Yuffie's Book Reviews

The Picture of Dorian Gray - by Oscar Wilde

--Published Book--

This was one of the best books I've ever read. A true masterpiece.

The story is about the title character, Dorian Gray, a teenager with god-like good looks. And for the first time, the male lead is hot for a plot-specific reason! I cheered at this. Because Dorian was so beautiful, this painter, Basil, made Dorian model for his paintings. Basil created his life's best work--a portrait of Dorian--which he then gifted to Dorian, who at the time was just an innocent boy.

Dorian wishes he could stay young and beautiful forever, and he voiced how jealous he was of the self in the painting, which would never age.

Then he starts to see a gradual change in the painting--it's growing older while he remains young. The painting becames grotesque and ugly, mirroring the corruption in Dorian's soul.

But there's another player in this story, Lord Henry, a friend of Basil who meets Dorian and starts feeding the boy the most twisted, backwards, malicious, and awful philosophies about beauty and living life for pleasure. Dorian laps up Lord Henry's philosophies like a thirsty puppy, and despite Basil warning Henry to stay away from Dorian and not corrupting the innocent, beautiful boy, Dorian is already enraptured by Henry's words. The two become close friends, inseparable, and Dorian lives by Henry's philosophies and strays down a path of narssicism and hedonism. The book itself is an obvious satire of such corrupt philosophies, so please don't take anything Dorian or Lord Henry says seriously!

The writing is gorgeous! The most beautiful, soothing tone. I started reading this book at a party I really didn't want to be at, and I felt so calm and peaceful just after reading the first page, and I was able to completely immerse myself into the words. The language may be a tad on the flowery side at times, but it's beautiful nonetheless. I could read it forever. The tone and the way the words are put together really clicked with me.

The characters are just so awful and hateful and despicable that you can't help but be fascinated by them. Sometimes, Dorian seems downright psychopathic. It's impossible to like him, but you can definitely find him intriguing. His transition from innocent teenager to corrupt adult was smooth and believable. While I don't adhere to his values and principles, the way they were explained made sense, and I could understand why Dorian and Lord Henry thought the way they did. It was such a fascinating and terrible read at the same time! Such an ambiguous and corrupting book!

What's really cool about this was that the author, Oscar Wilde, had a gay affair with someone, and he was sent to jail for his homosexual orientation. That part of him was hugely prominent in the writing. Even though there were no (stated) homosexual relationships in the story, the way he had Lord Henry describe Dorian when they first met was with the reverence of a lover. Then language was exceptionally romantic and suggestive, but still very beautiful. Incredibly fascinating tone!

I cannot gush about this book enough. It's tied with The Three Musketeers and The Catcher in the Rye for my favorite book of all time. I can't stop thinking about the story and characters, and my heart ached for Dorian at the end because of how far he'd fallen, how he was strayed and manipulated by Lord Henry. But of course Dorian made the choice to listen to Henry's philosophies, so he's equally to blame. Ugh, this book just messes with your head and makes you look at everything from the most twisted angles. It's just so, so good!

I encourage all of you to put this on your Must Read list!

5/5 stars