The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)

I must admit: it did not grab me as his other works, nor as I expected it should. I wish to be Lord Henry. ( )

3.5
Unbearable characters. ( )

Dorian Gray was the LibraryThing book club read in January 2014. Here I compile (and lightly redact) my comments from that activity:

1) About 5 chapters in, it's hard to imagine how this book will be very haunting, what with Lord Henry cracking wise every few seconds. It's like a Gothic novel written by Groucho Marx.

2) "Ho, ho," I thought, "Criticizing authors for being wordy is like criticizing Mozart for using too many notes." I mean, the more words we can get from masters of the language, the better, right? Then I got to Chapter 11 of Dorian Gray. It's the most blatant example of padding I've ever encountered in a classic novel. It's the literary equivalent of reading the phone book into the record during a filibuster.

3) The edition I'm reading has sparse footnotes in chapters 1 through 10, and then about 200 footnotes in chapter 11. As I recall, some of those footnotes pinpoint the exhibit catalogs and merchant catalogs that Wilde seemed to be using when writing chapter 11. It reminds me of Capote's quip: "That's not writing: that's typing." IMO, chapter 11 is bankrupt of literary worth. (Sorry.)

4) Geez, take it easy on the furniture!

"And Lord Henry flung himself down on the divan and opened his cigarette-case." (Chapter 2)

"Lord Henry flung himself into a large wicker arm-chair and watched him." (Chapter 2)

"The hot tears welled into his eyes; he tore his hand away and, flinging himself on the divan, he buried his face in the cushions, as though he was praying." (Chapter 2)

"As the door closed behind them, the painter flung himself down on a sofa, and a look of pain came into his face." (Chapter 2)

"Then he lit a cigarette and flung himself down on the sofa." (Chapter 4)

"He flung himself down on the sofa and turned away his face." (Chapter 7)

"He threw himself into a chair and began to think." (Chapter 7)

"Then he rose from the table, lit a cigarette, and flung himself down on a luxuriously cushioned couch that stood facing the screen." (Chapter 8)

"He went towards the little, pearl-coloured octagonal stand that had always looked to him like the work of some strange Egyptian bees that wrought in silver, and taking up the volume, flung himself into an arm-chair and began to turn over the leaves." (Chapter 10)

"'What is it all about?' cried Dorian in his petulant way, flinging himself down on the sofa." (Chapter 12)

"Then he flung himself into the rickety chair that was standing by the table and buried his face in his hands." (Chapter 13)

"He sent him to bed, and threw himself down on the sofa in the library, and began to think over some of the things that Lord Henry had said to him." (Chapter 20)

5) When I mentioned the sources that Wilde seemed to be using while writing chapter 11, I was apparently being too generous. That he copied verbatim from various books on embroideries, tapestries, gemstones, etc., is apparently well-documented, in particular in the OUP edition of his complete works.

6) "A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies."

Note that this is a truism, with one word replaced by its antonym. This is also the formula Wilde (allegedly) used in: "One must have a heart of stone to read the death of little Nell without laughing." In general, Wilde's one-liners seem formulaic to me. Just as (according to Monty Python) an argument is not the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes, wit requires more than the inversion of bromides.

7) By the way, on the topic of Oscar Wilde, formulaic witticisms, and Monty Python, there's a Python sketch that starts out:

"The Prince of Wales: Ah, my congratulations, Wilde. Your play is a great success. The whole of London's talking about you.

Oscar Wilde: Your highness, there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.

(There follows fifteen seconds of restrained and sycophantic laughter)

The Prince of Wales: Oh, very witty, Wilde . . . very, very witty.

James McNeill Whistler: There is only one thing in the world worse than being witty, and that is not being witty.

(Fifteeen more seconds of the same)

Oscar Wilde: I wish I had said that, Whistler.

James McNeill Whistler: Ah, you will, Oscar, you will.

(more laughter)

Oscar Wilde: Your Highness, do you know James McNeill Whistler?

The Prince of Wales: Yes, we've played squash together.

Oscar Wilde: There is only one thing worse than playing squash together, and that is playing it by yourself.

(silence)

Oscar Wilde: I wish I hadn't said that.

James McNeill Whistler: But you did, Oscar, you did." ( )

This was so interesting and different ! It has a really bold statements but it is normal for the time it was written. Really good read. ( )

A man is obsessed with his youth dies after destroying the one thing keeping him young. ( )