Lord Henry was one arrogant mf but God i love him

The Picture of Dorian Gray could also be titled A Portrait of the Human Soul, for in his dark and tragic commentary Oscar Wilde spares no liberties in discussing morality, religion, society and the depths of the human condition. It is a deeply moving and inspired novel centering around the defining power of art. It is not an easy novel to read with its dark elements. For in paying heed to Dorian Gray's demise one is drawn into a reflection of their own spiritual condition.

For those who have no idea what The Picture of Dorian Gray is about I shall endeavour to describe. As a novel I would class it among the classics of the Gothic tradition, a horror novel with a didactic aim. The story itself focuses around a young man, Dorian Gray, who through the influence of others around him becomes led into moral disillusionment. He becomes obsessed with a picture of his young, vibrant body that reflects his mortal perfection while at the same time living a decadent and corrupt lifestyle. By some unknown curse his image begins to grow old but he physically stays as young as ever. And all this leads to a fascinating climactic moment!

The rest of this review has been moved to my website. To read the full review click on the linked text here!

Upping my rating to 5 stars. What a powerful novel about choices and consequences! Written in 1890 by the brilliant Oscar Wilde, this novel follows the life and times of Dorian Gray. Dorian is a gorgeous blond 20 year old when he meets up with the painter Basil Hallward, who paints the ill-fated portrait of Dorian.



Through Basil - who dotes on Dorian just a wee bit too much, though at least he has Dorian's best interests at heart - Dorian also meets the cynical Lord Henry Wotton ("rotten"?). Lord Henry, despite Basil's pleas, decides (just for the amusement of it, and apparently because Lord Henry loves to hear himself talk) to share his cynical epigrams - Wilde at his dark humorous best - and thoughts on the beauty of a hedonistic lifestyle with the innocent Dorian.

Dorian is sucked in by Lord Henry's ideas, especially those in a nameless (critics point to À rebours) yellow book that Lord Henry shares with Dorian. Dorian may be innocent, but he’s rather shallow and vain. And so this:

“How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June. . . . If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that—for that—I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!”

Dorian makes some fateful choices in his life — choices that lead him further and further down paths of evil, even though he keeps his youth and looks. And meanwhile Dorian's portrait (which he quickly hides away in a locked upstairs room) is showing all of the corruption and age that Dorian himself escapes ...

This is a much more complex story than I would have guessed before reading it. The fall of Dorian is a gradual process. It’s jump-started by Lord Henry, who is terribly witty and demoralizing (in the truest sense of the word).

“My dear boy, the people who love only once in their lives are really the shallow people. What they call their loyalty, and their fidelity, I call either the lethargy of custom or their lack of imagination. Faithfulness is to the emotional life what consistency is to the life of the intellect—simply a confession of failure.”

But Henry is more talk than action, while Dorian eventually has to try everything, no matter the cost to others ... or himself.

Dorian doesn’t just choose dissolution for himself; he pulls others along with him. A distressed friend tells him: “One has a right to judge of a man by the effect he has over his friends. Yours seem to lose all sense of honour, of goodness, of purity. You have filled them with a madness for pleasure. They have gone down into the depths. You led them there.”

“I loved you because you were marvelous, because you had genius and intellect, because you realized the dreams of great poets and gave shape and substance to the shadows of art.”
-tThe Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

Wow! This book can really mess with your head.

Let’s start off by my confession. Most people won’t describe this book in these terms, but it’s my review, and this is my take….

The Picture of Dorian Gray is about a young man named Dorian Gray. He is exquisitely good looking, and his friend, Basil Hallward, paints Dorian’s portrait. In walks, Lord Henry Wotton, Harry, who convinces Dorian that youth is everything, and Dorian wishes that his portrait would grow older while he could retain his youth.

Lord Henry is an extreme narcissist, and his conversations with Dorian are riveting. There are so many quotable quotes, and the discussion of his philosophy is highly intriguing. He essentially views anything honorable as horrible and boring.

Although the book is The Picture of Dorian Gray, the book really belongs to Lord Henry. He is far from a perfect character, but he is definitely not boring.

Tip: Audible has a version of this for free!

2025 Reading Schedule
JantA Town Like Alice
FebtBirdsong
MartCaptain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
AprtWar and Peace
MaytThe Woman in White
JuntAtonement
JultThe Shadow of the Wind
AugtJude the Obscure
SeptUlysses
OcttVanity Fair
NovtA Fine Balance
DectGerminal

Connect With Me!
Blog Twitter BookTube Insta My Bookstore at Pango

It's been close to 20 years since I read this and I enjoyed this more, maybe it's maturity, this time around. I upped the stars from 3 to 4 stars.

I felt like Oscar Wilde is lambasting the upper class of British society, the gentlemen. He makes them into such idiots and they have the most ridiculous logic. Such as, a gentleman shouldn't need money. His class should be enough. To me if felt like Oscar was roasting this society and making them as ridiculous as possible.

