The Picture of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde 

Review of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

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       I think this story ok but, there is a huge chunk in the middle of this book that does nothing but list off different jewels that he collected among other ramblings. Why must there be page after page of junk in the middle of a book that has nothing to do what so ever with the story. I can not stand that. For this I can only give The Picture of Dorian Gray a 2 out of 5 rating. Not one I would recommend.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde was reviewed by Shannon

       One of my most favourite novels. It deals with the human nature and shakes our beliefs regarding what is moral and what is immoral. Also it arouses a desire to behave just like the antagonist who is the protagonist as well. It makes us wish to have a boon just like Dorian, even if it leads to moral degradation and destruction of the soul at it highest level. It reveals the darker side and desires of the human race as whole. Then the longing for permanent youth, immortality and pleasures throughout the life are described just in the manner they are. A must read, even for those who are not so keen on reading.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde was reviewed by Umangi

       This novel might have the most creative premise in all literature. It's about a cold hearted opium smoking Englishmen who remains young while a hidden mysterious self portrait ages in his place. This is a brilliant story about the corruption of the soul and the ending--one of my favorite endings ever--captures that theme perfectly. There's a few things I didn't like about the story, like all the homosexuality and some of Oscar Wilde's ramblings, but i would highly recommend this novel. I would give it a 9 out of 10.  This is a work of the mind. Super creative.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde was reviewed by Frank Manner

       Firstly, I'd like to begin by going on record as saying that the vast majority of Victorian prose literature disgusts me. It's boring. It's pretentious. And above all, extremely outdated.
Ah. Now that I've got that out of my system I'd also like to add that "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is none of these. It's engaging, well-written, and one of the most perceptive examinations of human folly and corruption ever written.
When I opened this book I expected the very worse (approaching it, of course, with my fierce and uncompromising hatred of Henry James and Emily Bronte, the worst offenders), but once I had finished the first chapter, I read the second, then the third, then the fourth, until I was so deeply engrossed by the novel that I couldn't put it down for two whole days.
The poisonous views of Lord Henry, though contadictory in some cases, were strangely inviting, spewed against the backdrop of the pompous Victorian formalities that smothered nineteenth century Britain and although dangerous and ultimately destructive, one can't help feeling that any alternative to the above mentioned is worth a crack.
       As those who have read the novel know, it is with this perspective that the clean-cut Dorian Gray approaches Henry's influence, seeing it as an escape from the drudgery of tea-parties and opera, talk of economics and pseudo-interest in the politics of the day, preferring instead to explore London's darker side. To, as Lord Henry puts it, "engage in a new hedonism."
       You can't help but feel a pang of jealousy well up inside when you discover that, not only can Dorian find solace in this underworld, but that he can do it without consequence. His portrait carries the weight of his corruption, ages for him, weeps for him - you'd imagine that if there were hands protruding from the frame that the portrait would relax him after a long day of fucking women and smoking hash by giving him a back rub.
       All in vain of course as we discover that the burden of his emotion (which he, himself is still obliged to carry) outweighs the corresponding physical decay of his picture and, eventually driven insane wth guilt, stabs his portrait with the very knife he murdered his best friend with - thus killing himself and leaving the reader to wallow in speculation and self-doubt

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde was reviewed by J-RoNiMo

       The prose takes some getting used to but the theme is compelling. Can one lead a hedonistic, amoral life without destroying themselves and others? The main character is seemingly able to do this, because the physical consequences of his depraved life are taken on by the picture, instead of his own body. In that sense, he remains "young". Unfortunately, the moral consequences, something he was conditioned by Lord Henry to believe are illusions, continue to fester inside him. People are destroyed by Dorian Gray's life of the senses; ultimately, he is too. If Victorian morality is considered to be overly rigid, this rejection of any morality is even worse.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde was reviewed by Tom

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