The Picture of Dorian Gray (B2.2) B2.2-niveau ERK

1/4 of my all-time faves 🩶 a classic and there’s much reason for that. despite my deep love for dorian gray, i’m not sure how to even describe it. all i can say is: read it. “words! mere words! how terrible they were! how clear, and vivid, and cruel! one could not escape from them. and yet what a subtle magic there was in them! they seemed to be able to give a plastic form to formless things, and to have a music of their own as sweet as that of viol or of lute. mere words! was there anything so real as words?”

except for winter and marie, no one is more upset about this than i am...i expected this to be a 5 star read...

Lets begin with the story itself...I love it! I actually do really like this book! I like the writing and I like the themes, and I love the explorations in this! The dynamic between Basil and Dorian is so interesting, and I like how it delves into vanity and objectification of beauty, making it something to use instead of something to have or admire. So the book itself I would probably give 4.5 stars! I did really and truly enjoy it!

Now...the 0.5 stars...how do I explain this one...I can overlook many things and I can overlook many kinds of self insert by authors...but this one is so...weird.
I knew before starting this that Wilde was on trial for "homosexual activity" and that this book was used as evidence against him. This part is obviously bad, and no one should be put on trial for being gay. What I didn't know was that part of that trial was about his sexual encounters with boys as young as 13 (and even more specifically the one boy who just turned 16). Now...knowing this really changed things for me. The before, really interesting, exploration of the desire to perserve youthful beauty and their dynamic with Basil looking at young Dorian as an object he is not just allowed but almost required to use for his own benefit, turned into a really weird..."why would he write this"

I do not believe you can ever fully separate the art from the artist, especially when they are alive, but even when they are dead. And so knowing this overlap between the book and his personal beliefs and his life...it icks me out tbh.

The most eloquent use of word I've ever seen. Oscar Wilde is so witty, and anything Harry said is such a euphoric English literature moment.

Delightful exploration of what happens to our humanity when we're shielded from the consequences of our actions.

Tragic. Twisted. Compelling.

i read this back in 2022 and i need to re-read it because my memories tell me i liked it more than just 3 stars so idk why i gave it just 3

The only crime of this book is misogyny and Mr. Henry

it should’ve been harry

I liked it, of course. I love all the gayness and the repressed (and not so repressed) sexuality. The first part is amazing but after that, some time skips were a bit confusing.

Your experience of this book may or may not be improved by understanding the context it is set in (both fictional and the author's). For that matter mine came loaded with annotations. I did lose interest in some parts that seemed to drag on, but overall a curious read full of witticisms by Henry and co. that commentate on life... some ringing true (for better or for worse) in modern times.

5 stars for everything except "The Devoted Friend". Minus one star for "The Devoted Friend" - The most frustrating thing that I've read.

going into this blind made me feel like i was a victorian seeing ankle for the first time. dang! men are crazy.

"We degenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were too much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage to yield to. Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!" *** The amount of vanity in this book is insane. You wouldn't think someone so absorbed like Dorian Gray could exist in this world, but he did. All because Wilde made it possible. The prose is so lovely and there were plenty of great quotes! I'm glad I finally got around to reading this book. The characters' mindsets are unlike any I've ever read before, so it was interesting to read their unique outlook on life.

Basil Hallward deserved better !!!!

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” I'd stay up late for the last week with stacked cups of tea, reading and thinking about Dorian.. The story of the novel is known, but this does not mean that it will not surprise you. I read it with a friend of mine, and we talked about it a lot, and about the film adaptation, "which I considered as a distortion of the novel." As is evident when you read it, you will see in it, External beauty, narcissism, people and society's view, their reverence for appearances... The characters, I wish there were more details about them, about their lives and actions, especially Lord Henry. And how it affected Dorian's personality, to the point where they became similar, with a negative impact on everyone around them. And more about the painter too. It made me think and raised a lot of questions that I asked myself over the course of the chapters, but the biggest question remains; Was Dorian the victim of his friend, Lord Henry, who corrupted his soul, or was he like that from the beginning?