So much time is spent on beauty. Beauty is the centerpiece of the story. The whole book, beauty is lovely and it's own moral. When people are ugly and old, they are wicked. Oscar would fit right in with American culture of the 21st century. These old gentleman keep telling Dorian how wonderful he is as a person because he is so beautiful and he could never do evil. What I learned from watching TV, movies and real life celebrities, beauty can be genuine and good hearted, but most of the time beautiful people tend toward being cruel and heartless; okay amendment, at least the ones who long for fortune and fame. I have known plenty of beautiful people who were good hearted. I'm just trying to show the ridiculousness of this idea.

This is a great gothic book and it has it's own chills and thrills. There is love, murder and the mystery that is Dorian Gray. Maybe, I need to go back and read some other books from my past and see how my views of them have changed. This was interesting.

I do love read the wit of Oscar Wilde. I think he is talented and I will be finding more works of his to read.

I could spend the rest of my life reading this book OVER AND OVER AGAIN and it wouldn't be enough

this book still finished me but i change my mind about the rating LMAO

Perfect, exquisite, everything that was promised to you. This one has quite a high degree of FOLLOW THROUGH. "Gray" is majestic, about the superficial love for oneself. It poses many questions, & as a book of ideas, perhaps the most innovatory in the latter part of the 19th century of them all, it is exactly what a reader wants. Absolute flawlessness, like the young Dorian himself. It's ESSENTIAL. Indeed, at the pinnacle of Gay Lit. Comes to us in the rare tradition of too-good-to-be-trueness, actually-lives-up-to-the-hype literature canon.

The dialogue is rife with quotable lines... indeed Wilde succeeds in wit-- more so in the existential/anarchistic/dandy lines which are pretty much music to the ear. The quaint descriptions themselves are embedded with sadness--the pace & the story... You really couldn't possibly ask for anything else.

(Book 809 from 1001 books) - The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical novel by Oscar Wilde, first published complete in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine.

The Picture of Dorian Gray begins on a beautiful summer day in Victorian era England, where Lord Henry Wotton, an opinionated man, is observing the sensitive artist Basil Hallward painting the portrait of Dorian Gray, a handsome young man who is Basil's ultimate muse.

While sitting for the painting, Dorian listens to Lord Henry espousing his hedonistic world view, and begins to think that beauty is the only aspect of life worth pursuing.

This prompts Dorian to wish that the painted image of himself would age instead of himself. ...

تصویر دوریان گری - اسکار وایلد انتشاراتیها (کانون معرفت؛ مهرگان، دبیر؛ کمانگیر، جمهوری، جاوید، هزاره نو، آموزش و سنجش، جامی کمانگیر، نگاه، همشهری، افق، نشر علم) ادبیات، تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه ژوئن سال 1987میلادی

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ تهران، کانون معرفت، 1327، در 108ص موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان ایرلند - سده 19م

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ مترجم: رضا مشایخی (فرهاد)؛ تهران، کانون معرفت، 1344، در 295ص

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ مترجم: داریوش شاهین؛ تهران، مهرگان، 1353، در 429ص

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ مقدمه: آندره موروا؛ علی دشتی؛ مترجم: رضا مشایخی؛ تهران، کمانگیر، 1363، در 339ص

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ مترجم: همایون نوراحمر؛ تهران، جمهوری، 1366، در 408ص

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ مترجم: همایون نوراحمر؛ تهران، دبیر، جاوید، 1369، در 407ص

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ مترجم: حبیب گوهری راد؛ تهران، هزاره نو، 1383، در 323ص، شابک 96439289232؛

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ مترجم: لیلی فردهی؛ تهران، آموزش و سنجش، 1388، در 208ص، شابک9786005177183؛

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ مترجم: همایون جوانمردی؛ تهران، جامی کمانگیر، 1388، در 303ص، شابک9789642575644؛

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ مترجم: ابوالقاسم تهامی؛ تهران، نگاه، 1391، در 312ص، شابک 9789643517939؛

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ مترجم: حسین زمانی؛ تهران، همشهری، 1391، در 61ص، شابک 9789642412044؛

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ مترجم: محسن سلیمانی؛ تهران، افق، 1393، در 255ص، شابک 9789643698690؛

عنوان: تصویر دوریان گری؛ شاهکار: اسکار وایلد؛ مترجم: رویا منجم؛ تهران، نشر علم، 1393، در 280ص، شابک 9789642243204؛

رمان گوتیک، فلسفی، و شاهکار «اسکار وایلد»، نویسنده ی مشهور اهل «ایرلند» است؛ «اسکار وایلد»، با نگارش این رمان، و البته نمایشنامه «اهمیت ارنست بودن»، به شهرت جهانی رسیدند؛ «تصویر دوریان گری»، به سبب تازگی موضوع، و شاید به سبب آنکه چهره ی خود نویسنده را، می‌نمایاند، آوازه ای بزرگ یافت؛ «وایلد» با این اثر تمثیلی، خواسته اند نشان دهند «همچنانکه هر قطره‌ ای در دریا، به مروارید ویژه، تغییر شکل می‌دهد، در عالم هنر نیز، هرچه وارد شود، به زیباترین تبدیل می‌گردد»؛

