Thats pretty much what I thought too.
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Thats pretty much what I thought too.
No, you didn't want to reveal the ending, something Wilde basically did himself.
And you liked Harry's one liners, whereas I wanted to see hime die slow and painful.
I liked hearing Harry's one liners yes, but I didn't like Harry the character because all he was was a pithy one liner machine. He had no depth. Neither did any of the others for that matter. And yes I guess it was a bit silly for me to preserve the sanctity of the end when Wilde himself violates it so brazenly.
At the very beginning i was very much in love with the simply impossible wit of Lord Henry. I liked him so much I took down all of his quotes! But as the novel went on, well, the initial enthusiasm died down somewhat.
Plotwise, perhaps the book was not entirely satisfying. But as said above, its more about the experience when you were reading the book that might count more. I loved the frilly/frivolous tone of the entire novel. I feel that it was almost whimsical even. But it put me in a very light-hearted mood. But there are many things we can take from the novel. For one, there's the one-liners. For another, there's the haunting exegesis of the horrors of ageing, and the everlasting dream of immortality.
For me, strangely enough, what I liked most was the way he described scenes. Very richly done. I felt like putting myself up into some cozy room with the most well-dressed furnishings, and dining in the most luxurious surroundings. Wilde lured me into the Victorian era!
Dorian and Frankenstein at the same time? Whoa, two of my biggest let-downs of all time. Should take the classics one at a time in case they turn out to be as crap as those two were.Quote:
Originally posted by subterranean
I will read further, is just that I divide my time between reading Dorian, the Solitare mystery and Frankenstein
Anyway.
Personally, I really very muhc liked the book. It was also very amusing and I have never read a book where I hated the main character yet wanted to finish the book.
I <3 Oscar Wilde though. And his Bosie.
It is both amusing and bewildering how nobody picked up on the fact I have a mangled wilde quote for my sig that I'm too lazy to change... and here I am criticizing him. :p
Well, but quotes are really all he does well. :D
Well well well, time for me to revive this old topic cos I finally read this classic...[SPOILERS in case anyone still cares]
I actually liked it. Except some places where the description of all these aesthetic pleasures made me want to sleep, I found it interesting... I don't know what to say about the predictability because for me it was a bit spoilt byt he fact that i had heard a lot about it before...(the end for example, I actually knew what was going to happen but not exactly how). It was indeed obvious that Sybil's brother was going to come and get revenge but I was expecting him much earlier and the way he appeared wasnt that banal imo... I also liked the end, the way it was expressed...
As for the characters, it's true that they are not so deeply developed, but I didnt mind too much (I'm the one who hated most characters in War and Peace)... I fell in love with lord Henry, I loved his witty self-confident lines... Maybe towards the end it got a bit too much, but I liked the fact that the character is characterised like that.
I think the fact that he has no depth is actually is depth. He represent the empty boastful person who can just spit sentences that way, without caring about anything.Quote:
Originally Posted by IWilKikU
I liked Basil too, so foolishly simple... Dorian was my least favourite in the end, too easily manipulated, even if that feature does represent a character doesnt it?
What else... After Dorian kills Basil some bits reminded me of Crime and Punishment...but that was too easy to be reminded of in that situation I think...
In one of U2's songs "The Ocean" there's a reference to the book:
A picture in grey
Dorian Gray
Just me by the sea
And I felt like a star
I felt the world could go far
If they listened
To what I said
Washes my feet
Washed the feet
Splashes the soul of my shoes
Oh yes, good one. I love old U2 :)
i think i like the u2 song better than the book... if you can compare a song and a novel that is.
anyway, about dorian gray... i think i expected more. the idea was good, and i generally enjoyed reading it. though i was bored to death at some point, when pages and pages and pages are full of descriptions of dorian's passion for tapestry, musical instruments, art, blah blah... ok, got it already, time to move on with the story...
i guess if i hadn't known that wilde was gay before reading the book, i qould have realised it. that thing with dorian's beauty and basil seeing him as his source of inspiration... yeah, right, what hetero painter would be inspired by a guy? anyway, the story was kind of predictible, the ending also... the characters...
the characters. dorian was annoying. he practically doesn't have a personality, he is asick mixture between harry and basil, between pure cynicism and don't-give-a-****-ism and innocence, sincere passion and taste. he is way too easy to influence and, of course, it is easy to guess the way he will turn out eventually.
harry is all talk, wit and so, he sees the crap in the society he lives in, and yet he doesn't even try to change himself, not to mention the others, for the better.
I second that.Quote:
Originally Posted by frozenlight
I'm not completely sure... it can be an original person.. I don't know, I liked the idea of someone not gay who has such infatuation on a person of the same sex. Maybe I don't know how men really work in that sense (or in any other sense) but I wouldnt be surprised by a woman finding that kind of inspiration in another woman, despite liking men... I think it can be possible for some kinf of 'sensitive' people...I might be wrong, but that was my idea...Quote:
Originally Posted by frozenlight
I like this analysis, the lack of personality of Dorian is what strikes most about him... I agree about Henry too, as I said I like his wit but he had no ground, no real purpose...it was wit for the sake of with, like art for the sake of art...so it fits perfectly in the mood of the book! I'm not sure he really sees the crap of the society...he can analyse it and put it into wit, but I'm not sure he realises himself that that's really crap and something can be done about it... he sort of contemplates it and puts into beautiful sentences and thinks there is no more to it. Pretty aesthetic, too...Quote:
Originally Posted by frozenlight
Dorian's lack of personality;his impressionable nature and lack of conscience are the reasons for his downfall, I believe. Had he been otherwise, he wouldn't have need to assert his physical beauty and go such extremes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Koa
It has been some time since I read TPODG but, if I remember correctly, Basil does have feelings for Dorian. Not sure if that would make him 'gay', though.
I dont know whether the lack of personality or the narcisistic personality that got him down.