The Picture of Dorian Gray

"An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them." - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Dorian Gray is the human embodiment of perfection, captured in a painting forever. But the idea of watching himself grow old while his canvassy counterpart will never age pains him, and so he makes a bargain. His painting begins to show the true nature of his soul while his physical appearance never changes. And, lead astray by Lord Henry Wotton's desire for pleasure, Dorian's life leads away from happiness and into misery while the portrait in his attic shows the grotesque nature of his soul.

As you can see, Oscar Wilde's novel isn't exactly light reading. With detailed descriptions of the lives of everybody in the novel, the beginning feels a little slow - but things definitely pick up later on. The novel toys with ideas and themes which would have been more than shocking to its original audience and even specifically mentions homosexuality (!) - a crime at the time of publishing. Oscar Wilde's own words came back to haunt him as this book sparked the events which lead to his imprisonment and disgraced name. But it is this element of shock which makes the book even more gripping and truthful.

This novel is so well formed that I believe nobody can ever fully unravel the philosophical threads woven into the narrative by Wilde. The very definition of the human soul is questioned, and then questions are asked of these questions. What makes it all the more terrifying is not the physically ugly nature of the picture itself, but what that picture means.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is more than just food for thought, and is something everyone should read at some stage in their life.

Anyway - enough of all that seriousness. I hope I don't get that deep with all my book reviews. I've not really said hi yet. Hi. Like Heather, I also have a reading list, which unfortunately contains a load of books I need to read for my English A2 level. I'll review the most interesting ones plus some others I've been reading, so keep a look out.

"I keep a diary of my life from day to day, and it never leaves the room in which it is written. I shall show it to you if you come with me." - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray