Reviews with content warning for Animal death - The Picture of Dorian Gray

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

31 reviews

olive_lol's review against another edition

3.5

dark mysterious 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

Content Warnings

fe_aye's review against another edition

2.5

lighthearted mysterious 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

lizziaha's review against another edition

4.0

reflective

I do think this book is mostly Oscar Wilde taking the opportunity to poke fun at anything and everything while trying to be absolutely charming. I did not agree with every little quip or moral that the book had to offer but I suspect that I am not supposed to. I do find Wilde’s treatment of women to be a little sus, as always. But the Faustian bargain—the main crux of the story—is intriguing. I think I might appreciate the book more upon rereading it.

Content Warnings

stvalentine's review against another edition

4.75

dark inspiring mysterious fast-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

disorienting time skips overpowered by dreamy prose and an insanely charming main character - speaks to everyone who has a strong fear of growing old couldn't be me!!! (say what you want about this book if there was a painting of me that could make me look gorgeously young forever i would take it) fr a must read for the lgbt community!!! mr. wilde an icon of gay literature and scandal and so good at making something that is such a human emotion seem so foreign and wrong and bloody!!
this book is like really strong perfume

Content Warnings

madisonbell_'s review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

steffan_tastic's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Almost none of the characters in this book have an ounce of likeability to them, but I love to hate them. I cried (publicly) after

Basil's confession and subsequent rejection

, and when I finished the book today I sat silently in amazement, for ending (I felt) was so well-executed. It could have used fewer tangents, plus antisemitism and sexism showed the book's age, but otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and think that many of the debates and characters within are still relevant in the modern day. Wilde's portrayal of yearning ("worship") is heartbreaking, and its exploration of the theme of vanity and its manifestation in Dorian's character and decisions is shocking and provocative. I also just really love drama, and this book has a lot of it.

Content Warnings

pershie13's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Wow. This. Was. Phenomenal. The writing and pacing were good, the story was gripping, and I was wondering how this book was going to end literally until the last sentence. This is my favorite classic I've read so far and easily deserves five stars!

Content Warnings

mars2k's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional 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

I knew of Oscar Wilde, of course, but this was my first time actually reading his work. I found it difficult not to use the book as a means of analysing its writer. He was known for his wit but was he genuinely clever or just good at appearing clever? Maybe there’s no distinction. Maybe it’s foolish of me to try to judge the character of a man by the work he creates. Wilde himself rebuked the idea that art should be taken as autobiography, that works of fiction reveal something about the writer. Then again, he also wrote in a letter “[The Picture of Dorian Gray] contains much of me in it — Basil Hallward is what I think I am; Lord Henry, what the world thinks of me; Dorian is what I would like to be — in other ages, perhaps.” It’s hard not to read the story as a reflection of its author to some extent.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is so much gayer than I expected. Like, it’s difficult to even describe it as subtext. It’s right there, unmistakable despite careful censorship, from chapter one onwards. I have to admit, this kind of pining, withholding, and hinting at queerness appeals to me far more than the uncomplicated “representation” we tend to see nowadays. I acknowledge literature like this comes from a society in which homosexuality was criminalised and deeply stigmatised – the ambiguity I adore wasn’t just a stylistic choice, it was a necessity – but it resonates with me in a way modern queer media just doesn’t.

The story is dominated by the theme of influence (and its inverse, impressionability). It’s handled well for the most part but I don’t really understand the significance of

the book Lord Henry recommends to Dorian. I know that some scholars identify it as an ode to either The Yellow Book or Huysmans’s Against Nature, and that the idea of a “poisonous book” was accentuated in later editions in response to the controversy surrounding this very novel upon its publication. In other words, I know that Wilde was playing with the idea of an immoral piece of literature corrupting (read: queering) young minds. That said, Dorian is already affected by the picture painted by Basil Hallward and the mirror given to him by Lord Henry, not to mention Lord Henry’s words; the addition of the corrupting book seemed to overcomplicate what was otherwise quite an elegant concept.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is good. I wasn’t blown away by it, but the premise is solid and I was pleasantly surprised by how audaciously queer it is. I can see why it’s considered a classic. Definitely worth a read.

Content Warnings