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The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best to label this story a fantasy despite the fact that such fantasy is revealed in only a few paragraphs. Most of the book is what used to pass as witty dialogue between stifled, elite Englishmen and women. Most of this dialogue displays the thinking of a totally amoral Lord Henry who verbally paints everyone he meets as a slivered character reflecting his own amorality. To Lord Henry, one's belief in anything is proof of one's deranged thinking. Both he and Dorian experienced continued hedonism but with no gratification.The reader is forced to accept the premise that an artist painted the portrait of Dorian and in so doing captured the young man's soul on the canvas. While Dorian lived the portrait kept aging while Dorian retained his outer, youthful appearance. Thus no other living character in the story had any evidence of the aging ugliness of the portrait. At Dorian's death the living portrait, the soul of Dorian, returned to its pristine, youthful glow.Throughout the story the reader is joined with the character Dorian in accepting the portrait's brutal transformation. But with the array of deaths that followed Dorian's heartless cruelty the reader kept being confronted with the pointlessness of the tale. The reader would like to have witnessed Lord Henry's response to the apparent suicide of Dorian Gray who he worshipped throughout the tale. But no such ending was provided.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The essence of the book can be summed up when Dorian Grey wishes that his portrait to age, get old and decay but he should remain young and beautiful for ever! He not only accomplishes it but convinces others to this remarkable feat. He is so conceited, self absorbed and without any conscious that after he murders his true friend, he goes to bed and has a good night sleep. Dorian Grey is one of the most bizarre charecters in literature. I guess we all have a little bit of Dorian Grey in us at times, hopefully in small doses. Lord Henry, the quick witted,brilliant companion is none other than Oscar Wilde. Aremarkable book. If it were written today, there would be lot ofcontroversy as the male charecters bond so freely. Oscar Wilde himself was accused of homosexual act and was sent to jail fortwo years. He left England and moved to France where he died at avery young age. What a loss?
The Picture of Dorian Gray
a good story. but what impressed me most was wilde's razor-sharp wit and insight. he gives his opinions on everything from love to art and was his sharp tongue that brought on his downfall.i think it's more important to be intelligent than goodlooking, however...
The Picture of Dorian Gray
When I first began reading this book I was intrigued. The first few pages are incredibly interesting. They are written extremely well and are filled with facinating ideas. That doesn't last long, though. After the forthy-somthing page the reader begins to understand that Oscar Wilde uses a lot of words to say nothing. And he does say something, you won't notice it because it's strangled to death with a lot of useless information.However, I do think the book does make a good read. You can't really blame Wilde for writing the way he does, since he, himself, says on the second page of this book: "The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one adimers it intensely", and Wilde does admires his work intensely and for that we "owe' it to him to read "The Picture of Dorian Gray".
The Picture of Dorian Gray
I enjoyed reading the book, and thought that it was a great allegory. I loved how Wilde used vivid details in all his characters, especially in the life of Dorian Gray! I also saw the movie starring George Sanders and Hurd Hatfield, which I thought was really good also!
The Picture of Dorian Gray
I thought it was good, I don't know why people are saying it was boring.