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dark
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Drug use
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this for ENGL 202 at UW. I loved all the passages in Dorian's mind as he grappled with conflicting desires of youth and beauty versus his darker interior. Lord Henry was well characterized---a constant annoyance to me with his incessant philosophies on life. The different evil developments throughout the story interested me, and as Dorian's mind was truly corrupted there were some great descriptions.
What brought it down for me was my inability to relate to 19th century rich men; countless references to plays, poems, art, and just the overall vibe of richness made some passages unbearable---especially Chapter 11 when Dorian is seeking every worldly pleasure in order to distract himself.
That said, it was a good slow-burn story with surprising developments, and a very open-ended and intriguing ending.Also RIP Basil; he was the only character in the whole book I could stand
What brought it down for me was my inability to relate to 19th century rich men; countless references to plays, poems, art, and just the overall vibe of richness made some passages unbearable---especially Chapter 11 when Dorian is seeking every worldly pleasure in order to distract himself.
That said, it was a good slow-burn story with surprising developments, and a very open-ended and intriguing ending.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Murder
Minor: Drug use, Pedophilia
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Damn near perfect
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Grief, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria
Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, Murder, Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Blood, Alcohol, Classism
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Let me lose my 💩 for a moment! I totally forgot I owned a copy of Dorian Grey. I went through a short lived phase of trying to collect as many penguin classics as possible. Unfortunately cause I own so many books, I forget I owned this and almost re-brought recently when I went out shopping.
Anyway...I've heard so much about this. I know it has stage plays and I haven't seen any. But now I can form my own idea of how this book can be interpreted.
When I read books I usually don't care about the author. No offence but your personal life is none of my business. But for some reason I decided to google Oscar Wilde. Bruh, what world have I been living under to find out he was gay and this book was written because he wanted to live openly in a society that excluded gay people.
I aboustely love "old english" books. I love the way English has evolved to what it currently is and how poetic in a sense something used to be.
So, this story is supposed to be how Wilde saw himself or at least a verison he wished he could be. I didn't see the gay subtext that was supposedly littered through but rather I saw a reckless, selfish, curious, imaginative man. A man who acts highly yet somehow easily influenced while feeling so certain of himself. If that's how Oscar Wilde wanted himself to be than that's something else entirely.
Anyway...I've heard so much about this. I know it has stage plays and I haven't seen any. But now I can form my own idea of how this book can be interpreted.
When I read books I usually don't care about the author. No offence but your personal life is none of my business. But for some reason I decided to google Oscar Wilde. Bruh, what world have I been living under to find out he was gay and this book was written because he wanted to live openly in a society that excluded gay people.
I aboustely love "old english" books. I love the way English has evolved to what it currently is and how poetic in a sense something used to be.
So, this story is supposed to be how Wilde saw himself or at least a verison he wished he could be. I didn't see the gay subtext that was supposedly littered through but rather I saw a reckless, selfish, curious, imaginative man. A man who acts highly yet somehow easily influenced while feeling so certain of himself. If that's how Oscar Wilde wanted himself to be than that's something else entirely.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Alcohol, Dysphoria
challenging
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria
Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Antisemitism
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Murder
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't know why I always assumed Dorian Gray was the top of this bad influence pyramid scheme, I'd not heard much about Lord Henry before reading. I thought I was gonna be turned off by the philosophical discussions, but it was just banger line after banger line whether or not it was an actually insane thing to say. Only one snooze fest chapter, where is was just 'heres the history of jewels and embroidery and shit'. Kinda miss when characters who symbolize something came with a name to match (Vane wants to kill Dorian, are you kidding me?).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Classism
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder
Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, Antisemitism
Minor: Drug use, Racism
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
fuck lord henry all my homies hate lord henry. good on victoria for leaving that miserable POS. rich people should have their excesses seized. get a job. my copy of this book was old and withered and musty like dorian gray and his crusty ass. basil <3 bby you didnt deserve what you got <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Classism
Moderate: Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation
Minor: Infidelity, Slavery