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The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

Start date: June 1, 2019

Finish date: June 30, 2019

Discussion: Current Group Read

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Current Group Read

The Prince
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last updated Jun 08, 2019 03:47PM

April 2019: The Crucible
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What Members Thought

Jan 16, 2009 Danielle The Book Huntress rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classic-horror, immortality, owned-copy, gothic-fiction, unsympathetic-main-characters, psychological-horror, faustian-bargain, victorian, oct-scare-fest-2010, moral-decadence

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

341 likes · Like · see review

Jun 14, 2008 Cecily rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, magical-realism, sexuality-gender-lgbtqi, mental-health-victorian-madness, class-etiquette

Faustian theme, told in a quintessentially Wildean way. Quite a few lines that occur in other works - both his own and those of others.

Some similarities with Virginia Woolf's Orlando : the magical realism and some of the passages describing beautiful fabrics and artefacts. ...more

65 likes · Like · see review

Dec 29, 2009 Δx Δp ≥ ½ ħ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: i-me-mine, a-day-in-the-life, strawberry-fields-forever

Pertama sekali, saia tak menyangka bahwa Wilde akan sanggup memesona saia seperti ini.

Oke, selama ini saia cuma kenal dia sebatas seorang penyair klasik yang sering mengeluarkan kata-kata keren dan sering dikutip orang. Di bagian quotes GR, kutipan dari dia termasuk yang paling sering divote dan digunakan member GR.

Dorian Gray adalah karya klasik dengan penceritaan unik dengan pengkarakteran yang sangat kuat. Di novel ini, Wilde menggambarkan betapa nafsu, ambisi dan obsesi yang mendekati kegila ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Feb 27, 2012 Dante rated it really liked it

Shelves: prose, imaginative-lit, fiction, novel, classics

I liked the story. It's beautiful, in the sense that it contains truths about life: If you spend your life pursuing pleasures, comforts, and beauty for their own sake, and without acknowledging where they came from, or without any reference to their source, and treating them as if they are not ephemeral, or believing them to last forever; if you live your life as if all that matters is pleasure and comfort, the self and the ego -- you will lose your soul, and you will end up utterly empty and mi ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Sep 16, 2008 Marla rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, book-about-books, religion, adult, zz-2014, lgbt, challenged, classics, mixed-reviews, buddy

3.5 stars. Filled with great timeless quotes and witty dialogue, this classic was easy to read. One of my favorite classics, but very slow at times. I was surprised at the obvious male on male attraction in the beginning of the story and was therefore not surprised when I discovered that Oscar Wilde was gay. I am familiar with The Importance of Being Ernest but I should like to read his other plays, it is a shame that he only wrote this one novel.

Finally, at the end of the VII Chapter, we redisc ...more

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Feb 07, 2011 Juergen John Roscher rated it really liked it

Shelves: read_2013

The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde is usually included in most lists of great novels. I had a desire to read the book because of my brief understanding of the story line of the portrait of a striking young man aging rather than the man. Why did the portrait age and not the man? What implications would such a situation have on the young man and those who knew and associated with him?

Dorian, a youthful and dashing man, has a portrait done by the renowned artist Basil Hallward. The portrait ...more

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Feb 27, 2010 Efe rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-book-challenge

Given that the starring system doesn't allow for halves, I am giving this book 3.5 stars. Sacrilege I know, but I have my reasons. I have wanted to read 'Dorian Gray' for a very long time as I was intruiged by the idea of a man who essentailly sells his soul and erodes his conscience for a life free of ageing and regret.

The main strand of the story is absolutely fascinating as was to be expected. Wilde paints an incredibly subtle picture of the corruption of a young pure soul and the fear that g ...more

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Jan 31, 2012 Meghan rated it liked it

Shelves: via-audible, classics

a slow start, but a gripping ending that really sells the entire premise.

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Feb 06, 2008 bookwyrmemma marked it as gave-up-on

Shelves: print

I actually did not 'read' this book; I skimmed it. From what I did read from it and about it, I got the gist of it without the gruesome details.
...more

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