Cover image for

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Author Oscar Wilde
Categories Fiction, Audiobook
Language English
Published 1890
Word count 78,612
Excerpt

omes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid. Look at the successful men in any of the learned professions. How perfectly hideous they are! Except, of course, in the Church. But then in the Church they don't think. A bishop keeps on saying at the age of eighty what he was told to say when he was a boy of eighteen, and as a natural consequence he always looks absolutely delightful. Your mysterious young friend, whose name you have never told me, but whose picture really fascinates me, never thinks. I feel quite sure of that. He is some brainless beautiful creature who should be always here in winter when we have no flowers to look at, and always here in summer when we want something to chill our intelligence. Don't flatter yourself, Basil: you are not in the least like him."

"You don't understand me, Harry," answered the artist. "Of course I am not like him. I know that perfectly well. Indeed, I should be sorry to look like him. You shrug your shoulders? I am telling you the truth. There is a fat

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2008.08.22
homme bleu

My absolute favorite. It is strikingly whitty throughout, with lush and vivid description and wonderfully entertaining characters. It is altogether aesthetically pleasing and an absolute joy to read, assuming that it is to your taste.

2008.06.02
mlerch

I'm a huge fan of classical literature and I know this is a classic. Having said that, although I am a fan of 98% of what is considered classic, I simply do not enjoy this work. Whenever that happens I consider it to be a lack of comprehension on my part, because after all - it's a classic!

What happens in this book? Dorian has a painting made of him. His psyche spirals downward but is manifest by the deterioration of the painting, apparently not him. That's about it folks.

There are far too many deeply penetrating studies of the human psyche to spend your time on. Reach for a Russian classic. Reach for something, but I'd move this one to the bottom of the stack.

2007.01.18
Alyssa

I read this book for an English report, and it is pure Oscar Wilde. It is a very interesting book, and holds your attention all the way through to the end.