...more
Feb 06, 2014
Barry Pierce
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
19th-century,
read-in-2015
So I read all of Wilde's plays a couple of years ago but for some reason I never read this at the time. This is probably the number one most requested book for me to read. So I read it. Are ya happy now!? ARE YA!?
I really rather enjoyed this. Well, obviously. I mean, did you honestly think I wasn't going to like The Picture of Dorian Gray? It's by Oscar Wilde for fuck's sake. His prose is like spilled honey flowing across a wooden table and waterfalling onto the floor beneath. The viscous liquid ...more
I really rather enjoyed this. Well, obviously. I mean, did you honestly think I wasn't going to like The Picture of Dorian Gray? It's by Oscar Wilde for fuck's sake. His prose is like spilled honey flowing across a wooden table and waterfalling onto the floor beneath. The viscous liquid ...more
Feb 19, 2019
Virginia Ronan ♥ Herondale ♥
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favorites
”He grew more and more enamoured of his own beauty, more and more interested in the corruption of his own soul.”
I think I must have been about fifteen when I read “The Picture of Dorian Gray” for the very first time and I was totally blown away by it. There was this book, written in such a beautiful way, using such colourful and flowery language and there were those three amazing characters that made me feel and wonder and question their lives and decisions!
You might say that up until I picked ...more
I think I must have been about fifteen when I read “The Picture of Dorian Gray” for the very first time and I was totally blown away by it. There was this book, written in such a beautiful way, using such colourful and flowery language and there were those three amazing characters that made me feel and wonder and question their lives and decisions!
You might say that up until I picked ...more
I should probably admit that most of what I thought I knew about Dorian Gray came from pop culture references. In my defense, I'm actively trying to branch out and read more than comics and trashy romance novels, but it's slow going and I've got a lot of catching up to do.
Shockingly, I didn't bother to read the blurb, and it turns out this was a bit more complex than I thought it would be.
Point is, I had no idea it was about gay dudes!
And I'm always thinking that the guys in classic novels seem ...more
Shockingly, I didn't bother to read the blurb, and it turns out this was a bit more complex than I thought it would be.
Point is, I had no idea it was about gay dudes!
And I'm always thinking that the guys in classic novels seem ...more
This is the first time I've read this classic book....but I've loved Oscar Wilde for as long as I can remember.
There is much to take away from this book. Themes exploring shallowness, selfishness, superficiality, hedonism, morality, and flaws of life and being human.
The dialogue is witty and humorous.
Oscar Wilde had great insights on beauty....
I love this quote:
"But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys t ...more
There is much to take away from this book. Themes exploring shallowness, selfishness, superficiality, hedonism, morality, and flaws of life and being human.
The dialogue is witty and humorous.
Oscar Wilde had great insights on beauty....
I love this quote:
"But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys t ...more
"A face without a heart", so said Shakespeare in Hamlet, but it applies to the portrait of Dorian Gray even better.... When the young gentleman Dorian Gray from a wealthy aristocratic family in Victorian England, has his picture completed something is missing, Basil Hallward, the painter senses it and insists that no one sees his greatest work, except a few people ... The witty Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian's soon to be best friend seems amused, a shy artist! All three are fascinated by the painting
...more
Nov 08, 2021
emma
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
owned,
project-clear-ur-sh-t,
recommend,
classics,
lgbt-plus,
reviewed,
beautifully-written,
non-ya,
4-stars
Books like this are why I love classics. They may be old as hell, but in another, much more real way, they never get old.
We as a society will never outgrow the need for a beautifully written book about being hot and evil.
End review.
Bottom line: Valiantly resisting the urge to make this book my entire personality.
----------------------
pre-review
"To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable."
and who says the classics aren't relatable. ...more
We as a society will never outgrow the need for a beautifully written book about being hot and evil.
End review.
Bottom line: Valiantly resisting the urge to make this book my entire personality.
----------------------
pre-review
"To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable."
and who says the classics aren't relatable. ...more
Even if we haven’t read the book everyone knows the plot. A painter paints a portrait of a beautiful young man. The portrait ages while he keeps his beauty. But the portrait also reflects his evil, not just aging, but turning eventually into a portrait of a devil.
There are thousands of reviews so I’ll just copy the next paragraph from the GR book blurb:
Written in his distinctively dazzling manner, Oscar Wilde’s story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is ...more
There are thousands of reviews so I’ll just copy the next paragraph from the GR book blurb:
Written in his distinctively dazzling manner, Oscar Wilde’s story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is ...more
(Book 809 from 1001 books) - The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical novel by Oscar Wilde, first published complete in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine.
