Rating: 
Summary: Flawed Yet Classic
Review: THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY has enough going for it to retain its classic status for some time to come. It is loaded with epigrammic sentences by a writer who continues to hold interest. Its concept was highly original and has inspired generations of science fiction, fantasy and horror literature since its debut. Wilde stows a lot of his themes and notes on society and character into its pages, so that it often reads like a stack of dispatches from the late 19th century. The dinner party scenes are priceless. It is certainly worth reading in order to understand why Dorian Gray has entered our language, so often alluded to. While possessing the above traits, the novel does have its flaws that are more pronounced under the glare of contemporary light. Wilde's bigotry shows through. Some of the passages are melodramatic and wooden. Dorian Gray's physical beauty is a work of art, and as Wilde says at the outset, all art is useless. However much he embodies many of Wilde's ideas, he remains rather vapid, even when he is at his most corrupt. Part of that is due to the fact that many of the actions that condemn him are only spoken of or hinted at. Mostly we see the highlights, the suicide of a young girl to whom he was unjustly cruel and some subsequent deaths.
Rating: 
Summary: Literary Genius
Review: The quickest way to sum up this book in one word is "wow." I will admit that for awhile I didn't find the book 5-star worthy, but I soon found myself thoroughly engrossed. Wilde has written this story like a symphony in four movements with an overture, ballad, climax, and finale. The prose is absolutely lyrical. Beauty is a dominant theme. Wilde excessively alludes to Greek Gods and the perfection of Adonis. The concept of beauty is also represented in the idea of man vs. himself, or better yet as beauty vs. immortality. Dorian wrestles constantly with his inner self and with the immortality his beauty presents to him. But with his beauty comes sins and pleasure that have no effect on him because their consequences marr his self portrait. Dorian uses his beauty to sin which ultimately leads to violence; his emotions often confuse his sins with pleasure. A secondary theme is the absence of reality. In the Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde echoes a similar line as that from Dorian. He writes that the two most attractive types of people are those who know nothing at all or absolutely everything. Three key characters represent varying degrees of reality, as well as Wilde's description of attractive people. Dorian knows nothing and Lord Henry knows absolutely everything, but Basil is the medium ground between the two that represents reality. Basil is the only one who sees/acknowledges things for what they truly are, but he is shunned by others who don't want to see reality. Characters like Dorian and Lord Henry have the idea that to see reality is to be scared of life. It is bad to be a spectator to one's own life. Dorian even admits that "He felt that the secret of the whole thing was not to realise the situation." If he didn't acknowledge it, it simply did not exist. Lastly is the theme of homosexuality. Wilde does not mention any specifics of homosexual relationships, but what one has to read between the lines jumps off the page with equal magnitude of the written text. All in all, this book is excellent. Read this book, you will be glad you did!
Rating:
Summary: What can I say that hasn't already been said?
Review: All the great reviews speak for themself! It's a book written by Oscar Wilde, that alone ought to make you order right on the spot! This book is great! I love it! And I love Dorian Gray! Get this book!
Rating: 
Summary: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Review: While Oscar Wilde's central theme of corruption initially captures the readers attention, the character development does not help to hold the reader's attention for a long period of time. Dorian Gray, the central character, has the potential to be a very romantic and dumbfounding character, but because Wilde does not go into great character development, he seems almost more like the painting that comes to represent him ... dimensionless. The point of the novel is to point out how changed Dorian becomes over the years and how he goes from being the epitome of beauty to someone that is hardly recognized as the person he once was. However, in order to feel this transformation, the reader would need to feel as if he or she knew the original Dorian Gray. Because the beginning of the novel does not describe him enough, the full effect of Dorian's startling transformation is unable to be fully comprehended.
In addition, although the theme of outer beauty coupled with inner corruption is a strong one, this book seems more like one that should be read in a class and discussed in groups. It is not a novel that is easy-reading for pleasure. The style of writing makes it hard to breeze through the book, although on the positive the book brings about much self-contemplation and is very thought provoking. The reader cannot put it down because the whole novel leads to the very disturbing, although somewhat predictable, ending.
In general, it is a book that should be read and will be enjoyed by many. The reader can relate to the feelings felt by the main characters and the themes in the book are ones that can be witnessed in real life. The general faults of the novel are eventually outweighed by the suspense and the intrigue as the painting of Dorian Gray, once a masterpiece, becomes more defiled with each horrible act committed by Dorian.
Rating:
Summary: Possibly not the easiest read, but...
Review: The novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde is yet another triumph for this talented author. The dark tale of a young man who unknowingly sells his soul in order to stay forever young is wittily brought across through three main characters, each resembling a different part of Wilde himself. Dorian, the main character, represents what Wilde himself said he would like to be, yet Dorian also clearly resembles part of Wilde: the part that was once young and innocent before becoming corrupted by the world he lived in. Henry Wooton, the man responsible for the corruption of Dorian Gray, is the side of Oscar Wilde that the world thought was the true Wilde: carefree and conceited, caring nothing for other people, yet extremely witty. This is also Wilde, as far as the witty and carefree parts go. Only when Henry displays his rare moments of care for other people does this character seem like Wilde. Basil, the man who paints the infamous picture of Dorian, is the character who Wilde found himself to be the most like. Quiet and withdrawn, Basil is a caring man with a good consience who completely adores Dorian. Out of the entire novel, Basil is one of the few truly good people. This novel does, however, have it's shortcomings. Lord Henry Wooton's wife is introduced in a scene and given an extremely interesting description. She is a nervous woman who laughs often and also displays the wit that Wilde was so famous for. This description, however, makes one think that she will be extremely important later, when in truth, she never shows up again (though she is mentioned once by Henry). There is also a chapter that delves a little too deeply into the obsessions that Dorian went through, going into long run-on sentances and too-long descriptions. Overall, this is an extremely well-written novel that portrays what is wrong with society today through the views of the characters and the actions they take. Though it may not be the easiest read for today's society (many of whom are as corrupt as the characters in the book), it is one well worth reading, if only for a new outlook on life.
