Reviews

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

shangrila's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.75

groovygherkin's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

peachypqstry's review against another edition

3.0

I can't even begin to describe this book, mainly because I don't think that there are meaningful enough words to describe it.
I'll admit that most of the time I couldn't really understand what I was reading and had to go over it twice or three times to fully grasp the concept.
The book is so rich in words, descriptions and thoughts that it made me feel as of I was bathing in knowledge that was right in front of me and yet still too far to grab it.
I loved it. Well, most of it (yes, I'm looking at you, Chapter 11).
I think the best part is that the ending was so well written, that even though I sort of knew what was coming, it still shocked me.
3.5/5, sort of leaning towards 4.

phoenix2's review against another edition

3.0

Dorian Gray is an interesting story for the vanity of youth and the lengths one will take to be young forever. One thing that is for certain is that the writing is excellent. It reminds me of poetry, with the lyricism, the beautiful description of everything and the whole book looking like a work of art rather than a novel. The story itself it's entertaining and it is nice to read how Dorian changed from the naive teenager to the man who created his own fall. As for the pace, it was kind of tiring at times but it quickly picked up afterwards.

christmaskid's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

kh_chl0e's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

wutheringheights'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

3.0

kamrynharned's review against another edition

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

2.5

This book won a few awards in my book.

1. The most insufferable characters (that aren’t necessarily villains) I have ever read about
2. The most underlined yet least enjoyed book
3. The most poignant ending in a book with absolutely no plot

This book strikes so many nerves for me - honestly, it stuck nerves I didn’t even realized I had. Corruption of innocence, extreme misogyny, horribly long descriptive paragraphs about random artifacts, and the complete lack of accountability for the sins that Gray commits. But here is where my utter confusion about my feelings towards this book rears its head - I loved the ending.  I loved that after all of Dorian’s self-worship and fixation, that he eventually came to ruin by his own hand. He was untouchable by the world, but brought himself to final destruction. In the end, there was justice and reciprocity for his choices - just not in the way you WANT to see. No justice for the people he ruined, but you can’t live an evil life and escape ruin eventually. Idolization is corrupting. Perhaps this book was so upsetting because it was so realistic, because how often do the victims get justice? The evil always fall, but that rarely comes with reparations for those they wronged. I think that’s why we long to see that happen in the stories we read, because we so rarely see it in the world around us. Obviously, I appreciated this book. It made me think, it made me feel (all negative emotions, don’t get me wrong), but I can’t deny it is a masterpiece. My heart wants to give this book a 1 star and my mind wants to give it a 4 star. Therefore, we compromise at a 2.5. I don’t often feel the need to include Brett in my reads, but I couldn’t help but give him a play by play of this entire book, and kept reading aloud quotes to him. 

adriana_nicole's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.5

issysarchives's review against another edition

4.0

4.5 stars