Reviews with content warning for Antisemitism - El retrato de Dorian Gray

Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

El retrato de Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

371 reviews

hoiyan's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

fantomerrant's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Oh, how to begin talking about this book? I adored it, despite it being clearly problematic at times (misogyny, antisemitism, romanticizing adults attracted to children and the likes, though some of it isn't clear whether it is coming from the characters or the author) but it is also so wonderful. Wilde's prose is incredibly poetic but by all means, my favourite thing about this classic is all the references and themes of beauty and greek ideals, as well as tragedy, terror and fatality, because it parallels my favourite book of all time: The Secret History. I wonder if Donna Tartt drew some of her inspiration from Wilde, and more specifically Dorian Gray.

"Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic" "Beauty is terror, whatever we call beautiful we quiver before it"

"There is something fatal about a portrait" "Does such a thing as the fatal flaw, that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs"

Dorian, which at times does remind me a little of Henry, is constantly being referred to as greek figures like Appollo or Narcissus. The way Sybil, his first love, is described reminds me a lot of Camilla.

There's also this romanticising of suicide/death where Sybil's, and later Basil's, ends are seen as a beautiful thing, through the lens of Shakespearean references like Romeo and Juliet or Ophelia, and it is simply used as a device to further Dorian's transformation.

As an artist myself, this novel, just like the works it draws parallels with, really touched me. I found the end of both the book and of Dorian's, incredibly fitting. How he, or rather his youth, it's memory, ended up absorbed in his portrait, as it was always meant to. How his soul, and its true nature, was released as Dorian enacts the final act, which reflects what he himself admired in his love interests, which is to kill himself, though quite inadvertently.

As a queer person, I can’t end this review without mentioning that I appreciated reading a classic written by another queer person, despite Wilde being problematic. And I appreciated all the queer subtext, if you can call it that (as to me, it was the clearest thing). I believe this book to be about the tragic love story of Dorian and Basil, or at least, of Basil's love for Dorian, and Dorian's love for himself.

Content Warnings

ekmook's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

Content Warnings

clovetra's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

i find my feelings very hard to put into words. i cant describe how this book made me feel. it is topsy-turvy, it changes its pace midway through, and is constantly adapting itself.
i do think the online "hype" about this book makes this book overrated - but it still is a good book! i do feel as though this is one of those books when just reading it in isolation renders it a 3-star read, but with the introduction & biography following wilde, as well as context for the time in which it was written, the story opens itself up.
i found the plot to lowkey be all over the place? i mean up until sibyl is

murdered

i was enjoying this, and understood the hype. but following that plot point, this book does a complete 180, and i didn't know what to expect. the entire tone shifts almost instantaneously that night in the theatre, and i think its a neat comparison for

dorian's descent into madness from the painting to begin in a theatre - art destroying art in a sense

. but yet again, without deeper analysis & trying to read this book just as it is à la 'death of the author', this book would not be as good, and honestly that's why it isnt a 5-star. that and the writing gave me a headache many of times because i had no clue what i had just read because 75 words no longer used in the english language were present in a sentence that was 7 lines long. i get that's how classics are written but doesn't mean i have to like it!!
anyways, what else do i have to say? honestly i fail to truly grasp this book as well, i think because a lot of wilde's obvious intentions were masqueraded in subtext, and i am not good at subtext!! at all!! i am not a very smart reader (unless im actively trying to solve a mystery novel. then i become mf sherlock holmes).
i enjoyed basil & dorian's characterisations, but henry's seemed to go over my head. i think im gonna have to read a deep analysis of his character because i seriously don't get how it is insinuated

henry sends dorian down his corrupt path

. yet again that could be because i missed the subtext or actually had no idea what i was reading due to the language used. sue me.
i reallllyyy enjoyed the ending. the book lowkey kinda floundered in the middle, but picked up again at full steam at around chapter 12.
also no shade but chapter 11 isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be. if im honest its probably the most important chapter of the book!!!
anyways booktwt dont sue me for not liking it, sue my brain for being a dumb ass bitch.

edit 30/7/24: nvm im bumping it a star up cuz im up thinking about the ending

Content Warnings

neali's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

micaela11's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

2.5

overall interesting but all those quotes about women, society and morality were way too on the nose and extremely repetitive, i guess at the time it might have been shocking because people weren't allowed to say stuff like that but side eye if you find it really smart now

Content Warnings

archiveofrasa's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I prefer this version ever so slightly to the 1891 version and the reasons have never been so obvious (this is Textually Gay)

Content Warnings

archiveofrasa's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

it's a classic what else can I say

Content Warnings

almaprincess66's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Mostmár biztosan tudni fogom az utalásokat amiket erre a könyvre tesznek.

Újonnan, ez egy olyan klasszikus mű, mely saját szerepet tölt be a pop-kultúrában, s így a róla szóló információimból teljesen másra számítottam.

Most elkezdhetnék filozofálni, de az szegény Basil kárára menne. Nem kellett volna meghalnia. Szegény szerelmi tragédia.

Dorian a könyv vége felé már szinte teljesen szerethetetlen lett és ezt a narratíva nagyon jól csinálta.

Henry. Henry. Henry. Mit mondjak rólad? A karakteredet imádom de a nézeteidet sokkal kevésbé. The egy borzalmas ember vagy, egy paradoxon gép de legalább te és a környezeted is tudja.

És akkor drága egyetlen Sibyl. Te ártatlan gyermek. Neked se kellett volna meghalnod.

Mindenki aki jó úton járt és jól cselekedett meghalt! (Kivéve Dorian-t mert ő csak hiún cselekedett)

Nem tudom ez az üzenet mit akar átadni, talán azt, hogy a szerelem tragédia és minden jó elnyeri méltó büntetését a végén.

A festmény mint metafora nagyon tetszett. Főleg, hogy rájátszott a metaforára és beleépítette a történetbe. Hogy a történet egy meghatározó eleme egy ennyire elénk helyezett metafora volt.

Összeségében remek mű, vicces, tragikus, frappáns és száz százalékik megértem miért vitték az írót miatta bíróság elé.

R.I.P. Basil Hallward, te és Nick Carraway nagyon jó barátok lettetek volna!

Content Warnings

infernosballad's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark reflective tense fast-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

4.0

Content Warnings

More...