What if you had a portrait that aged while you could stay young and beautiful forever? Would you trade your soul for eternal youth and beauty? That is the deal that Dorian makes in this gothic horror novella.

This story packs quite a punch, and once it starts, it really keeps going. Dorian’s descent into debauchery, madness, and evil is hard to look away from. The more monstrous acts Dorian commits, the more his portrait reflect this. Oscar Wilde’s writing is a poetic and beautiful masterpiece. ( )

Wow that was pretty Wilde ( )

In the picture of Dorian gray we see a man not able to withstand the Beauty of being loved by the devil himself in human form- as such being consuled by Him yet that is the price westerners pay for painting the devil in such an ugly light and leaving their image as an immaculate young woman or man

Dr. Srí Srí Srí Enlightened Grandmaster Hari Edgar Palacio MEd BS BA Ayurvedic Doctor, Ivy Leaguer & nephew of the Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernández & the Dominican consulate. Harry has read 3,650 books in his lifetime. Top #49 reader globally and top #52 reviewer in the USA. He is a former WARY 88.1 DJ & rock music director. was an art teacher, ESL professor, ESL assistant teacher, & international yoga teacher training instructor. Model under contract with Dion Audriaa, OpenSea, & Shein; asked to model in the Dominican Republic, for Alma, & shortlisted to model under Empire. Maha Mudra: Tantra Sexual Alchemy (Kriya Yoga Iniate). He is a certified sex educator. He is a musician (Oregon Kool-aid) ALL platforms. He Performed at September Fest, Paramount Theater & with Ari Up of the Slits (godmothers of post-punk); members of The Raincoats. Harry’s Guruji is Sri Dharma Mittra. He is second generation Osho lineage. Hāri meditated 1,331 hours in his lifetime. Harry, a numerous award winning author, was a finalist for Fjords Review book competition, semi-finalist for Quartz Literary Fiction and Poetry, Grand Prix winner Hudson Valley MOCA & at St. George literary contest, & accepted to be published in Tule Review, Bellevue Literary, Apiary, etc. His books were published by Finishing Line Press: Ambrosia & Sutras of Tiny Jazz. An award winning fine artist he exhibited at School of Visual Arts, assistant director of Arts 10566, & director of Steel Imagination. He obtained his Master’s of Education from Manhattanville College. The New School University, Parsons, Stanford, Harvard student; accepted to Columbia with scholarship. Harry worked as an assistant director at Manhattanville College, Pride Coordinator (although a straight cis male), international yoga teacher 200 hours, music journalist & contributor for Popfadblog, Tom Tom Magazine & More Sugar. He is a BIPOC living with schizoaffective disorder. ( )

I cannot honestly say that I enjoyed this book, though it has a clever plot. The experience was a shudder of unpleasant sensations at every sitting. Dorian Gray is a monster. His story is a walk through the degradation of a soul. The book causes doubt about the actual goodness in humanity, trumpeting the dangers of a selfish nature and the importance of choosing one's friends with the utmost care. As Dorian Gray discovered, friends have a heavy hand in the molding of one's character. Following is one paragraph that stood out to me: "Ah! in what a monstrous moment of pride and passion he had prayed that the portrait should bear the burden of his days, and he keep the unsullied splendor of eternal youth! All his failure had been due to that. Better for him that each sin of his life had brought its sure swift penalty along with it. There was purification in punishment." Like Dorian Gray, every member of humanity is free to make choices in life. But for us, the consequences of those choices must be endured. Dorian appeared to sidestep the consequences of his sins, but in truth he bore them in invisible ways as he watched the soul of his portrait rot with corruption. I must now seek out a light-hearted book to lift my spirits and restore my faith in mankind once again. ( )

I read this while on a camping trip with my family.
Maybe it was because I was surrounded by love and family fun. Maybe it was because we were grimy and dirty and sweaty from camping.

or maybe the story was just not for me.

I just didn't really full pulled in. The idea was interesting but not plausible. A photo taking the brunt of your sins. I know the message was a really good one (beauty..is it really worth it? or many other options there.) But sadly, I didn't like anyone in the book. I didn't identify with the plight and I found the writing style rather frustrating, even thought there were some great one-liners.

oh well, maybe it was just an off day... ( )

Wspaniałym językiem napisana (polski audiobook) i kilka świetnych postaci ( )

A beautiful vessel

Incredible how this book's "moral of the story" fits the moment we're living on and will probably fit forever.

