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dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've been wanted to read this for awhile and I'm so glad I finally finished it. I believe this is my most annotated book, I love looking at all my notes. They look so beautiful.
But anyway, on to the plot: This book is very predictable. I predicted all the major events but that's not really a problem since the pull of the book is it's philosophical ideas. There were a lot of amazing quotes that I know I'll be thinking of for while.
But anyway, on to the plot: This book is very predictable. I predicted all the major events but that's not really a problem since the pull of the book is it's philosophical ideas. There were a lot of amazing quotes that I know I'll be thinking of for while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Suicide, Blood
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism, Grief
Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Stalking, Toxic friendship
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Murder
Minor: Drug use
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
I can’t believe they wrote a booked based on the hit indie game ‘Omori’ :0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Toxic friendship
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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, Murder, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism
Minor: Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Outing, Classism
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a book that is very clear in its goals, in what it criticises and what it defends. Vanity, selfishness, the way a sense of unconditional impunity is enough to make a man turn cruel and indifferent to the effects of his actions on others… You’ve heard it around and you will hear it screamed at you from the pages while reading.
Some motifs here, like the flowers (especially lilacs, which symbolise youth, innocence and purity) and the mirror (emphasis on the one gifted to Dorian by Lord Henry), are so powerful that seeing them reappear made me sit there in awe.
I enjoyed the writing and some passages truly struck me.
Some motifs here, like the flowers (especially lilacs, which symbolise youth, innocence and purity) and the mirror (emphasis on the one gifted to Dorian by Lord Henry), are so powerful that seeing them reappear made me sit there in awe.
I enjoyed the writing and some passages truly struck me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Suicide
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
I found this a very interesting book. It's honestly a bit surprising I am 24 and haven't read it before, especially given I grew up in a family heavily focused on academics and then got an English degree. I enjoyed it, and I do think I shoud have read it earlier, but I'm glad I have gotten to it now.
I found it an interesting book to use as a touchstone when thinking about the rise of anti-intellectualism in today's modern culture. Lord Henry is someone who is not an intellectual, constantly and openly refusing to engage with anything around him on a true level, but is harrolded by many as a great philosopher, even being a main linchpin in the corruption of Dorian at the beginning. Throughout the narrative, Dorian parrots things Lord Henry has espoused, and continues to encourage a culture of beauty over intelligence or careful thought. Lord Henry is able to avoid consequence by simply not acting on any of the things he says, but Dorian, who says those things as if he does not care, seems incapable of not acting. He is actively seeking the pleasure that Lord Henry insists is there, not noticing when Henry is not doing the same.
The murder of Basil is simply the culmination of this idea that to care about something in a truthful way is wrong. Basil is insulted by both Lord Henry and Dorian in the latter half of the book for being principled. When he acts on his principles, he is acting in a way that Dorian finds tedious and even difficult to endure! Dorian acts as if he is being tortured by having to listen to Basil say that committing transgressions is immoral, and even as he regrets murdering him, he still continues to assert to himself that Basil should not have "put him through" what he was saying.
This idea that beauty is something that is earned by being good and that death is the deserved ending of those who act immorally is something that I will probably take longer to think about. I would probably identify it as the key theme of the novel, which brings up lots of questions. Why is Oscar Wilde so interested in beauty as a concept? Why does he feel inclined to write about it in this way? The idea that death is the natural end of those who are improper is not a new one, especially in the writing of Wilde's cohorts, but this fascination with beauty as emblematic of character, while a common conception at the time, is something that seems unusual.
I found it an interesting book to use as a touchstone when thinking about the rise of anti-intellectualism in today's modern culture. Lord Henry is someone who is not an intellectual, constantly and openly refusing to engage with anything around him on a true level, but is harrolded by many as a great philosopher, even being a main linchpin in the corruption of Dorian at the beginning. Throughout the narrative, Dorian parrots things Lord Henry has espoused, and continues to encourage a culture of beauty over intelligence or careful thought. Lord Henry is able to avoid consequence by simply not acting on any of the things he says, but Dorian, who says those things as if he does not care, seems incapable of not acting. He is actively seeking the pleasure that Lord Henry insists is there, not noticing when Henry is not doing the same.
This idea that beauty is something that is earned by being good and that death is the deserved ending of those who act immorally is something that I will probably take longer to think about. I would probably identify it as the key theme of the novel, which brings up lots of questions. Why is Oscar Wilde so interested in beauty as a concept? Why does he feel inclined to write about it in this way? The idea that death is the natural end of those who are improper is not a new one, especially in the writing of Wilde's cohorts, but this fascination with beauty as emblematic of character, while a common conception at the time, is something that seems unusual.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body horror, Sexism, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Drug use, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Classism
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-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
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Murder
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Antisemitism
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
Now this is a classic. Dorian Gray goes through quite the transformation and endangers and disappoints many around him. The ending was very satisfying.
If only he had stayed closer to Basil, but of course Lord Henry had to pollute his mind with that yellow book.
Chapter eleven is really long and kind of boring and almost bumped this book down a star.
Chapter eleven is really long and kind of boring and almost bumped this book down a star.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Homophobia