Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

139 reviews

macliffe's review against another edition

dark 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

4.75

I have been wanting to read this book for so long and it did not disappoint! Fully lived up to the hype. 
I was hesitant because I’m not a horror reader, but this book did a good job of being gothic without having unnecessary gore or uncomfortable scenes. 
The characters were so well done, especially Dorian.
I love how the message of the book is stated subtly at the beginning with Lord Henry saying the world needed a “new hedonism”. Then the plot gives Dorian that new hedonism, but he comes to realize that it doesn’t satisfy and only leaves him miserable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Toxic relationship, Murder, Mental illness, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Suicide, Blood, Gore, and Misogyny

Minor: Violence

eloiseyoung's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Antisemitism, Racism, and Misogyny

lydsquids's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’ve never read a book about characters that I disliked so much and still enjoyed. I found this book fascinating as a character study. There is a part in the middle that lags way more then it should but other then that I can see how the book is still very popular in modern times- the Dorian Grey of today would have a much bigger following.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

queeniecraft's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use

eve_kadou's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Murder, Death, and Violence

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)

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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

seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

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 

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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.

helenlittle's review against another edition

dark funny lighthearted 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

4.5

A classic. Knowing some tidbits about Oscar Wilde’s life history definitely added to the reading experience. Undeniably a gay icon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Blood, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

lizziaha's review against another edition

reflective

4.0

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic friendship, Violence, Murder, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Antisemitism, and Death

Moderate: Classism, Drug abuse, Addiction, Misogyny, and Sexism

Minor: Animal death