Stories about three man. Basil the good one, Lord Henry the evil one, and Dorian the “object”. The object of beautiful and sins.

I like the stories. There is a hint of mystery here and there which keep me reading the entire book within a week. The writing is beautiful. Although, as a non native speaker, sometimes the description feel too much for me. I would love to re-read this book in the future so I can appreciate the stories more.

Huh. This book took me a while to get through, but most of the time I wasn’t actually consistently reading. It really was not as I expected. I don’t know exactly what I expected but it sure wasn’t that. I don’t even know what I got out of it, or what I learned, or what the moral is. But I really did enjoy it. Very strange story.

“Now that I have made it, something seems to have gone out of me. Perhaps one should never put one’s worship into words.”

“It is an odd thing, but every one who disappears is said to be seen at San Francisco. It must be a delightful city, and possess all the attractions of the next world.”

My review of The Picture of Dorian Gray
I really enjoyed the three stories. They were very well-written, interesting, and even funny at times.

"there is something fatal about a portrait. it has a life of its own."

there's a transfer from artist, to sitter, and to canvas. from a blank canvas, the artist crafts an image that they hope captures the moment perfectly. this novel is about the transfer of the painstaking work of perfection, blind, sheer admiration, and the question of life vs. art.

"so you think that it is only god who sees the soul, basil? draw that curtain back, and you will see mine."

guilty conscience. haunting of the past. torment of the soul.

"a burnt child loves the fire"

Besides the obvious problems of a book written at this time (the prejudices that poison classics), I enjoyed this book a lot. Oscar Wilde's writing style is lyrical and intriguing (besides chapter 11, screw chapter 11). I enjoyed the themes of the story and the ending. Even though most of the characters are despicable, I quite enjoy reading the stories of bad people. I think the book is very well done, and I appreciate the allusions to Shakespearian works, as the book ends in the way many of Shakespeare's tragedies do.

4.25/5 stars

While Wilde was an excellent writer, his hedonistic views on life rankle on me. Life is about more than stuffing your puss and filling other people's orifices with yourself at every opportunity. Gray's one act of redemption at the end scarcely begins an amends for his behavior throughout the story, and one cannot help but see Wilde acting in much the same selfish way throughout the story by proxy. The imagery is lush, the acts well-written and shown. The atmosphere is electrified - but the total lack of morals evinced by all Wilde's protagonists is a continual irritant.
Oh, so sorry, Oscar. I just find your characters and character despicable.

The premise of the book is very intriguing and the author writes extremely beautiful and quotable passages. Although I felt that the plot moved too slow for my liking and the character Henry annoyed me lol.

"Experience was of no ethical value. It was merely the name man gave to their mistakes."

"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."

"To be good is to be in harmony with one's self,(...)"

"When a woman marries again, it is because she detested her first husband. When a man marries again, it is because he adores his first wife. Women try their luck; men risk theirs."

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Das Buch war sehr gut geschrieben und man kam echt gut voran.
Toller Schreibstil. Kann es wirklich jedem Empfehlen es auf englisch zu lesen (ist in einfacher Sprache geschrieben).

Gedanken:
- Man hat automatisch eine Hassliebe zu Lord Henry, am Anfang mehr am Ende weniger.
- Man sollte seine Information nicht nur aus einer Quelle ziehen, sonst Ergebnis: Dorian
- Wieso tut er das Basil an??? Er hätte einfach mit ihm reden sollen, von Anfang an.
- Pretty privilege is a thing.
- Gibt es "Liebe auf den ersten Blick"?
- Der Mensch will immer mehr haben.
- Älter werden ist etwas schönes.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a novel about a man who sells his soul for eternal youth, but is met with corruption. This novel is dazzling at times but also shocking at times.

The three short stories included in this edition are The Happy Prince, The Birthday of the Infanta, and Lord Arthur Savile's Crime. Each story is equally dazzling, as expected from Wilde, but The Happy Prince has stuck with me for a long time.

Ya know it was a bit of a slog. I enjoyed the overall story of Dorian Gray but he got a little too into describing fanciful opulence. I know his works included in this collection were satirical but it still wasn’t doing any favors for me when he described all the rich hobbies of the characters. Of the three stories I’d say The Happy Prince might be my favorite but then God comes into play at the end and I’m like ehh. But his dialogue and witty lines were top notch for sure.

A handsome naïve young man, Dorian Gray, sits with a painter Henry Basil who adores him to get his portrait done. He meets Basil's friend there, who guides Dorian through towards the world of sins and pleasures. Dorian makes an uncanny wish that the portrait would take on all his wrinkles as he ages and the effects of his sins. Once he realizes that his strange wish has come true, he is driven by selfish motives. He commits sins, knowing that there won't be any repercussions on himself. But once it starts haunting him, he finds a way to free himself off it.

This is my favourite book of all time.
It is so wonderfully written, that I feel the need to underline sentences on nearly every page. And not only is the style of the writing amazing: the story itself is marvelous. To be forever young and beautiful has been a dream of many a man. Oscar Wilde made a story out of it that truly holds all genres in one. Furthermore, you can't help but to feel that you actually know the characters. Dorian Gray, whose change you can feel along with him inside you, Lord Henry Wotton, with all his wonderfully interesting speeches, and Basil Hallward, the timid artist overpowered by the mere presence of this young man, Dorian Gray. Even the other characters in the book get a voice and a body and come to life, as it were, before your very eyes.
I will always be able to marvel over this book. I will always want to read it. Again and again. The more you read it, the more you'll see.