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful Wish
Review: In the book the Picture of Dorian Gray Dorian, the main character makes a powerful wish that impacts his life and the lives of others. I think that Dorian's wish to stay young forever was a good one when he was pure but when he turned bad I did not like him. I hated some parts of the book like when he killed one of his closest friends. Can Dorian find a way to make everything right?
Rating:
Summary: Not an easy book for modern readers
Review: This cautionary tale of sensuality, excess, vanity, and self-love is slow-going for today's readers, used to a brisker pace of writing. The story is wonderful but could have been told in far fewer words; however, word count excess wasn't important in the era in which Wilde wrote and lived his own unique brand of literature, art, and life.
Wonderful witty, sarcastic and caustic writing of course, all being Wilde's trademarks.
Rating:
Summary: Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.
Review: "What does it profit a man if he gains the world, but loses his soul?" This is the core question raised by "The Picture of Dorian Gray", Oscar Wilde's reworking (if that isn't too unkind) of Goethe's Faust for the Victorian era and his attack on the values of the middle classes caused a scandal when it was first published in 1890 and over 100 years later, while not particularly shocking to the modern reader is still a deeply unsettling tale. The novel revolves around our hero Dorian, the tensions within his own character and the forces that conspire in his eventual destruction. The book begins with Dorian seeing for the first time a portrait of himself painted by his friend Basil Hallward and Dorian's wish that the portrait would age while he remained forever the same as he was on that day. The "prayer of his pride" is answered and not only does the picture carry the assault of time for Dorian, but also the full weight of the casual cruelties and crimes he commits, evolving from a reproduction of his physical form into a mirror image of his soul. Realising this, Dorian is driven to even greater excesses safe in the knowledge that he can get away with it until finally his own guilt catches up with him. In his only novel, one can't help but feel that Oscar is giving us an insight into his own soul and the guilt he suffered over his sexual orientation. But on a deeper level, Wilde shows us the damnation of one soul and in that gives us a metaphor for our world and ourselves. Despite the Victorian idea that a person's nature is written on their face, which is frankly ludicrous with the hindsight of the last century, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" is a truly wonderful and thought-provoking story heavily laced with the famous wit and wisdom of the great man himself.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece of Words
Review: Oscar Wilde was shunned by the public after publishing The Picture of Dorian Gray. It is a beautifully written book and is as much a work of art as an elegantly painted portrait. Centered around the vain and young Dorian Gray, it tells the price one pays for eternal youth and gives a new dimension to the human soul. As Dorian succumbs to the tempting dark underworld of London, and he lives by night in wicked ways, the beautiful portrait painted of him becomes like a journal of his soul, becoming ever more twisted and deformed. It begins to haunt Dorian continuously, day and night, consuming his every thought. Then a shadow from his young past creeps back into his life and makes Dorian's life even more frightening Oscar Wilde's novel is a magnificent read and explores the issue and thoughts surrounding man's soul. How tarnished it becomes if we live a bad life, etcetera. I recommended anyone to read this Wilde masterpiece. You do not have to like horror to enjoy it. Any lover of a well written book would also fall for this.
Rating:
Summary: Wilde frente al espejo de su vida
Review: Indudablemente Oscar Wilde es uno de los más grandes escritores de la Literatura Universal; pero más que eso fue uno de los pocos que se atrevió a enfrentar a una sociedad adoctrinada y primitiva, siempre dispuesta a estigmatizar aquellos que no se alineaban con los patrones impuestos por ellos mismos. Wilde era un alienígena en un mundo que no fue construído para él. Después de leer esta novela corta (o cuento largo, como prefieran) uno se queda con la impresión que Oscar Wilde la escribió mirando su futuro en una bola de cristal porque es impresionante la similitud con muchas cosas que le ocurrieron mucho tiempo después que "El Retrato de Dorian Gray" sea publicado; cumpliéndose lo que él mismo escribió en uno de sus ensayos: "La Vida imita al arte ..., en tanto que el arte es la realidad". La historia muestra a un Lord Henry Wotton enamorado de la belleza juvenil de Dorian y no vería mejor forma de demostrárselo que retratándolo en un lienzo para perpetuar su belleza. Lo sorprendente es que de manera inexplicable el retrato iba reflejando la vida de Dorian, como si tuviera vida propia y convirtiéndose en su conciencia que le recordaba cada día la vida desordenada en la que se había sumergido. Conciente de esto Dorian, en un momento de ira, arremete contra su creador, Lord Henry, y se convierte en un deicida; de esta manera evitaría que Lord Henry revelara su secreto a la sociedad que lo señalaría con su dedo acusador. Sin embargo, su intento por borrar su pasado turbulento lo llevaría a enfrentarse a aquel retrato que envejecía paralelamente a como envejecía su alma. Pero al arremeter contra este Dorian se daría cuenta que el no era más que el reflejo de aquel retrato y que en realidad era este quien decidia sobre su vida, incluso sobre su muerte. "La Vida imita el Arte" ... me repito una y otra vez y despierto en la realidad de las mentiras pensando en el otro "yo" que vive libre al otro lado de mi retrato ... Excelente historia.
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