nakonec jsem si řekla, že kde to půjde, budu u klasik psát normální recenze, na které jsem zvyklá, a u kterých se můžu normálně rozepsat :) ✩ Obraz Doriana Graye jsem četla jako další knihu do povinné četby, tentokrát jsem ale předem věděla, že se nemusím bát toho, že by se kniha nedala číst. a přesně tak tomu i bylo. doriana graye jsem měla přečteného za 5 dní, do děje jsem se jednoduše dostala a čtení mě bavilo. s tímto příběhem jsem se seznámila poprvé, nikdy jsem nevěděla, o čem to přesně je. musím říct, že jsem byla lehce zmatená tím, jak málo se tam toho doopravdy dělo. kniha je plná filozofických myšlenek místy tak moc, že převažují děj. i tak se to ale čte rychle, hlavně kvůli té děsivé atmosféře, které se nám dostane zhruba v polovině knihy. oblíbila jsem si vedlejší postavy, například basila, malíře, který obraz doriana graye stvořil. líbilo se mi vykreslení tehdejší šlechty a autorův výsměch mnoha tehdejším tradicím či myšlenkám. další zajímavostí je, že v knize se objevují homosexuální podtóny, takže byla kniha dříve hodně cenzurovaná. ✩ 4*/5*, tuhle knížku rozhodně doporučuji přečíst jak k maturitě, tak klidně i 'jenom tak'. myslím, že se líbí snad každému z mého okolí, kdo ji četl :)

4.5/5 best read of 2024 so far.

SO GOOD. it was fascinating to see how dorian’s behavior change throughout the years. would definitely re-read it.

what a RIDE !!! definitivamente uno de mis clásicos favoritos, I was very intrigued even in the slower moments throughout the entire book, and the ending was ??!!! and I loved it. also the gay subtext was chef’s kiss mmmm “no hay libros morales ni inmorales. los libros están bien escritos o no lo están.”

When I first started reading this novel I thought it was pretty boring for the first ~80 pages BUT after that it really started to pick up. I finally understand the hype around Wilde as an author and absolutely loved his writing style. I would recommend this book to a friend as an easy way to get into the classics!

suddenly have the inclination to get my portrait painted and break some hearts ..19th century Patrick Bateman

chapter 11 had me not reading sorry...to every other chapter ily

A very complex book but also good! this book has so many quotable quotes that made me fall in love especially quotes from Lord Henry. “Youth is the only thing worth having.” “Beauty is a form of Genius—is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts of the world, like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark waters of that silver shell we call the moon. It cannot be questioned. It has its divine right of sovereignty. It makes princes of those who have it. You smile? Ah! when you have lost it you won’t smile. . . . People say sometimes that Beauty is only superficial. That may be so. But at least it is not so superficial as Thought is. To me, Beauty is the wonder of wonders. It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible. . . .” “Conscience and cowardice are really the same things, Basil. Conscience is the trade-name of the firm.” “Sin is the only real color-element left in modern life.” “Art has no influence upon action. It annihilates the desire to act. It is superbly sterile. The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.” “Good resolutions are useless attempts to interfere with scientific laws. Their origin is pure vanity. Their result is absolutely nil. They give us, now and then, some of those luxurious sterile emotions that have a certain charm for the weak. That is all that can be said for them. They are simply cheques that men draw on a bank where they have no account.” “Love is a more wonderful thing than Art.” “When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy.” “Most people become bankrupt through having invested too heavily in the prose of life. To have ruined one’s self over poetry is an honor. ” “The reason we all like to think so well of others is that we are all afraid for ourselves. The basis of optimism is sheer terror. We think that we are generous because we credit our neighbor with the possession of those virtues that are likely to be a benefit to us. We praise the banker that we may overdraw our account, and find good qualities in the highwayman in the hope that he may spare our pockets. I mean everything that I have said. I have the greatest contempt for optimism. As for a spoiled life, no life is spoiled but one whose growth is arrested. If you want to mar a nature, you have merely to reform it.” These are just few from the ones I highlighted. I absolutely love Lord Henry’s character.