The sinister portrait of Dorian Gray (The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde)

Member Name: elbar1

Product:	The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
Date:	12/09/08 (359 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A fabulous read

Disadvantages: I was initially put off thinking it would be complicated but it was not at all

It was with a little trepidation that I began to read 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde. You see, I like to think of myself as a pretty intelligent human being and then the likes of Oscar Wilde and Stephen Fry come along and cause me to grin inanely while I pretend to know what they are talking about, when in actual fact my brain is just thinking 'I wonder if I could use chicken instead of lamb in Irish stew.'

So I began 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' assuming I would not understand any of it but safe in the knowledge that I could tick it off my 'must-read' list and pretend that I did understand it and it was just too boring and unenjoyable to discuss. But I was wrong. I genuinely and thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and what is more Ladies and Gentlemen, I did indeed understand it! Woohoo!!!!

It is difficult to summarise the plot without giving too much away. The crux of the book is what is discovered quite a way in and I want to avoid saying what that is because half the fun of a book is trying to guess what is coming early on. I will do my best and apologies if it is too brief an account and you have no idea what I am talking about. I would rather err on the side of caution and not ruin it for you.

As the title suggests, a portrait of the central character, Dorian Gray, runs central to the plot. The three main characters are introduced to the reader during the painting of this portrait. Dorian Gray is a young and naive man, full of expectation about the world. The painter, Basil Hallward, is a friendly man who takes a shine to Dorian Gray. He is fascinated by his youth and beauty and strives to capture this within the portrait. Finally, Lord Henry Wotton seems a more sinister character who wants to mould Dorian Gray in his own image. The naive Dorian Gray is grateful for the attention and seeing the life that Lord Henry leads, he wants some of it for himself and so is more than happy to adopt certain traits in order to achieve success.

The characterisation in this novel is outstanding. The three main characters are suitably polarised in personality that within a relatively short book, the contrasts between them accentuate their personal nuances.

The story follows the life of Dorian Gray as he loses his youthful charm and becomes a nasty protege of Lord Henry. Dorian Gray locks away the portrait of himself as a young man. We think that perhaps this is because he has become so vain that he does not want to be reminded of how beautiful he was in his youth. However, we see him become bitter and nasty inside, while maintaining a fresh-faced innocence on the outside, to which all who meet him are drawn. A classic tale of outer beauty hiding a decidedly unpretty soul.

The really clever part of the book revolves around the portrait, but I will not give any further details. It is just too good a concept to spoil. But believe me that it is clever and sinister and has a great moral to the tale.

My favourite part of the book is the ending, where so much is happening at once, I could feel my heart pounding. It really is an exciting read. Some critics class is with the traditional horror books but I would not go this far. It is an extremely dark book. I cannot overemphasise just how dark it is, but it is not horror in my opinion. That is not to say there are some horror elements. Perhaps I have grown up with too much blood and violence on the television to appreciate good traditional horror but in my opinion horror is meant to scare and horrify and this book did not horrify me. It did leave me wondering about the evils of human nature but a good book will always get you to think about it afterwards.

I guess just like the central character, you can never judge a book by its cover, or its author. This is a short, snappy, fascinating book that is unequalled in terms of bizarre story line. Do not be put off by the fact it is written by Oscar Wilde. It is not at all difficult to read. Give it a go. You might surprise yourself.

Summary: Should be on everyone's 'must-read' list!