What I take from today's world is that the more beautiful, futile and artificial something is, the more valuable and notable it becomes.

Everything revolves around a pretty mask, specially when it comes down to opportunities and success, which leaves me wondering: what is worth the most beautiful and perfect of all apples if when split open its core is rotten? ( )

Book has been spoiled to me by its popularity. And the dicussions and opinions of other people had clouded my judgement. I cannot say I didnt like the book , it was and still is a very influencial read. I just wish I had no prior knowledge of it . As now like with all things you hear a lot about, i can't help hut feel a little dissapointed. The expectations were not met but thats because they were not reasonable. I recommend this book , just have moderate expectations with it. ( )

This was a chilling read. I really went into this one with no idea of the plotline of this book, and I was... surprised. It offered some great quotes and bizarre themes, and I quite enjoyed it. ( )

If you are looking for any anti-aging medications, then this review is not for you.

Dorian, oh Dorian. Where do I even begin? When I got this book assigned to me to read for my AP Lit class, I was very excited to see the prospect of this novel come to life. I'll admit, when I finished Dorian Gray I had to stop and take probably an hour to reflect on what happened. One of the main things that we readers discover is that beauty is finite; it is not here forever. But of course for Dorian, it just happens to stay with him for a long time... which turns out to be complex it its own ways.

I do say, Wilde uses a crazy amount of imagery and sensory language in his writing, which makes it a lot more interactive to read. I sometimes really thought I was in a Victorian era home, even though I was in my own.

Overall, this book is a wild ride. Expect lots of plot twists, Gothic horror story elements, and just a sprinkle of philosophy here and there. My only thing I would love to say to Dorian: You would have really enjoyed botox. ( )

"Behind every exquisite thing that exists, there was something tragic."

'The Picture of Dorian Gray' is an insightful, intriguing and somewhat sinister novel filled with complex characters. Dorian Gray himself isn’t a protagonist that you can really like, he has few redeeming qualities. On the outside he seems the perfect catch with his money, good looks and charm, but in he is unstable, impulsive and fixated on his own pleasures. One minute he is besotted with Sybil Vane, a young actress, the next he is evil towards her simply because she had disappointed him in front of his friends. Dorian is a malign influence on his own friends but is himself easily swayed by his newest friend Lord Henry. It is due to Henry's particular influence that Dorian declares that he would give his soul to remain youthful whilst the portrait that Basil has painted of him ages instead. Dorian may remain beautiful on the outside, but his portrait bears the true appearance of Dorian’s nature making it an almost unrecognisable portrait of the lad.

Lord Henry is a fascinating character who comes out with so many very memorably clever and witty remarks.

"My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals."

Whilst the artist, Basil, is the principled and sensible voice of reason, however, both want to mould Dorian for their own purposes.

It was fascinating to read a novel that explores vanity and the search to stay youthful. However, whilst I could admire Wilde's writing style, his talent and wit are undeniable, and the obsession with image that is addressed is still relevant in today’s image conscious society, it just wasn’t one of those books that I could just sit and read for hours on end. After a while I could simply feel my attention waning. Don't get me wrong there were some great scenes within but my main gripe was with the seemingly never ending descriptions and musings from Dorian and his high society friends. Wilde simply lost my interest at times, this was particularly true when he described Dorian's many hobbies. Ultimately in the end both Dorian and Lord Henry began to bore and annoy me in equal measures.

By today's standards 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' is a little tame but it has managed to pass the test of time making it a thought-provoking novel which I'm glad to have finally got around to reading but it is also one that I almost certainly won't revisit despite it's relative brevity. ( )

(Read for school) and very quickly for my summer project too. One that I really want to go back and reread sometime to really appreciate the beautiful writing and symbolism. ( )

as far as classics go, i found this book pretty easy to understand in terms of language and themes, compared to some others, which made it really accessible. things were going great until dorian starts experimenting with every vice imaginable, and that part of the book was totally lost on me 🙃, but overall - not bad!! ( )

How can one rate a classic? If a book was written for an audience staying in a particular type of society, under the moral code of the day, in a particular time frame, how can a person reading it 130 years later have the temerity to judge it for controversial statements or misogynistic ideas? It won’t be right. So all I can do is present my experience with the writing and the plot.

