Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

20 reviews

peggy_racham's review against another edition

4.75

"The sin we had done once, and with loathing, we would do many times, and with joy."

I really liked the censored version without knowing much about it. This was so much better, more complex and more queer. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Murder, Racism, Infidelity, Misogyny, Violence, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Gore, Homophobia, and Toxic friendship

tiredgarlicbread's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Antisemitism, Misogyny, Sexism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Alcohol

wrensandroses's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Classism, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Misogyny, Grief, and Sexism

larseneiii's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-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

3.5

top ten books that would not exist if an elitist man knew when to shut up (fuck lord henry all my homies hate lord henry!!)

ps i put adult/minor relationship in the trigger warnings as a way to say there is a pederastic relationship that made me uncomfy

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

warlockdorian's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

cowardlyteaman's review

emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.5

While the focus here isn't primarily anyone's sexuality (though it is mentioned), but Dorian's own relation with himself and the not traditionally masculine way this was written. I can see how this is an important piece in LGBT history.

I really enjoyed this read, and I love how varied the characters personalities are. On the question «Is the cast diverse?» I said no only because they're all white and in connection to the upper class, and that's what I assume the question is about, not the personality of the characters themselves.

This was wonderfully written, and entertaining as well, but the little thing I'm missing is a personal relation to them. I liked Basil, I liked Dorian, but neither evoked any stronger feeling than that.

Also, I must say that I got nervous for a while there, but am glad it ended with some death and tragedy.

Definitely worth a read! It's not very long, and has a limited set of important characters, so it's not hard to keep up with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Blood, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Antisemitism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, and Sexism

bxnnny's review against another edition

challenging 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

1.0

i found this book to be incredibly dull. the first 60 pages or so consist entirely of two introductions to the story, giving context for the political climate of the time this was published and the fact that so much of the original story was altered or removed. this is supposed to be the original, unaltered, more "graphic" version. but it wasn't graphic at all and was in fact quite a boring and dense letdown. i struggled to get through this because the writing was so dense, the monologues were long, and i just wasn't absorbing much of the information, mainly when lord henry would go on his long, misogynistic rants or the entire chapter in which about a decade of dorian's life passes. i truly have little clue what all was said in that chapter because it was just nonsense! long paragraphs of nonsense. the homosexuality was tame and mildly alluded to and nowhere near as graphic as it was made out to be and if i could travel back in time, i would simply tell everyone to grow up.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, and Antisemitism

blackberryjambaby's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, and Misogyny

Moderate: Xenophobia and Antisemitism

Minor: Racism

jessthanthree's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic friendship, Blood, Death, Infidelity, and Misogyny

Minor: Alcohol, Child abuse, and Body horror

reverie_and_books's review against another edition

dark relaxing sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Oscar Wildes »The Picture of Dorian Gray« caused quite a stir in its uncensored edition in the 1890s: Britain was on a mission of “morale” to expose gay men. Wildes case, some argue, didn’t exactly help, largely because he didn’t back down in time and put others in danger. Wilde had already made a name for himself, so they made an example out of his case. He was sentenced to two years of hard labour. The prosecutors used quotes from this uncensored text, since they were alluding to s*xual inversion (another term of that time). 

If you've read the censored novel, you'll notice that this edition is missing some storylines and entire chapters. More importantly, Basils adoration for Dorian is way more tangible:

»I quite admit that I adored you madly, extravagantly, absurdly. […] There was love in every line, and in every touch there was passion.«

Dorian Gray was one of the firsts English classics I’ve read and it still is a favorite. Reading it a second time, albeit in a different edition, I enjoyed it even more. It’s been sitting on my shelf for quite a while. The newly published historical fiction  »The New Life« finally made me pick it up - my review will follow soon.

Also, Nicholas Frankel wrote a thorough and interesting introduction. I wholeheartedly recommend this to everyone who enjoyed the better known version or is interested in lgbtq+ history of Britain.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Murder, and Misogyny

Minor: Drug abuse and Antisemitism