THE PORTRAIT THAT LIVES (The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde)

Member Name: thingywhatsit

Product:	The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Date:	04/08/05 (441 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautifully written and thought out.

Disadvantages: None.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is by far one of the best books that I have ever read. I am a writer, and the clever use of words in this books astounds me, as well as the way that Oscar Wilde weaves description with emotions that every human being experiences in their lives.

When I was younger, perhaps my understanding of the book was limited, although as I grow older and see the age lines start to appear, his writing makes great sense, because it is a story about a man who wishes that instead of growing old himself, the portrait that he has commissioned of himself at an age when he is young and in his prime would age in his place.

The book begins with beautiful description of surroundings and Oscar Wilde cleverly pulls you in to the story as any good writer tries to. I am envious of his seemingly simple invitation to read on.

The story begins "The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn."

This is typical Wilde. Here he conjures up ideas of a time and a place, of scents and of seasons, and this book always startles me in its realism.

As the story unfolds, young Dorian Gray sees his finished portrait and the way in which Wilde desribes the feelings that the young man encounters are genius ! He recognises for the first time probably in his life how valuable this moment in time is, and that all that lies ahead is old age and wrinkles. He wishes with all his might and says that he would give his soul to stay as young as that portrait, painted on a June day, a portrait that will never grow old.

Dorian gets angry with the world, and says that his admiration is for beautiful things, and that he is envious of the portrait.

Describing people and scenery throughout the book is like Wilde is creating a tapestry set in Old England and his writing relates to a time that has gone, but in a way that you get pulled into imagining it in the here and now. His words, his wit are memorable, and little quotes from the book make me as a writer very envious of such a writing skill.

"My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals."

Such clever conception all the way through the book. This is a readers paradise. Wilde knew just how to put thought into word and make it work, and if you have never read this book, then it is time to read it now, because it will astound you.

The story unfolds a love encounter between Dorian Gray and Sybil Vane and all the complexities that this causes both of them. It really is a complex mixture of emotions and thought that other writers fail to express in such a fluent manner.

Although there is a distance between the time in which this story is set, and now, all of the feelings and emotions that Wilde twists and turns in this story are still valid ones, and easily comprehended and felt by the reader.

Behind the facade of beauty, Sybil Vane evolves like any human being does when the initial facade of newness disappears and leaves space for the mundane. Within Wilde's words, he captures the essence of relationships perfectly, and that process between falling "in" love and then being in love. The two are miles apart and he captures the heart of the reader perfectly in his chapters that relate to relationships, and how simply they can falter.

I do not want to give away too much of what this story tells because it needs to be experienced. It needs to be marvelled at. This is a book that will always be a classic, a classic horror story perhaps, whilst a clever intepretation of the way that human beings see things in moments of their lives. Wilde's descriptive writing does the subject matter justice.

Suffice to say that the story is fluent, well written and has an amazing finale, and one that will never be forgotten by the reader. This is an all time classic. Library bound as any classic should be, this costs as little as £9.50 from Amazon books, and is a book that you will not part with, one that you will find yourself referring to throughout a lifetime, as I have, and one that stays within your soul forever.

Never make wishes more important that reality.



Thank you for reading.


Rachel

Summary: A beautiful and haunting look at vanity.