Our eponymous hero, Dorian Gray, is an orphaned rich and naïve twenty year old. He is the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward who seems to have fallen very strongly for Dorian’s physical appeal (only hinted at in the book, not explicitly mentioned.) Basil pours his heart out into the painting and gifts it to Dorian, who exclaims how unfair it would be to have a permanent reminder of his youthful beauty while he grows old and wrinkled. This idea partly germinated in his head due to a new influence over him, that of Sir Henry Wotton, a man fond of spouting philosophical epigrams. The rest of the story builds up on these 4 main characters: Dorian, Basil, Henry, and the painting.

Each of these characters is quite intriguing. The painting, as everyone knows, seems to have a life of its own. It provides a mirror into Dorian’s soul. Dorian is a gullible fool who uses his ears and eyes more than his brains. He comes across as very impressionable and selfish. His is an utterly egoistic character till the very end. Basil is the good soul, the concerned friend, the one with a secret crush that can’t ever come out in the open, the person who tries his best to maintain peace with his friends while not necessarily agreeing with their opinions. His is the only voice of reason among the three leads.

I found Henry Wotton the most intriguing. In terms of morality, he is right between Dorian and Basil. I’m sure we all know at least one person similar to Wotton. Henry keeps giving his "expert advice" to everyone around, whether they want to hear it or not. He considers himself above everyone else and his thoughts deserving of merit. The aesthete in him prefers beauty over morality. He seems to be a thorough misogynist, and puts down women and marriage at every chance he gets. Though he is quite clever, he uses his wit to disparage rather than develop, his cynical nature bursting forth in almost every declaration. However, all this is mere “preaching”. In practice, he seems to be living a life quite the opposite of whatever he proclaims. It would have been so easy to get exasperated and irritated at that character but I felt as if Wilde was trying to take a sarcastic dig at his peers through Wotton, and even used that character to voice his own secret views on the English mentality. Needless to say, Henry has the best one-liners in the book.


The writing style is typical of that literary era. There is a lot of detail in the narration, with entire paragraphs containing a single sentence at times. If you are fond of classics, these hurdles won’t restrict you but allow you to marvel at the beauty of the writing. Unfortunately, contemporary writing has spoiled us and it takes time to get into the spirit of the book. The initial part is a little slow, then the story picks up at a decent enough pace until about Chapters 10-11, which are tedious and longwinded. This will be the biggest hurdle for the modern reader unused to classic reading. Once you go beyond these 2 chapters, the story whooshes ahead with a splendid and unexpected plot turn and you will be engrossed to know what happens next.

What is essential to understand is that the most common version of this novel is not how Oscar Wilde had written it. His original 1890 version contained 13 chapters, the contents of which were deemed to be quite controversial by its publisher. He was asked to tone down the homosexual content, which was quite sacrilegious for the prevalent social mores. A revised and expanded edition was published in April 1891. For this version, Wilde divided the final chapter into two chapters, and added six entirely new chapters, including the ones with James Vane, a character not present in the original version. While this revised version did work on reducing the “homoerotica”, the publisher was still not satisfied and cut down a further 500 words (without informing Wilde) before publishing the book. Wilde never wrote a full-length novel again. And I understand why.

I read the 20 chapter version, and then took a quick glimpse through the original 13 chapter version (labelled as “The uncensored version”). I feel that the writing is indeed much more structured and superior in the original. The revised version seems to meander many times, probably due to the “Fill in the Blanks” that Wilde was compelled to undertake. I am a hundred per cent sure that I would have enjoyed the book even more if I had known about and read the 13 chapter version. If I ever reread this book, that’s the version I’ll go for.

In the meantime, I leave you with a few of Wotton’s thought-provoking quotes from the book. I don’t agree with all of them, but they are quite a food for thought nonetheless. ( )

Book 207.
The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Oscar Wilde.
24/100 books that changed the world.
I knew nothing about the story. We have listened to it as a talking book over the past few weeks just 1 chapter a day. We both absolutely totally enjoyed it and as we had no expectations we had a few surprises. ( )

"O Retrato de Dorian Gray" é uma obra clássica do escritor britânico Oscar Wilde, publicada em 1890. A história gira em torno de Dorian Gray, um jovem belo e encantador que tem seu retrato pintado por Basil Hallward, um artista admirador de sua beleza. Dorian expressa o desejo de permanecer jovem e belo para sempre, enquanto o retrato envelhece em seu lugar.

