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adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame. You will always be fond of me. I represent to you all the sins you never had the courage to commit.
This.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Murder
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
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.
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: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Antisemitism, Classism
Minor: Misogyny, Sexism
This novel is VERY dark as it covers a lot of internalised homophobia and fear of your own Queerness.
dark
funny
lighthearted
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
A classic. Knowing some tidbits about Oscar Wilde’s life history definitely added to the reading experience. Undeniably a gay icon.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood
dark
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
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Misogyny
Minor: Suicide
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
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Classism
Minor: Animal death
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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, Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Antisemitism
Minor: Drug use, Suicide
dark
emotional
mysterious
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 love this book and it's exploration of morality. Not many classics I've read have managed to grip me as much as this story did. I would have loved to have seen more of the corrupt and self destructive behaviours exhibited by Dorian but with the censorship of the time it wouldn't have been possible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism
Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Suicide, Antisemitism, Gaslighting
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body horror, Drug use, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Antisemitism, Alcohol
Minor: Addiction, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Classism
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
this book is like really strong perfume
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death
Minor: Drug use