The Picture of Dorian Gray begins on a beautiful summer day in Victorian era England, where Lord Henry Wotton, an opinionated man, is observing the sensitive artist Basil Hallward painting the portrait of Dorian Gray, a handsome young man who is Basil's ultimate muse.
While sitting ...more
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical novel by Oscar Wilde, first published complete in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine.
The Picture of Dorian Gray begins on a beautiful summer day in Victorian era England, where Lord Henry Wotton, an opinionated man, is observing the sensitive artist Basil Hallward painting the portrait of Dorian Gray, a handsome young man who is Basil's ultimate muse.
While sitting ...more
“Some day, when you are old and wrinkled and ugly, when thought has seared your forehead with its lines, and passion branded your lips with its hideous fires, you will feel it, you will feel it terribly.”
So, I wanted 2018 to be the year that I try to get back into classics! In the past, I’ve found some of them daunting to read, or just too boring to ever feel invested in. But I feel like The Picture of Dorian Gray was the perfect start.
Beautiful art by saku-chann on Tumblr
I originall ...more
Jan 16, 2009
Danielle The Book Huntress
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Readers who enjoy well-crafted, psychologically-chilling stories
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a hard book to review. After reading such eloquent, beautiful, and rich writing, I am at a loss for how to command my comparatively paltry ability to use words to express how I felt about this book.
Forgive me as I go back to AP English for a few moments. I asked myself what were the themes of this novel. Here is my list:
Identity
Experience
Beauty
The triumph on senses over reason
Accountability
I will attempt to build my review, in part, around the discussion of these t ...more
Forgive me as I go back to AP English for a few moments. I asked myself what were the themes of this novel. Here is my list:
Identity
Experience
Beauty
The triumph on senses over reason
Accountability
I will attempt to build my review, in part, around the discussion of these t ...more
‘behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.’
and boy, this story was an exquisite tragedy. wilde admits that the books which the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame. and this is one of the most immoral books i have ever read.
this is a story about the loss of innocence, of revelling in sin and debauchery, and everything in between. but its also an examination of the human soul, its struggle with vanity, and a life lived without any sort o ...more
and boy, this story was an exquisite tragedy. wilde admits that the books which the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame. and this is one of the most immoral books i have ever read.
this is a story about the loss of innocence, of revelling in sin and debauchery, and everything in between. but its also an examination of the human soul, its struggle with vanity, and a life lived without any sort o ...more
Jun 13, 2008
Petra in 4 days may have a bf fingers crossed
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Possessing eternal youth and beauty produces exactly the same effect as sentencing a man to life without the possibility of parole. Both have nothing to lose and morals disappear before the desire for immediate self-gratification in all things. And so it is with Dorian Gray. It's a moral story so eventually his evil catches up with him and he dies, as does the criminal.
Is Oscar Wilde saying that it is man's essential nature, to be so internally psychopathic and selfish that so long as he can ke ...more
Is Oscar Wilde saying that it is man's essential nature, to be so internally psychopathic and selfish that so long as he can ke ...more
This is another of those books I’ve been meaning to read for ages and kept putting off. Although I’ve a particularly good reason for putting this one off, as a very good friend of mine, who died a couple of years ago, spoke to me about this book and I was worried that might make it hard to read for quite other reasons.
He said that when he read this book as a young man it made him certain that he was not homosexual. Now, that in itself was enough to make me curious about the book. This is a book ...more
He said that when he read this book as a young man it made him certain that he was not homosexual. Now, that in itself was enough to make me curious about the book. This is a book ...more
I don't know what I was quite expecting here. It's a psychological horror story with a lot of comic relief, in the form of the endless witty paradoxes. After page 30 you are thinking that if Lord Henry makes just one more crack you're going to knock his monocle off his family crest and grind it underfoot. Oscar often clearly thinks he's being hilarious with his wit with a capital W – and maybe it's me, but Oscar Wilde often sounds like a parody of Oscar Wilde, like in the Monty Python sketch
WHIS ...more
WHIS ...more
)
Mar 18, 2022
ale ♡
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fantasy,
19th-century,
classics,
literature,
fiction,
lgbt,
irish-literature,
standalone,
goth
so, i'm gonna listen the audiobook narrated by ben barnes (i'm already sobbing because i fucking love his accent) aND HOLY SHIT, HIS VOICE, AAAAAAH. it will be my first audiobook, so pray for me
...more
I finally get around to reading this and find out it’s really good! Figures 🙄😂🤣
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
“Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
I present to you: Oscar Wilde, master of adding gay undertones that are so obviously homoerotic that they cannot be called undertones anymore.
