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Summary: DORIAN GRAY
Review: I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT OSCAR WILDE. HIS PLAYS, HIS QUOTES, STORIES, AND POEMS. BUT I JUST LOVE HIS ONLY NOVEL....THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. WHEN I FIRST READ THIS BOOK, I DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT OSCAR WILDE. I'VE BEEN HOOKED ON HIM EVER SINCE. WHEN I FOUND OUT THIS WAS HIS ONLY NOVEL, I WAS SHOCKED! A MAN WITH SUCH WRITING TALENTS AND ABILITY ONLY WROTE ONE NOVEL? I WAS RELIEVED TO FIND OUT THAT HE WROTE OTHER KINDS OF LITERATURE TOO. BUT THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES OF HIS WORKS. IT HAS EVERYTHING: VANITY, LOVE, BETRAYAL, HATE, AND A MORAL OF HUMAN NATURE. ONCE YOU READ THIS BOOK YOU'LL UNDERSTAND THE PASSION THAT PEOPLE FEEL AS THEY DESCRIBE THIS BOOK. I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO EVERYBODY. IT'S ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I'VE EVER READ!
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Summary: Brilliant
Review: I'd heard a lot about Wilde when I started this book, but this was the first of his works that I'd ever read. I was half-way expecting long, incomprehensible philosophical discussions, impossible to decipher passages...my stereotype of 19th century literature. But when I was through the first chapter, I had a wake-up call. "Wow," I thought, "this is really GOOD!" I became addicted, and sped through the rest of the book. It is engrossing, absorbing, entertaining, and not the least bit boring. Brilliant.
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Summary: Excellent, makes you think
Review: This is an absorbing book, that brings you into a different world from ours but still brings up important issues to us. It can be funny, but also criticizes wanting to be young forever. Dorian's change from being normal to being without feeling is interesting but creepy, since it could happen to us as well. This is an important book to read, and is also entertaining.
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Summary: good
Review: I thought it was good, I don't know why people are saying it was boring.
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Summary: Too much anti-victorian philosophy, not enough story.
Review: This novel is a philosophy book about the author's narcissistic anti-Victorian views and clever witticisms. Oh yeah, somewhere in there is a story about a man who makes a wish that his portrait would show his physical age and experiences, while he remains forever young and handsome. The wish comes true.There was incredible potential for this story that wasn't lived up too. I think this novel really needed a heavy-handed editor to make it great.
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Summary: How to write beautiful English
Review: Appropriately, I read this book while travelling the dark, sombre tube system in London. I already knew the story, but what struck me most was the perfection of the writing. Wilde uses such beautiful, concise and clear language to convey his own version of the Faustian legend. The subject matter is troubling to some but one cannot deny the quality of the art.
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Summary: Distrubing, yes; but this book isn't too bad.
Review: There is too much monotonous content in this book, but when it all comes through it isn't all that bad. This book's intention was clear, but it took to long to develop. This idea should have been made into a short story and not a two-hundred page story.
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Summary: A Great Story Filled with Philosophy
Review: This novel provides a fascinating story on a young man's desire to keep his appearance while having his age expressed and progressed in a portrait of himself. The story not only has a good plot, it has a strong philosophical foundation which is characterized through numerous epigrams. Among the characters, Dorian Gray and Lord Henry present various explanations throughout life. I have read this book as an assignment for preparation toward the AP [Advance Placement] test in English Literature and enjoyed it. I would recommend this book to anyone who, not only would like to prepare for an AP test in English, but to those who appreciate philosophy.
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Summary: This book really laked something.....a plot!
Review: Well, I had to read this book for a school assignment. I'm not really sure what I expected from this book, but I know I didn't get it. This book shows the true demoralization of our society- past and present. The absloute worst part of the book (about 90% of it) was the long, monotonous, verbose speeches that consisted of the characters'ideals that were just "off the mark" by a little. I would not suggest reading this book, partly because of the boring content, but mostly because of the fact that I still haven't found a plot.
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Summary: What does the picture of YOUR soul look like?
Review: As Wilde's only novel, it does have it's slow spots. However, the genius of the writing is in the dialogue (as is generally true of Wilde). The depth of the ideas discussed is often overlooked by the simple way in which they are presented. Dorian's example forces us to examine our own lives and face the unmistakable truth: the choices we make everyday determine the state of our souls.
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