این رمان در سال 1890میلادی نوشته شده؛ یعنی ده سال پیش از درگذشت «اسکار وایلد» بزرگوار؛

هشدار: «اگر خود میخواهید کتاب را بخوانید از خوانش ادامه ی این ریویو خودداری کنید.»؛

دوریان گری، نام جوانی خوش‌ سیما، و برازنده‌ است، که تنها، به زیبایی و لذت پایبند است؛ و پس از آنکه دوست نقاشش، از او پرتره ای در کمال زیبایی، و جوانی میکشد، با دیدن آن پرتره، از اندیشه ی گذشت زمان، و نابودی جوانی و زیبایی، در اندوهی ژرف فرومی‌رود، پس در همان لحظه، آرزو می‌کند، که چهره ی خودش، پیوسته جوان و شاداب بماند، و در عوض گذشت زمان و پیری و پلیدی‌ها، بر تصویر او، به پرتره ی او منتقل شود؛ پس از مدتی، متوجه می‌شود، که آرزویش برآورده شده؛ ولی یکی از دوستان او، به نام «لرد هنری»، کم‌ کم او را به راه‌های پلید می‌کشاند، و تصویر دوریان گری، در پرتره، به مرور، پیرتر، پلیدتر، و کریه تر می‌شود؛ «دوریان گری»، به مرور، تا جایی پلید می‌شود، که نخستین قتل خود را، انجام می‌دهد، و نقاش پرتره ی خویش «بسیل هاوارد» را می‌کشد؛ او با گذشت زمان، هر روز چهره ی خود را، در پرتره اش فرسوده‌ تر، و پیرتر می‌بیند، اما راهی برای از بین بردن پلیدی‌ها، پیدا نمی‌کند، ناگهان خشمگین می‌شود و چاقوی بلندی را در قلب مرد درون تصویر در پرتره، فرو می‌کند؛ در همان لحظه، مستخدمان صدای جیغ کریهی می‌شنوند، و به سوی اتاق «دوریان گری» می‌شتابند؛ آن‌ها تصویر ارباب خویش را، در بوم نقاشی می‌بینند، که در کمال جوانی و زیبایی است، آنچنانکه خود هماره آن پرتره را می‌دیدند، اما بر زمین، جسد مردی نقش بسته است، در لباسی آراسته، و کاردی در قلب، با پلیدترین و کریه‌ ترین چهره ی قابل تصور؛ که تنها از انگشترهایی که به دستش بود، می‌شد هویت او را شناخت...؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 11/06/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 14/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

(3.5) This reminded me of why I like classics. Some parts dragged on too long but I enjoyed it overall!

Books like this are why I love classics. They may be old as hell, but in another, much more real way, they never get old.

We as a society will never outgrow the need for a beautifully written book about being hot and evil.

End review.

Bottom line: Valiantly resisting the urge to make this book my entire personality.

----------------------
pre-review

"To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable."

and who says the classics aren't relatable.

review to come / 4 stars

----------------------
currently-reading updates

nice eternal youth and beauty you got there. i sure hope you don't descend into mortal sin with it

Once again, I find myself not liking a classic. Is it me? Have I been spoiled by a hundred years of advancement in every area of life so that I am now unable to enjoy or even appreciate the "genius" of a time-tested author like Oscar Wilde? Apparently so, because, for the most part...



Dorian Gray is the impossibly beautiful young man who becomes the subject of a portrait by the painter, Basil Hallward. When the artist, who has become infatuated with his model, introduces him to Lord Henry Wotton, Dorian is immediately seduced by Lord Henry's witty and corrupting devotion to hedonism. The center of the story is, quite literally, the picture of Dorian Gray, which Dorian soon discovers reflects the hideous corruption of his soul while his outward appearance (his youth and beauty) remains untarnished.

While I love the premise of the story, it read like a psycotherapist's musings on society in general and a couple of the characters specifically, namely Dorian and Henry. And the musings went on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on, ad infinitum.



And the worst thing, imho, was that there were several interesting things that happened — suicide, murder, debauchery, broken friendships, etc; however, we were never made privy to any of the details. These things were basically mentioned in passing. Again, maybe it's because of the period of time in which this book was written and those details would have prevented the book from even being published. I don't know. All I know is that my imagination is used for picturing people, places and things that are described. I don't want to have to imagine what happened as well.



This rating is totally a reflection of my enjoyment of the book, not of the writing. I think it goes without saying that it is well-written. Maybe if I read it in 1890, I would have loved it. Probably. But it's 2017 and, for me, it was just too much philosophy and not enough content.