Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

39 reviews

waytoomanybooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

Knowing about Oscar Wilde's past is crucial to reading this novel. It's not just that his gayness was an open secret, but that his targets weren't just men, but also boys. As in actual teenage children. Wilde was also openly Antisemitic and misogynistic in his real life and throughout the novel. What his three main characters do, say, think, and feel very closely mirrors Wilde's own. Much like the titular Dorian, it is clear that Wilde suffered from an inflated ego, was bloated with pride, and had a conscience that weighed him down...but not enough to change, grow, or do better. Trigger warnings abound throughout this novel as we watch Dorian explore the world of vice and sin, leaving a body count in his wake.

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exceptionallyrainytuesdaynight's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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riverofhorton's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

So to start, this book was not what modern media had lead me to believe it would be, but that is definitely not a bad thing. In the modern media, the characters are straight or at the straight end of bi/pan, whereas here they're straight, gay, or at the gay end of bi/pan. Had I not gone into this knowing Wilde was gay, I would have been wondering after a couple pages.
One of the male characters is madly in love with Dorian and at throughout his character arc,
I found myself crying tears of both joy and heartbreak at various points.

One of the few things I didn't find enjoyable about this book, was Chapter 11. I understand the intention behind that particular chapter completely, but for me it seemed to drag on too much and added relatively little to the story that couldn't have been contained in a couple of paragraphs.

Here is a bullet pointed review I posted elsewhere online:
  • Dear God, the gay. I don't even want to count how many gay bits I tabbed.
  • Basil is an absolute sweetheart and deserved way better.
  • Dorian could have been an amazing person, if he hadn't been corrupted.
  • Harry can suck a d*ck. To paraphrase the Frankenstein Vs. monster thing: Knowledge is knowing Harry isn't the villain, wisdom is knowing Harry is the villain.
  • Alan reminded me of Dr Jekyll in a lot of ways, which I liked but I don't know if this was intentional or just my brain.
  • Chapter 11 dragged so much, and only really added
    "Dorian spent 18 years collecting hobbies, some of which will be briefly mentioned later."
    Probably going to skip it next read.
  • And yes, I will be re-reading it. 

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thestrangebeingyouare's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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zia_c's review against another edition

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funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved everything about this but I don't know where the lgbtq section was in the whole story. Maybe it was in thr one I skimmed through. 

Don't care about others opinion of Henry (Harry) but he's my favourite character. 

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queeniecraft's review against another edition

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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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seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition

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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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stvalentine's review against another edition

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

4.75

 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 

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spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

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4.75


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thewritetofight's review against another edition

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

4.75

This book was pretty good. I was surprised I was able to read it because old books like from Jane Austen give me an aneurysm trying to decipher. It took me forever to finish this book since I was already hurtling towards a read slump but when I picked it back up, I finished it fairly quickly. The only thing I didn’t like was
how quickly Dorian descended into madness, like I felt like it was very abrupt; one moment he was innocent and the next he was frothing at the mouth and driving his lover to suicide.
 

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