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“There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.
Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”
- Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray
*Sits down at a chair and smiles charmingly as a painter works on his portrait.*
Welcome everyone, to my 200th review!
No, no. Enough of that. As a wise book once said, "I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them." Be more vain, sneer a bit, no happy Kermit reactions here.
So, let us begin again. Welcome dear readers to my 200th review.
*Smirks*
Ah, yes, that's much better.
_______________________
So, honestly this was a terrible book to pick for my 200th review. Not because I didn't like it, far, far from that. It's because I'm having a bit of trouble actually coming up with what to say about it. I mean, what is there to say? There is zero point in doing a plot description as even those who have not read the book could probably give a decent synopsis just because of how immensely popular it has been over the 100+ years since its publication.
I could talk about how quotable and witty it is, but it was written by Oscar Wilde, so that really goes without saying.
Should I mention the history of the novel and how it had to be edited because of the homoerotic aspects, but how even in its edited form it was still so abundant that it was used as evidence in Wilde's trial against him? Well, that is a pretty well known historic fact, so you probably knew that already.
I could give a warning about chapter 11; how it is both the most fascinating and frustrating chapter in any book I've ever read. Wilde goes on at extreme length, seemingly showing off how knowledgeable he is on several subjects, and subtly showing Dorian's descent in to hedonism in the process and ending it with the brilliant line: "There were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his conception of the beautiful."
I could do that I guess, but what would I say about that line?
Theoretically, I guess I could talk say that in context of the chapter, it is important to note that it is the closing line, and practically the exclamation point to all that came before. Prior to that we had a detailed (and I do mean detailed) description of Dorian's pursuits of art, literature, music, jewels, and embroideries (I may be forgetting some, there was a possible over abundance of details). It's monotonous, but that's kind of the point. His life has become a constant stream of entertainments and debauchery to the point where they have become uninteresting. Through his actions (and through Henry's borderline devil on your shoulder conscience suggestions) he has come to look upon these things AS a form of art. It has become his aesthetic (which is a fun play on the look of the picture changing along with his actions and philosophies). Thus, what society has deemed evil, would also be his idea of beauty. That one quote is pretty much the definitive sum up of what Dorian becomes.
I think it also represents a fear of the aesthetics replacing morality, which is something Henry voices as a positive and which Wilde seems to be conflicted about throughout the book. It's interesting to note that Wilde said that "Basil Hallward is what I think I am; Lord Henry what the world thinks me; Dorian what I would like to be in other ages, perhaps." Given that if Henry represents something of an evil conscience (and ideals of aesthetics), Basil is certainly the good one, thought ironically he is also the creator of the portrait and the only "true artist" in the book. This is made more interesting by the fact that Dorian flat out stabs Basil to death.
*Shrug.*
But that's just theoretical. Probably shouldn't even mention it... I guess I could make a joke about how there is only one thing in the world worse than talking about this book, and that is not talking about it.
Oh! I could talk about the idea of the Mandela effect (shared false memory phenomenon) and point out that many people, myself included, were sure that the title of this book was "The Portrait of Dorian Gray," and that there was a bit of genuine shock when I discovered this was not the case (going so far as to look it up and see if it was retitled at some point)... but that would be a pointless digression and would most likely come off as padding to anyone not suffering from the same issue.
*Sigh.*
See, there's just nothing to say about this one. I guess I'll just go with a one sentence review, though I may as well not write a review at all.
Tim's review: A rare 5/5 stars.
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...
...
...
...
"All art is quite useless."
- Oscar Wilde (who I like to think may have appreciated my little joke here as well).
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”
- Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray
*Sits down at a chair and smiles charmingly as a painter works on his portrait.*
Welcome everyone, to my 200th review!
No, no. Enough of that. As a wise book once said, "I don't want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them." Be more vain, sneer a bit, no happy Kermit reactions here.
So, let us begin again. Welcome dear readers to my 200th review.
*Smirks*
Ah, yes, that's much better.
_______________________
So, honestly this was a terrible book to pick for my 200th review. Not because I didn't like it, far, far from that. It's because I'm having a bit of trouble actually coming up with what to say about it. I mean, what is there to say? There is zero point in doing a plot description as even those who have not read the book could probably give a decent synopsis just because of how immensely popular it has been over the 100+ years since its publication.
I could talk about how quotable and witty it is, but it was written by Oscar Wilde, so that really goes without saying.
Should I mention the history of the novel and how it had to be edited because of the homoerotic aspects, but how even in its edited form it was still so abundant that it was used as evidence in Wilde's trial against him? Well, that is a pretty well known historic fact, so you probably knew that already.
I could give a warning about chapter 11; how it is both the most fascinating and frustrating chapter in any book I've ever read. Wilde goes on at extreme length, seemingly showing off how knowledgeable he is on several subjects, and subtly showing Dorian's descent in to hedonism in the process and ending it with the brilliant line: "There were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his conception of the beautiful."
I could do that I guess, but what would I say about that line?
Theoretically, I guess I could talk say that in context of the chapter, it is important to note that it is the closing line, and practically the exclamation point to all that came before. Prior to that we had a detailed (and I do mean detailed) description of Dorian's pursuits of art, literature, music, jewels, and embroideries (I may be forgetting some, there was a possible over abundance of details). It's monotonous, but that's kind of the point. His life has become a constant stream of entertainments and debauchery to the point where they have become uninteresting. Through his actions (and through Henry's borderline devil on your shoulder conscience suggestions) he has come to look upon these things AS a form of art. It has become his aesthetic (which is a fun play on the look of the picture changing along with his actions and philosophies). Thus, what society has deemed evil, would also be his idea of beauty. That one quote is pretty much the definitive sum up of what Dorian becomes.
I think it also represents a fear of the aesthetics replacing morality, which is something Henry voices as a positive and which Wilde seems to be conflicted about throughout the book. It's interesting to note that Wilde said that "Basil Hallward is what I think I am; Lord Henry what the world thinks me; Dorian what I would like to be in other ages, perhaps." Given that if Henry represents something of an evil conscience (and ideals of aesthetics), Basil is certainly the good one, thought ironically he is also the creator of the portrait and the only "true artist" in the book. This is made more interesting by the fact that Dorian flat out stabs Basil to death.
*Shrug.*
But that's just theoretical. Probably shouldn't even mention it... I guess I could make a joke about how there is only one thing in the world worse than talking about this book, and that is not talking about it.
Oh! I could talk about the idea of the Mandela effect (shared false memory phenomenon) and point out that many people, myself included, were sure that the title of this book was "The Portrait of Dorian Gray," and that there was a bit of genuine shock when I discovered this was not the case (going so far as to look it up and see if it was retitled at some point)... but that would be a pointless digression and would most likely come off as padding to anyone not suffering from the same issue.
*Sigh.*
See, there's just nothing to say about this one. I guess I'll just go with a one sentence review, though I may as well not write a review at all.
Tim's review: A rare 5/5 stars.
...
...
...
...
...
"All art is quite useless."
- Oscar Wilde (who I like to think may have appreciated my little joke here as well).
The Picture of Dorian Gray