I love Wilde, but this is not one of my favorites: self-indulgent and overwrought, lacking the sparkling precision of his plays. Lord Henry is supposed to be shocking and funny and irresistably witty, but his epigrams sound as vapid and mass-produced as bumper stickers. Dorian himself is a pretty weak character on whom to hang a story. The endless descriptions of jewels and tapestries are wearing. Sadly, even homoerotic subtext can't save this unconvincing mess of a morality tale. ( )

Oscar Wilde is the man. Besides for being chock-full of good quotes, The Picture of Dorian Gray is also simply an interesting idea, a quick but great read, and a must-read in every literate person's lifetime. ( )

I find myself a bit baffled by this book, mainly because I can't work out the discrepancy between my understanding of the author and the outcomes of the book. Am I right in thinking that Wilde was a High Art subscriber to the idea of Art For Art's Sake (caps necessary)? If so, why did he write a book almost entirely about the danger and corruption that art and intellect can bring to a person?

Almost everything in this book points out the hollowness of art in itself, and how that taking it too seriously can do serious damage to a person's life and character. There is the painting of Dorian itself, that opens Dorian's eyes to beauty and sets him on the path of corruption. There's Sybil Vane, who Dorian falls in love with solely as the characters she acts as in Shakespeare's plays - he doesn't love Sybil herself at all, only her art. When she forsakes her art, this leads to Dorian's further cruelty, corruption and death. There's the 'poisonous' book that Lord Henry lends to Dorian, which seals his fate in evil and corruption. And that inevitable ending where by trying to destroy the painting, Dorian destroys himself (sorry about that spoiler, but I absolutely must put it in!) underlines that message yet again.

It just seems to not add up to me - clearly I'm missing something that is probably blindingly obvious.

Otherwise, my impression of the book is that Oscar Wilde thought he was enormously clever, and decided to write a book that illustrates that fact. He was clever, and the book is very clever, but it's awfully self-conscious. I've never read a book so full of epigrams.

I feel as if this review is rather pretentious, which makes sense, as I think the book itself is equally so (in fact a lot more so). The book is quite powerful, and has some gorgeous language. And the bit where the murdered man is left in the room and is still in the same place the next morning, slumped over the table unchanged after the night, is an awesome specimen of gothic horror.

Make no mistake, this book is worthy of its reputation. Issues of vanity, obsession and youth are presented in an unforgettable way. But for me, they weren't issues I found interesting. ( )

A great gothic tale with a fantastical twist. Even though it took me 50 pages to actually get engrossed, the story kept me quite interested. I have only ever read poetry and maxims attributed to Oscar Wilde, so this reading was a first for me. I was pleasantly surprised at how readable it was. Of course the macabre theme certainly helped, Wilde's obvious hedonism theme was written well into the story. It's hard for me to imagine a world where this book would cause such a controversy over its "homoerotic themes". There is no sex, no physical contact really between men, and the allusions to homosexuality could just as easily be considered platonic friendship. Besides, its not like Dorian Gray is a hero in anyway. He is obviously quite evil or at least grows to be. I'm simply having trouble imagining an educated critic read the novel and not see its satire.
Anyway, I enjoyed learning some new words, or old meanings of words, plus comparing the story of Dorian Gray to other Gothic tales like Uncle Silas. I felt this was a good introduction and I look forward to reading the rest of Oscar Wilde's work. ( )