Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

15 reviews

hot_water's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, and Suicide

Moderate: Misogyny and Murder

seawarrior's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

While some passages in this book were terribly dull to me, Wilde's dazzling language and audacious characters kept drawing my interest back in. I'm fortunate to have just read the works of a few of the philosophers referenced in this book for college, though I'm sure there were several references to other works of literature and ethics systems that went over my head. The edition of the book I had access to did not provide citations of other works Wilde referenced, but I imagine one that did would have only made my reading experience richer. 

I'm sure that most of what I can say about this book in regards to its philosophy and history has already been said by someone more knowledgeable that me, so I won't go into my thoughts on those matters. As a horror story I think it still holds up well in the modern day. Dorian's descent into soullessness grows more chilling by the chapter, as his sins culminate and lead to his ultimate end. Wilde's wit and descriptive language made the scenery and characters come alive, and as the book went on I felt it less challenging to make sense of his dense paragraphs and philosophies. I would recommend this book to other readers. It remains a classic not only for Wilde's adept writing, but the controversy it caused at the time of publication. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Misogyny, Suicide, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Antisemitism, and Grief

maddy_s's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Homophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Suicide, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing

taniethrifter's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death of parent, and Alcohol

curatoriallyyours's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It somewhat picked up the pace in the end but not much happens until half way through the book. Prior to that it's all just unlikeable characters bantering and being ever so clever or ever so dramatic. It was OK. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, and Death of parent