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The Picture Of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde


Purple Poppy

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The Picture of Dorian Gray.



 

Having at last finished this book, I will start this thread as I know a couple of people wanted to discuss this work.

 

What a book! I can’t say I enjoyed it, and my dislike is probably reflected in the length of the time it took me to read it. Disliking it, however, does not prevent me from appreciating it as a good book and very well written.

 

The story is of Dorian Gray a young man famous for his flawless looks and initially a seemingly pleasant personality, but with a lot to learn of the world. His friend Basil, a competent painter, who idolises the boy (though it turns out he is married), paints a portrait of Dorian which is very realistic and shows the young man in the prime of his youth. Dorian is so pleased by it that it ‘turns’ his head and he wishes , with Basil present, that he would always stay youthful.

 

His wish is fulfilled but (this is like our Corrupted wish game) the Dorian in the picture begins to age and takes on cruel and ugly features. Daunted by this, Dorian hides the picture in the attic room of his house where no one else can see it. As Dorian succumbs to the influence of his new friend Henry, we see his personality change and this is reflected in the picture, hidden upstairs. Dorian seems to have some understanding of what is happening, but dismisses it and is enjoying his life and the company of Henry too much to dwell on the dangerous ground he is treading. Eventually he oversteps even his boundaries and from somewhere deep within he hears the tiny voice of his conscience and tries to rectify his evil deeds, but the truth will out and his hopes of cleansing his soul and continuing his life are dashed for ever.

 

I will continue below...

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The story itself is interesting in that it illustrates that looks and beauty are only surface deep and superficial and to rely on them for a fulfilling life is fruitless and shallow.. Dorian trades his soul for his continuing beauty. He changes personality and becomes an evil calculating individual who uses others to satisfy his own needs. His friend Henry encourages him, with long lectures about the pleasures and advantages of a degenerate life, cleverly disguised just enough to convince the young man that what he is doing is right. At a very early stage I felt that Henry was actually the devil or evil personified and I remain of that opinion. At the beginning when Dorian and Henry meet you get a strong sense of black and white, evil and purity. As Dorian descends into wretchedness you feel that he wouldn

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Wow! What a great review, PP! I've been meaning to read this for ages, despite already knowing what it's all about, as it's always appealed to my darker side. I have, however, just downloaded an audio book version & shall be listening to it very shortly, so I'll be posting my thoughts on it too when I get to it...

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I really enjoyed reading Dorian Gray. One of the best books I read last year, actually.

 

I agree with you, PP, on the beautiful descriptions in the book. They were wonderful. However, I liked Henry's little speeches throughout the book. I felt that some of them raised a few good points in them.

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That was an excellent review PP - you have a real talent there. The book sounds a lot different to what I thought, but I've always liked Oscar Wilde's wit so will definitely give it a go. Understand it was very controversial at the time, but then so was Oscar.

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Poppy said ...

That was an excellent review PP - you have a real talent there.

and

Kell said

Wow! What a great review, PP!

 

Thanks guys! I would insert a smilie here but for some reason the post submitted itself before I was finished and I've had to edit to finish it...can't see any smilies.

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  • 6 months later...

And here's my review to add to the rest...

 

Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Author: Oscar Wilde

Narrator: John Gonzalez

Publisher: www. librivox.org

First Published: 1891

Running time: 6 hrs 19 min 46 sec

Format: Audio Book

Rating: 7/10

 

Synopsis:

Dorian Gray, a young man of wealth and stature in late 1800

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  • 10 months later...
Guest radjack

One of the best books i've ever read and also the only classic (:)).

I read this in order to do an oral presentation in my class, since then i re-read it two times.

Everything Lord Henry say is pure music. It's my favourite character of the book.

I higly recommend it:blush:

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  • 2 weeks later...

It took my over two years to find this book in a charity shop and I wasn't disappointed. It was just the right length and although I didn't take to any of the characters ( I'm not actually sure we were meant to really :tong: ) I did enjoy the story and the questions it posed about how others perceive us.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

I just finished reading 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. It did take me awhile to get into it but it was beautifully written. A lot of underlying tones in the book which I felt that even though they were not overly pronounced as such, Oscar Wilde was not exactly hiding them (hope that makes sense).

 

 

The characters were brilliantly written, I felt that Basil Hallward was being blamed far too much by Dorian for the course his life had taken and I did get the impression that Sir Henry Wotton did know what was happening with Dorian but choose not to say anything or do anything because he saw it as some manner of game, something to pass the time. Even though I expected the ending, I could not help but feel sorry for Dorian.

 

 

:D

Edited by Weave
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  • 4 months later...
I just started reading this yesterday. Sounds good to me, hope I enjoy it as much as you lot! :lol:

Oh I hope you enjoy it as well.

 

This is one of the best books that I have ever read. Years back, I went to the bookstore with my cousin and she bought the book by chance since she'd read it years back and wanted to read it again. I asked her to borrow it for a bit, read some chapters, and ended up buying the book myself to finish it. Oscar Wilde was an incredible writer, and to me, this is his best piece. I was more than happy to re-read it for class once I reached high school.

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