Bill DeWeese DeWeese itibaren Hrastelnica, Kroatien itibaren Hrastelnica, Kroatien

** spoiler alert ** "I didn't say I liked it ... I said it fascinated me. There is a great difference." It's taken me longer than I like to tuck this particular classic under my belt. Did Wilde's dark novel fascinate me? Yes. Does it reflect various aspects of his time? Yes. Are the messages imbued within the story fresh and relevant today? Absolutely yes. The casual reader should be aware of several facts when digesting this special read: 1) Oscar Wilde penned this homoerotic horror story in a period when homoeroticism had to be dressed down quite a bit in order to be published; 2) "The Picture of Dorian Gray" was originally published in installments; and 3) Wilde was always a greater playwright than a novelist, and it shows. The strengths of the novel include fabulous dialogue rife with droll witticisms fitting all too well into the Edwardian period. Wilde knows how to laugh at himself, at society, and even at his audience, no matter how cynical, dark, and sarcastic he becomes. The conversations alone immortalize the work and compensate for its shortcomings. Another powerful attraction is Oscar's ability to establish scene and setting (another playwright skill.) Powerful description pulls the reader into elegant drawing rooms, aromatic garden parties, dusty opium dens, and the sinister attic schoolroom harboring Dorian's perverted secret. Wilde's prose is a tad dry and not a little threadbare in the show vs. tell ratio. Clearly, scenes and dialogue are where Wilde shines. Individual chapters read like scenes in a play. This isn't a horror novel so much as it is a social commentary with horror elements. Wilde explored several themes in this story and the more horrific actions are delivered with understated menace. Horror fans probably won't feel they got their money/time's worth out of the read, but afficionados of psychological thrillers will devour it. The novel's shortcomings include lack of emotional depth and underwhelming characterization. Dorian Gray is an obvious sociopath, and readers are rightfully repelled by him and by his actions. The bizarre supernatural transfer of his sins upon his portrait falls a bit flat since this is never really developed or explained. It is intended more as an incidental occurence than a major plot point. The true horror of the book isn't that Dorian cannot age or bear the traces of his crimes; rather it is how Dorian uses his perpetual youth and beauty to bring harm, unhappiness, disgrace, and even death to others. Perhaps my indifference to Dorian Gray is due to the book's chronic focus upon Dorian's criminal and immoral behaviors. Sociopathic characters can be interesting and even sympathetic to an extent when they're better written. Only one of the main characters, Basil Hallward, emotionally engaged me, and he is murdered halfway through the book. I can't help wondering what this book might have been had Wilde written it today. I'm glad I read it, but something dark and dissatisfying remains inside me after finishing.