Meet Dorian Gray: Beautiful
and admired, every woman’s object of desire and most men’s
target for jealousy. While posing for painter Basil Hallward,
Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton who pulls Dorian into a hedonistic
downward spiral – but no matter how immoral Dorian’s
acts, these hideous deeds never leave a mark on him. Instead,
it is a strange portrait of Dorian, tucked away in an attic (why
are there always eerie things in attics?), that changes over time
– the more depraved Dorian gets, the more frightening his
portrait becomes. Soon, things run out of control, and the reader
knows it can’t end well.
If you haven’t read "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
yet, run to your nearest bookshop and get a copy – now.
This book – the only novel Oscar Wilde ever published –
is one of the best nineteenth-century gothic novels out there
and it’s pretty unusual too. It’s packed with the
quotable lines Oscar Wilde is known for, many of which have found
their ways into notebooks and other author’s works. It’s
short, too; no more than around a hundred pages. Also, there are
no monsters or vampires lurking about the shady London we read
of in this novel, unless you consider the decadent and pleasure-seeking
people, and there’s little in the way of grisly murders.
The strength of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is what
isn’t told: there are many strange things going on, some
of which are only hinted at. And to boot, the magic behind the
picture itself is never explained, but then the workings of the
supernatural isn’t really the point here. In fact, the painter
himself doesn’t play a big role once the painting’s
done, but it’s rather the creepy Lord Wotton who with his
constant sarcasm and lack of every trace of moral that leaves
the reader wondering. Is he the devil himself? Or does he just
uncork the natural hunger for pleasure that simmers in Dorian’s
soul – and perhaps in all of us?
Read “The picture of Dorian Gray” if you haven’t
– chop, chop away to the bookshop you go!
/ Ruefus
Don’t miss our free
desktop wallpapers that celebrate the master author Oscar
Wilde and his “The Picture of Dorian Gray”!
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