Reading this book was long overdue. It's almost like a gay bible. What homosexual man does not want to stay forever young, with perfect skin, seductive lips and hair right out of a shampoo commercial. Just please do not take the murder part too literally. We might be overdramatic, but ...more
I present to you: Oscar Wilde, master of adding gay undertones that are so obviously homoerotic that they cannot be called undertones anymore.
Reading this book was long overdue. It's almost like a gay bible. What homosexual man does not want to stay forever young, with perfect skin, seductive lips and hair right out of a shampoo commercial. Just please do not take the murder part too literally. We might be overdramatic, but ...more
Jun 25, 2014
Lisa
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
1001-books-to-read-before-you-die
We are living the life of Dorian Gray.
We sacrifice our souls to the illusion of beauty and youth. We are using surgery and photoshopping to hide the real portrait of ourselves growing older and darker as our pleasures feel more and more hollow by sheer repetition. The likes of Bret Easton Ellis, who try to depict the "sinful" lives of modern-day Dorians, are less shocking than tedious and boring.
We are constantly looking for instant gratification to soothe our nerves: new foods, new clothes, ...more
We sacrifice our souls to the illusion of beauty and youth. We are using surgery and photoshopping to hide the real portrait of ourselves growing older and darker as our pleasures feel more and more hollow by sheer repetition. The likes of Bret Easton Ellis, who try to depict the "sinful" lives of modern-day Dorians, are less shocking than tedious and boring.
We are constantly looking for instant gratification to soothe our nerves: new foods, new clothes, ...more
WARNING : This review is going to contain memes...I KNOW this is a classic and many people will be sensitive about this.Sooo if you are sensitive about someone making memes on your fav classic..I would NOT advise you to read further. I was gonna write a serious review BUT then I realized that it won't be MY review..I won't be able to express my feelings properly without memes and jokes. This is the way I write my reviews AND if you are not comfortable with it...Please don't read this review 😊 Ca ...more
Last year, I challenged myself to read one classic a month...
...And it pretty much took me all of last year to finish just this book...and Peter Pan - AKA the two shortest classics I have in my library. So there's that...
Now lesser mortals might be embarrassed by this; but, thankfully, I am completely and utterly secure in the magnificence of my mediocrity...and so I shall merely endeavor another try.
I'm sure the classic I select for 2020 (see how I've adjusted my standards and accepted that it ...more
...And it pretty much took me all of last year to finish just this book...and Peter Pan - AKA the two shortest classics I have in my library. So there's that...
Now lesser mortals might be embarrassed by this; but, thankfully, I am completely and utterly secure in the magnificence of my mediocrity...and so I shall merely endeavor another try.
I'm sure the classic I select for 2020 (see how I've adjusted my standards and accepted that it ...more
I really don't know why goodreads deleted the rating of my favourite book, but as it seems it happened?! O_o
WTH? *lol*
Well anyway, of course it's a five star, did you expect any different? XD
I'll definitely reread it one day and will write a proper review, because this book deserves such an awesome in-depth review that 3.500 words certainly won't be enough! *lol*
One day, this screen page is going to crack with my gushing.
That's a promise! ;-P ...more
WTH? *lol*
Well anyway, of course it's a five star, did you expect any different? XD
I'll definitely reread it one day and will write a proper review, because this book deserves such an awesome in-depth review that 3.500 words certainly won't be enough! *lol*
One day, this screen page is going to crack with my gushing.
That's a promise! ;-P ...more
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goodreads Librari...: Please add missing book cover | 2 | 11 | Jun 26, 2022 07:54AM | |
| The Reading Room: Book Club Choice - June 2022 | 1 | 2 | May 30, 2022 07:37AM | |
| Club de lectura y...: Resúmenes de capítulos de memoria | 5 | 5 | May 07, 2022 05:47PM |
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Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet, and author of numerous short stories, and one novel. Known for his biting wit, and a plentitude of aphorisms, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. Several of his plays continue to be widely performed, especially The Importance of Being
...more
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95 trivia questions
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“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
—
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“You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.”
—
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