Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray

Aging isn't nearly as terrifying as the pursuit of eternal youth.

This book makes an incredible social critic that should be read today. Always relating "beauty" and "youth" with "purity". The deep dive in Dorian's mind and how humans can be so easily influenced by their surroundings. The shift of guilt to aliviate ones mind.

Beautifully written, incredibly immersive.

"Life has been your art. You have set yourself to music. Your days have been your sonnets." I wish i could quote this entire passage by Lord Henry.

Content Warnings

rebecca_77's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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fr3y's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

A tad fruity ✨💅🏳️‍🌈

Content Warnings

mandaoof's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

If you prefer books with likeable characters, this isn't the book for you. Two of the main characters are horrible people essentially, but Oscar Wilde was absolutely fantastic at keeping his readers sucked into the book and making it difficult to put down. The story is essentially a train crash of a character and a massive cautionary tale of its own. It is a definite reread one day.

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weaverca's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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

2.5

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purplel1on's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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wolfthorn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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

3.0

I haven't read The Picture of Dorian Gray, but I have seen a television adaptation of it so I am aware of the plot. Before actually getting to the novel, there's a General Introduction and then a Textual Introduction. I found the General Introduction to be quite long-winded and hard going, but at the same time it was very interesting to learn about the background of the novel and why there is an uncensored version in the first place! It was also quite helpful in explaining aestheticism and how the moral is regarding the life of an aesthete which I probably wouldn't have understood the same.

The novel itself was much easier to read than I feared after struggling through the General Introduction. I did find Chapter 9 quite heavy going, and not just for the ridiculously lengthy sentences! I felt like I was missing a lot of references, and did have to look up various names, although that was more down to my lack of knowledge than a fault of the book. It was interesting to read about the lifestyle and how men of prestige spent their time. I was a little disappointed however, to be unable to find any of the scandalous homoerotic content that so shocked the 19th century readers. I think there is some hidden meaning in various phrases that I am missing which is a shame.

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