Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

793 reviews

kaylin_michelle's review against another edition

1.0

dark 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

Kind felt random at times, there are many different aspects to the novel. I was also confused but overall the book had a very deep message

Content Warnings

ciel_nemo's review against another edition

2.0

tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Génial et détestable

Absolument détestable. Très bien mis en image. Les deux points sont pour le motif récurrent du portrait en dernière case sur toutes les pages impaires, du génie. Une excellente BD pour qui veut découvrir cette œuvre sans lire le roman.

Content Warnings

kreglow's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I will be honest: I did not care for the published version of Dorian Gray that most people are familiar with. It felt unfocused and seemed like a wild (or, perhaps Wilde) pursuit of tangents that felt like diversions rather than conducive to the story. As it turns out, this instinct was somewhat correct, as this original, uncensored version of Wilde's novel is much more focused, while allowing for Wilde to be creative and philosophical while still telling an engaging story. Gone are subplots and a cumbersome second half that seemed to have been added to fill pages, and in their stead are excerpts removed from the original draft that deepen the character relationships and make for a more engaging and tragic story. This is the version people should look for.

There is also a rather long introduction at the beginning of the book. Whether you choose to read it first or skip it and come back to it later, I highly recommend reading it, as it provides a lot more historical context and shows how Wilde's time shaped the work in all its forms.

Content Warnings

samyacosta's review against another edition

3.25

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Dorian Gray is a young and good-looking aristocrat when he sits for a portrait at the well-known painter Basil Hallward's studio. There he meets Lord Henry Wotten for the first time, who talks about how youth and beauty doesn't last long. Dorian gets annoyed and wishes that his portrait would grow old instead of himself; he would give his soul for that!

I read this book when I was young and have always claimed it to be one of my favorite classics. For a long time I've wanted to do a re-read to see if I still feel the same, and when my bookclub was going to read a classic we decided to read Dorian Gray. Unfortunatly I didn't enjoy it as much this time, but at least there's a lot to discuss so it works well as a bookclub choice!

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" got a lot of criticism when it first came out. But the reason it has become a classic is because of the timeless and universal themes: love, friendship, vanity, selfishness. To be young and good-looking is as important (if not more so) today than it was a hundred years ago, even if times have changed. Maybe it would be a bit easier to "digest" if it were set in a more modern setting? As of now the language feels a tad old-fashioned and bombastic. And none of the characters come off as being likeable...

To sum up this "review" I would say that I like the concept of the story, but the achievement makes it quite hard and sometimes boring to read. I'm still glad I read it again, even though it was somewhat disappointing.

Content Warnings

xavier_yates's review against another edition

4.0

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

charlieeew's review against another edition

2.0

Content Warnings

heron17's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

aly97's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

hazellikestoread's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark informative reflective 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

I’m really not sure what to rate this book. It was undeniably good, and the context in which it was written and what is has to say about that society is fascinating. From a modern perspective, not much happened in the book and there were a lot of statements characters gave that I disagreed with- lord Henry wonton seemed awfully full of himself. But keeping in mind the context, it was an excellent read.

Content Warnings

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