Question 6 - Classic yes but is this book one for the ages?

As the years ago by, do you think that The Picture of Dorian Gray will continue to be read by readers in the future? Will it stand the test of time?

I think that Dorian Gray has the potential to be a classic for the ages because at its core, it addresses human issues that are not going to go away. It's a bizarre coming of age novel in some ways, sort of an anti-Tonio Krueger (Thomas Mann) or Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; it addresses the tensions between whatever is considered decadence at a given time and mainstream values; it looks at the costs of avoiding personal responsibility; it poses the ages-old argument about whether or not art does or does not have moral content. A lot of people don't get too excited about that last one but it is always recurring. For me, it has a lot of poignancy because it seems to represent OW's argument with himself about all those things. He lost the argument.

I think Dorian Gray has the chance to be a book that people will read in the future. I know my son found the book boring as he had to read it for school. That could mean that when it is required reading for a class, unless you are truly interested in the class you may not feel the book is worth all the praise. When you really just read it for yourself you realize how wonderful the book really is. As NeverStopTrying states it does touch on human issues that are always there.

The book was written 120 years ago and we are still finding it relevant. As NST says in Msg 2,

"at its core, it addresses human issues that are not going to go away."

That is, after all, what good literature does.

At the heart of The Picture of Dorian Gray lies good and evil. Two acts of humanity that will never cease. As long as that is the case, this book will stand the test of time and continue to be read and discussed.
belva

as a meditation on art and beauty its still relevent

I felt that this book was basically a morality tale, and therefore timeless.

I agree. Good vs. Evil, art and beauty, outward beauty vs. hidden ugliness, the corruption of the innocent by those without conscience. And a dash of the supernatural to boot! I believe that thinking people will be reading this book for a long time to come.

(However, with the state of modern culture, I'm not sure how many thinking people will be around in 30 or 40 years.)

I agree that it will continue to be a classic, both because of the themes and also just because of the suspense.
--BJ

I'd have to agree with everyone, that the story is still relevent now and will continue to be in the future.

I did try to read this in my teens and failed miserably. So I was unsure if I would enjoy it this time. That being said, I did like it, I enjoyed Wilde's writing. So like many classics, while it it timeless, it doesn't necessarily appeal to everyone. It also goes towards my belief that sometimes books choose you not the other way around.