The Picture of Dorian Gray

(1891)

Oscar, Oscar, Oscar, Forever is a long time... I get bored at cocktail parties!--Submitted by Tequila Mockingbird.

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Oscar Wilde's perfectly charming and witty manner of expression will enchant you in more ways than one. He is a master storyteller and drifts through the story like a gentle summer breeze through odour filled roses, giving you the feeling that you can literally smell the flower he is describing. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a masterpiece. A beautiful story, based in a beautiful era. The story focuses on an extremely handsome young man, who at the beginning is naively not aware of the power this brings. Through his friend Basil, the artist who is to blame for the exquisite portrait of Dorian, he meets Lord Henry, the fun loving, dangerously influential gentleman who takes a liking to Dorian and makes him a sort of prot* of his. It is Lord Henry that takes Dorian's innocence and teaches him the way of the world, or British society, and sparks the light of vanity and pride in Dorian. This magical story enters into the fragile world of youth and old age, the thirst to maintain the former and the fear of the inevitable latter, accompanied with dreadful emotions of love, shame, hate, fear...I can't imagine why no one has made a movie of it yet. This is one book that will stand on your shelf with pride, and will be the most worn and torn one there. Enjoy the genius of Wilde.--Submitted by Ivana Magdenoska.

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There is an old film version of this story called "The Portrait of Dorian Grey" which was possibly made in the late 1930's to early 1940's. The actor who played the main character, Dorian Gray, was most exquisite of form and played the character most effectively. Actor George Sands was the Lord who corrupted the young Dorian, and I believe it was for the sheer pleasure of corruption of youth that he undertook that task. This story is more about choices, personal volition, and responsibility. We can look at Dorian and question his making that choice, but the person who set him upon that path bears the greater responsibility for corruption of an innocent person. In the end, Dorian is done-in by his own desire to destroy what he had himself created of his life, and what he had destroyed of the person of his own making. Chilling and undeniably timely as the society we make for ourselves today seeks to destroy itself by corrupting the youth that we deem iconic. --Submitted by Anonymous

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What would you do if you had a record of every bad deed you did? Would you hide it away where no one would see it? What would you do to hide your secret if someone discovered it? Read this book and ponder these age old questions.--Submitted by Sandra Branum

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