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The Picture of Dorian Gray (Penguin Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Oscar Wilde
Publisher: Longman
Category: Book
List Price: £5.99
Buy New: £1.84
You Save: £4.15 (69%)
New (39) Used (12) from £1.84
Rating:  52 reviews
Sales Rank: 3901
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised edition
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0141439572
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.8
EAN: 9780141439570
ASIN: 0141439572
Publication Date: February 16, 2004
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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From Amazon.co.uk
A lush, cautionary tale of a life of vileness and deception or a loving portrait of the aesthetic impulse run rampant? Why not both? After Basil Hallward paints a beautiful, young man's portrait, his subject's frivolous wish that the picture change and he remain the same comes true. Dorian Gray's picture grows aged and corrupt while he continues to appear fresh and innocent. After he kills a young woman, "as surely as if I had cut her little throat with a knife", Dorian Gray is surprised to find no difference in his vision or surroundings. "The roses are not less lovely for all that. The birds sing just as happily in my garden." As Hallward tries to make sense of his creation, his epigram-happy friend Lord Henry Wotton encourages Dorian in his sensual quest with any number of Wildean paradoxes, including the delightful "When we are happy we are always good, but when we are good we are not always happy." But despite its many languorous pleasures, The Picture of Dorian Gray is an imperfect work. Compared to the two (voyeuristic) older men, Dorian is a bore, and his search for ever new sensations far less fun than the novel's drawing-room discussions. Even more oddly, the moral message of the novel contradicts many of Wilde's supposed aims, not least "no artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style." Nonetheless, the glamour boy gets his just deserts. And Wilde, defending Dorian Gray, had it both ways: "All excess, as well as all renunciation, brings its own punishment."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 "To define is to limit." February 25, 2003
RE TRANTER (Cardiff, UK)
48 out of 50 found this review helpful
Let me start by asserting that I'm pretty much an ordinary guy - I'm 17 and come from a UK comprehensive school. I've only recently tried dipping into the classics half-seriously and have little experience with the likes of Oscar Wilde. Sure I'm aware of 'The Importance of Being Earnest' and some of his witty one-liners, but until I bought 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' I had no serious interest in this man.
Classics are often interpreted by the public as fairly difficult to access; they are often hefty, dense and reserved for the University intelligentsia to comprehend. But this book is very different.
It contains the important and interesting psychological themes of hubris (pride and insolence) and also features the classic 'Faustian Pact' scenario: where an individual is willing to sell her or his own soul in return for something.
I suppose the MAIN appeal of this book is its narrative. Oscar Wilde writes - well - he writes 'wonderfully'. His prose is absolutely fascinating to read, and its rhythms guide you at a gentle pace through the book. Another key factor regarding the narrative is that it is generally interesting. There are so many classic books out there which can be difficult to access for the more impatient of us, but this one really is easily accessible for almost anyone. Did I mention that it contains some really brilliant one-liners?
...It's so cheap you'd be crazy not to give it a go.
It tackles themes through 'interesting' (I mean, genuinely interesting) metaphors, the characters are fascinating, the narrative is funny, acerbic, satirical and enthralling. While the story - the story itself - it just a pleasure to read. It contains a little love, a little humour, lots of tension and is ultimately a tragedy. Man - I URGE you to buy it. You can bombard me with emails if your opinions are contrary to mine; and you genuinely think that buying it was a waste of money.
I finish by saying, in my opinion this is 'probably' the best book I have ever read. And I have read a fair few (modern or otherwise) of the others that the critics keep throwing at us. But this one is a genuine treat. Wow - thinking over it, you really would have to be pretty insane to pass this one up. It's so darn cheap!
Buy it. :)
One of the modern classics of Western literature May 24, 2006
Kurt A. Johnson (Marseilles, Illinois, USA)
26 out of 27 found this review helpful
Dorian Gray at the age of eighteen seems blessed beyond all other young men, possessing wealth and beauty. While having his portrait painted by the artist Basil Hallward, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a cynic and thinker who convinces Dorian that his youth and beauty are his most important possessions. Falling under Lord Henry's spell, Dorian wishes a fateful wish, that he would hold onto his youth and beauty, while his portrait would feel the effects of time and life.
And with his wish granted, Dorian Gray sets out to test all of the virtues and vices that life has to offer, free from the fear that his experiences will leave a mark upon his face. But, to his horror and dismay, Dorian begins to realize that while the mirror reflects the state of his face, the picture reflects the state of his soul.
This book is considered one of the modern classics of Western literature, and it is easy to see why. The book shows off Oscar Wilde's (1854-1900) writing talents to great effect, with the book seeming more like poetry at times. But, the story itself is quite fascinating. "What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" asks Lord Henry, quoting Jesus Christ.
Overall, I found this to be a fascinating read. Oscar Wilde was a great thinker, and in many ways this book shows him at his best and at his worst. Which character represents Mr. Wilde, Lord Henry, Basil Hallward, Dorian Gray, or all three? I would say all three.
This is a great book, one that everyone should read, a book about living and what you do and what you are underneath. I give this book my highest recommendations!
A Cultural Masterpiece April 26, 2007
David (Harrogate, North Yorkshire)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
It is rare that I would award five stars, but no other work could be more deserving. This novel is magnificently and intelligently written, conveying many themes vividly and simultaneously.
The novel chiefly addresses the role of art in (Victorian) society, and does so while maintaining an intense depiction of London life during the period. Wilde considers life as a play; a book; or a piece of music. Dorian, who represents at the beginning of the novel a shallow yet unspoiled character, is gradually corrupted and is taught by Lord Henry to consider looking on his life as an outsider - banishing reality and imagining that he were a spectator of an extensive play; the plot of which is his own life.
By revealing to us the grave consequences of doing so, Wilde also ensures that the reader has a clear idea of the hypocrisy and dangerous attitudes of 19th century polite society. The reader feels fascinated by the erudite conversations between Lord Henry and his friends, often appalled by the carelessly constructed opinions. Such opinions are at the very heart of Dorian's corruption and eventual downfall, and we gradually begin to see his mind consumed by Lord Henry's thoughts. The distant narrative also allows the reader to come to his own conclusions, which perhaps makes the novel even more powerful.
The plot is fantastically simple, and indeed very little happens other than dinner parties and trips to the theatre. However, this makes the work nonetheless gripping (with a potently dramatic ending), and this book is certainly not waffly or tedious. Far from it; Oscar Wilde delivers a masterpiece to all of us, and reveals the terrifying consequences of vanity, thoughtlessness and, most of all, sin.
"The Picture Of Dorian Gray" is a masterpiece without doubt, and for 2 is difficult to reject. A "must read" for anybody.
A very accessible classic February 28, 2004
Martin Isaac (London, UK)
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
This book is that rare thing - a book that is genuinely fun to read and a page-turner, as well as being "proper" literature with strong moral messages on subjects such as original sin. The narrative is peppered with many of Wilde's famous epigrams, which mean it is rarely less than lively; and for a Londoner like me the glimpses of London past are also very interesting. There is also the added fascination (for anyone who has the faintest knowledge of Wilde's life) of drawing the obvious parallels between the art and the artist.It does have its flaws. Though the epigrams are fun, sometimes dialogue seems contrived simply so Wilde can express as many as possible in one scene. There is also a subplot which Wilde added subsequently to the first publication, which I feel is weakly written and melodramatic in comparison with the original main text. However these are minor complaints and I would heartily recommend this to anybody, especially someone looking for a "way in" to serious literature.
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