Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

181 reviews

starryknightace's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

1.5

Such an interesting concept but didn't age well into the 21st century. With controversial anti-Semitism and misogyny dotted throughout the story it made it easy to dislike the characters and made for an interesting read. I personally struggle with the classic English writing style and found at times struggling to understand what I was reading, Wilde uses a lot of flowery descriptive paragraphs, which were quite honestly, boring. I found myself 70 pages in and gritting my teeth to get through the rest. Admittedly the action did somewhat pick up and I found myself enthralled to see the confliction in Dorian Gray's moral come to blows. A bit of a lackluster climax but definitely can see the appeal and why the novel is still considered a classic.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, and Drug use

Minor: Racial slurs, Sexism, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Antisemitism

valreadsallnight's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was, is, amazing.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Sexism, and Suicide

Minor: Antisemitism

The instance of antisemitism happened only early in the novel, but it is really, really viscerally pungent. So prepare yourself,

it happens when Dorian is talking to Henry about the theatre owner, and continues until the first major event of the book.

alyssapusateri's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Body horror, Death, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Drug use, Classism, Drug abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Infidelity and Antisemitism

theliteraryteapot's review against another edition

dark 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

2.25

Alright, I didn't like it. The constant misogyny is insufferable and the philosophical aspect gets quickly annoying. And the story isn't that much interesting to me. I like the gothic elements though.
On the other hand, I loved the prose (I read a 1958 French translation).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Antisemitism, Blood, Classism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Drug use

carla20's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Classism, Suicide, Blood, Death, and Drug use

hocuscrocus's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

It's a slow start, but once it picks up it hooks ya! The prose, while gorgeous, did make for a bit of a slog at times. Overall, I'm glad I read it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Classism, and Drug use

Moderate: Antisemitism, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Racism

sagelikesscats's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I will definitely return to this book. Great writing, great characters, and an amazing ending. I did find that all of the rich people problems get annoying towards the end, but still a fantastic book about beauty, morality, and heathenism.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Murder, Mental illness, Death, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Addiction, Classism, Drug use, and Infidelity

Minor: Sexual content, Classism, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Suicide

The classism is less of a thing that happens and more of a general presence throughout the book.

kananineko's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I loved this! Great classic. Probably one of the most digestible bc of its relatively short length. My only complaint would be that some sections dragged in the middle to me (all the super long descriptions of what Dorian was learning)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death, Gun violence, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Stalking, Classism, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Drug use, Infidelity, Racism, and Death of parent

thequeercaseofmarius's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Dark, bewitching, and so very gay. 

‘Why is your friendship so fateful to young men?’ 

In The Picture of Dorian Gray; Oscar Wilde crafts a narrative of Queer love, desire, vanity, and fear, embodied in a twink who wishes to remain young and beautiful forever. Wilde’s only novel is one that is both frighteningly fantastical, but also harrowingly personal. In Dorian we see the picture of the dark version of ourselves; the Hyde to our Jekyll, and it is his ability to transform with each reader that makes The Picture of Dorian Gray so enduring as a staple of Queer Literature, and one of the bestselling titles in Penguin’s Classics series.

Wilde’s writing and descriptions are breathtakingly beautiful, so much so that I would find myself rereading the same sentences over and over again. Wilde’s genius and intellect is also evident in the text, and his use of Queercoding through historical and art references is very clever.

Our main cast of characters are so very gay, and it’s crazy because it’s almost like Wilde met my gay friends and acquaintances and wrote a book about us (I like to think that I am Basil). But I also see each character as a different side to the Queer experience; Basil being the Queer artist who represents the beauty and tenderness of love between men, Lord Henry as the witty sass Queen that gay men are often viewed as from the outside, and Dorian represents Queer fears and anxieties that most of us have experienced some point in our life. The result is one of the most ingenious Queer horror stories ever written. 

The Picture of Dorian Gray should be a (not-so) straight five-stars, however it does contain some racism and anti-semitism that I can’t ignore. It is a book of it’s time, but I’m also aware of writers and people from Wilde’s time who tried their best at not being racist. I think it’s important to appreciate this novel for everything good about it, but also to recognise it’s faults rather than excuse them, so that we as the readers can grow as people. 

‘Each man sees his own sin in Dorian Gray. What Dorian Gray’s sins are no one knows. He who finds them has brought them.’

-Oscar Wilde 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Violence, Body horror, Drug use, Murder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Drug abuse, and Death

Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicide, Antisemitism, Classism, and Racism

Minor: Misogyny and Sexism

This novel is VERY dark as it covers a lot of internalised homophobia and fear of your own Queerness.

ash_is_reading_books's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

A truly fantastic insight into vanity, pretty privilege and social influence. Wilde's writing is captivating and his characters feel so life-like they could exist anywhere

Readers should be warned that, due to the time period it was written in, it's important to be aware that this novel contains misogyny and anti-semitism. Personally, I'm grateful that this hasn't been edited out, as doing so would erase and airbrush the experiences of these groups

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death

Minor: Antisemitism and Drug use