Reading: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.” - Oscar Wilde

Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Author: Oscar Wilde

Published: 1890

Rating: 3 Stars ( Liked It )

My classic choice for the month. I first decided to read this book after an episode of The Librarians took a modern twist on the tale. I love that show (treasure hunts, history, nerds) and when they introduced me to the premise of the story I was very curious.

Dorian Gray, a beautiful, charming, captivating young man, wishes that the repercussions of any of his actions would be reflected in his portrait rather that on him. Any scars to his soul or body would show up on the painting instead. And it works. What does he do with this information? Nothing good.

When reading an older book, especially written by someone as intelligent as Oscar Wilde, there is always an adjustment period where you get accustomed to the manner of speaking. After that, the book moved quite quickly (I read most of it in the waiting room at urgent care).

Knowing what I do about Oscar Wilde's personal life and imprisonment for the horrible crime of being a homosexual human being (that was sarcastic), it is very interesting to try to draw conclusions from the male-male relationships in the story. There is also the thrilling relief that even at the end, it's hard to tell what lesson Wilde wants us to take away from the story. The morality is so gray, the characters so complex, that it's not easy to just call someone a sinful villain and be done with it.

It's also very quotable.

I liked it and I'm glad I read it. 3 Stars

#nerd #classic #book