O retrato, no entanto, não apenas envelhece, mas também reflete as consequências de suas ações e dos pecados que comete ao longo dos anos. Dorian leva uma vida de prazeres hedonistas e imorais, enquanto o retrato se deteriora e revela sua verdadeira natureza corrupta e depravada.

A obra explora temas como a decadência moral, a dualidade entre a aparência e a essência, e os limites da vaidade e da busca pela juventude eterna. É uma crítica mordaz à superficialidade da sociedade vitoriana e um estudo profundo sobre os efeitos corrosivos do egoísmo e da busca desenfreada por prazer.

I think this is my first Wilde, and hopefully not my last. I enjoy his writing and humor, and this moves quickly for a classic. The story is widely known, but it is certainly a richer experience to read the actual book. ( )

4.5

It’s like having a conversation with Wilde about beauty, youth, society and all things debaucherous. ( )

Ach herrje, was ein langweiliges und mit unwichtigen Details vollgestopftes Buch.
Zum Glück sind die diversen Verfilmungen um einiges besser. Die wirkliche Tragik der Prota kommt nicht wirklich rüber beim Hörbuch.

Vielleicht versuch ich mich irgendwann noch einmal an einer Printausgabe. ( )

I really liked The Picture of Dorian Gray, and I thought it was extremely well written, but for a few reasons I can't call it something that I really liked. For one reason, I find a lot of the characters to be fairly weak and unconvincing, aside from Dorian himself. Lord Henry spends most of the time in the book being cynical, philosophical and a bit sexist. Basil spends his time being depressed about Dorian. And all the other characters either adore Dorian or have absolutely no spine against him. Of course it's fiction, and one can do anything with fiction, but it just seemed really unconvincing and fake how none of the characters seemed resistant to Dorian's influence. Another reason for my mild dislike of this book, is that I found that Dorian was the only character that seemed to have any action or progress in the story, besides sitting around, being posh, and discussing philosophy. Philosophy can be interesting, but the book takes up so much time with it that it's forever before some rising action takes place. On the other hand, the story comes out with some strong morals about vanity, and as I mentioned, it's excellently written. ( )

Lord Henry is as flippant about promoting evil and falsehood as Ernest is in [b:The Importance of Being Ernest|35628688|The Importance of Being Ernest (Illustrated)|Oscar Wilde|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499615560l/35628688._SY75_.jpg|649216], also by Oscar Wilde.

After Dorian rejected Sybil, I stopped reading for a few months. The drama was a bit too much for me. I didn’t want to read a long recitation of evil deeds.

'Society--civilized society, at least-- is never very ready to believe anything to the detriment of those who are both rich and fascinating. It feels instinctively that manners are of more importance than morals, and, in its opinion, the highest respectability is of much less value than the possession of a good chef. '

I read this in the collection: [b:50 Masterpieces you have to read before you die Vol: 1|55935455|50 Masterpieces you have to read before you die Vol 1 (2021 Edition)|Dante Alighieri|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1605747626l/55935455._SY75_.jpg|87146816] ( )

DNF at 20%. Bored out of my mind. ( )

Book source ~ Purchased audiobook on Chirp

A vain young man named Dorian Gray allows himself to be manipulated into selling his soul so he could stay young and beautiful no matter what he did over the course of his life.

Wow. What a pompous and pretentious piece of shit this is. Dorian is a vain twit easily led around by the nose by Sir Henry. Speaking of Sir Henry, holy shit does that guy love the sound of his own voice or what? Poor Basil is the only likeable character and look what happened to him at the end. Ugh. What a colossal waste of my time. But at least I can mark another classic off my list. Ok, I don’t really have a “list” per se, but you get the idea. The narrator does a decent job though I found he sometimes had the wrong “voice” for certain characters. ( )

I appreciate this book, I think it is very interesting and worth reading - I just don't like it. Dorian is a horrible, horrible human being, but his friends are not much better, a group of spoiled, bored people interested only in their own entertainment. I like Oscar Wilde's plays, but this book is not for me. ( )

Loved it! Henry got a bit too wordy at times, but Dorian was fun. ( )