From the Bookshelf of Should have read classics…

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

Start date: January 1, 2012

Finish date: January 31, 2012

Discussion: Group Book Discussions

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What Members Thought

Jun 27, 2010 Misha rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 19th-century, british, gothic, favourites, literary-fiction, favourites-2023, classics, purchased-2023, made-into-a-movie-or-a-show, award-other

"Life is not governed by will or intention. Life is a question of nerves, and fibres, and slowly built-up cells in which thought hides itself and passion has its dreams. You may fancy yourself safe and think yourself strong. But a chance tone of colour in a room or a morning sky, a particular perfume that you had once loved and that brings subtle memories with it, a line from a forgotten poem that you had come across again, a cadence from a piece of music that you had ceased to play--I tell you, "Life is not governed by will or intention. Life is a question of nerves, and fibres, and slowly built-up cells in which thought hides itself and passion has its dreams. You may fancy yourself safe and think yourself strong. But a chance tone of colour in a room or a morning sky, a particular perfume that you had once loved and that brings subtle memories with it, a line from a forgotten poem that you had come across again, a cadence from a piece of music that you had ceased to play--I tell you, Dorian, that it is on things like these that our lives depend."

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.”

In this cautionary tale, an artist paints an ode to a young aristocrat, Dorian Gray's, beauty. Lord Henry, another aristocrat, guides Gray towards an obsession with youth and hedonism. As the painting of Gray lives its master's sins, Dorian remains forever beautiful, giving himself to narcissism.

The prose is some of the most exquisitely written I have read, like slowly eating a dessert. It's one of those books that linger in the corners of your mind, haunting you, creeping up on you bit by bit. What fun to read an old fashioned gothic horror that is so paradoxical. Gorgeous and nauseating. Starkly truthful and hypocritical. Captivating and terrifying.

What does it mean to experience every sensation that is available to mankind, sort of transcending what is moral? Anyway who defines what is moral for what is moral is often hypocritical. Art, literature and music , for instance, do and must always break through hypocritically defined morality. Ultimately, however, there are boundaries. What happens when you have gone beyond those boundaries, made visceral desires your life? A different artform, devoted to oneself and one's corrupt soul. The book is a morality tale, but it is also not black and white in its conception of right and wrong. At the same time, the author subtly builds a divide between the upper and lower classes, showcasing how sin becomes art in the upper class' hands while considered something beneath what is human among the lower class. Loathsome characters, delightfully so, crowd the pages of this book.

Reading The Picture of Dorian Gray is like sinking into an ecstatic experience. It's one that captures all your senses. You can almost smell the words, taste them as if they were something physical. One reading is definitely not going to be enough. ...more

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May 13, 2011 Anne (Booklady) Molinarolo rated it did not like it

Shelves: classics, literary-fiction, god-awful, read-around-world, fall-2015

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a Classic. Oscar Wilde is in top form. But I hated it. I hated Lord Henry for his influence on that sweet boy, Dorian Gray.

As I said, Oscar Wilde is brilliant, so it wasn't his writing. Nor was the latent homosexuality that laced through the novel, nor the Narcissism also laced throughout the story line. How about the hedonism? Nope. For me my dislike of the novel rest solely on the character Lord Henry. ...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Laurie rated it liked it

An adequate read. At a point however the author's thought provoking witticisms couldn't overcome his tendency to be tedious. ...more

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Jan 08, 2013 Ellen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 19thc-pd, classic, favorites, british-lit, gothic

I tried to read this book a few years ago for the sake of reading more British literature (plus I head it was a good read), but I couldn't go any farther than 50 pages before I put it down until now. I had to read it for a 19C British lit class, and I'm glad I did. Once I passed the 50-page mark and read the more interesting parts involving the mystery of the painting, I got into the groove of it. It also helped that it was a short read. ...more

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Feb 25, 2011 Kat rated it did not like it

Shelves: borrowed

Totally boring! Could not even force myself to finish it. Generally it might be an interesting story but reading it was really tiring and not enjoyable. I cannot understand how everydody likes it. Won't try again! ...more

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Oct 27, 2024 Kayla rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, own, 1001-read, classics-read, great-american-reads

The Picture of Dorian Gray starts off slow at first, but then the story grabs you about 60 pages in and you will speed through the rest. It reads like a supernatural thriller.

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