Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

171 reviews

ko_rax's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.25

It was great to witness Dorian's descent into madness. Boy, he went from innocent, pure and youthful to batshit evil and horrendous.


Now, did I enjoy reading it? Absolutely not - I cannot bear witnessing characters make foolish decisions, or worse, entice others to be foolish (I am looking at you,

Henry, you vile ENTP and misogynist

) - but that also was not the point of this novel at all. In fact,

Dorian

was meant to be a fool. We as readers, I dare say, were meant to witness the consequences, and/or lack thereof, of ignorance, abuse of power (or beauty, or "pretty privilege") and the absence of utterly needed reflection.

"There were moments when he looked on evil simply as a mode through which he could realize his conception of the beautiful."

Dorian became hideous, and was unwilling to

atone for his crimes and sins, even until his end

. Unfortunately, Dorian chose to turn a blind eye towards

his actions and his overall behaviour

. Instead, he attempted to

escape and indulge in pleasantries and addiction, even hyper-fixation

simply to forget, until he was forced to remember all of it again.


I find this classic to be very marvellous, written with great attention to detail and prose. Maybe a little long-winding and challenging for some. Still, Oscar Wilde, what an astounding piece of art you have written! With that being said, what better way is there than to close it off with a quote of his on art itself?

"We can forgice a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.

All art is quite useless."

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Suicide, and Murder

Minor: Drug use and Blood

marianasreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Suicide

Minor: Blood and Drug use

olive_lol's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Murder, and Suicide

Moderate: Violence, Classism, Sexism, and Antisemitism

Minor: Blood, Animal death, and Gun violence

catherinedsharp's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

DISCLAIMER -  I read this text as a set text for university meaning I did not pick this up for myself. It does not necessarily fit my usual reading selection so my review may be rather biased.

Really poetic and interesting reflection. Got a little slow towards the middle but picked up again and was a dark but good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Murder, and Suicide

seanml'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

I don't know if I completely bought the idea of Dorian's trajectory during the novel. However, I did enjoy much of it, and the ghost story-like ending especially. The novel's best product is Wilde's many many philosophical quotes and musings that pepper the pages - most of them said by the character Lord Henry, as much as I dislike him. 8/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, and Sexism

Moderate: Blood and Drug use

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

tadah's review against another edition

dark funny medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Blood

Moderate: Suicide, Murder, and Death

kalynlarva's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, Mental illness, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Addiction

kattypillar13's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a difficult read if you like to root for characters in novels. That said, the characters are not designed to be likeable. The story reflects the problems of a culture obsessed with youth, aesthetics, and appearances, and it does so in a complex manner. It is a well-written novel which unsettles the reader and encourages them to reflect.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Classism, Death, Racism, and Sexism

riverofhorton's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Classism, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Suicide, Infidelity, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

thestrangebeingyouare's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Addiction, Mental illness, Murder, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Classism, Blood, Grief, Alcohol, Body horror, Drug use, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Antisemitism

the story is strange and beautiful, but the main characters are all extremely flawed. there are also some aspects of misogyny and antisemitism that are unrelated to the plot, so i do warn you to be aware of the authors prejudices so you can critically read the story.