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Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray (Cliffs Notes) by Stanley P. Baldwin ISBN: 0-7645-8506-1 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 01 December, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.15 (174 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: All art is quite useless
Comment: Art for art's sake? Oscar Wilde's "Dorian Gray" is about youth, corruption, and esthetics. Reflective of Wilde's own life and revolt against Victorian era sentimentality, young Dorian Gray slowly changes after his philosophical discussions with the cynical Lord Henry Wotton, whose cold criticisms and harsh wit are often humorous in an addictively jaded kind of way, and tempting to arm oneself with; however, read on and observe Wilde's destruction of Lord Henry's young protoget. The immediate power of Basil Hallward's portrait of Dorian retains a demonic hold on its confused subject, taunting and torturing his vanity with its strangely metamorphizing characteristics. Who's changing, and what exactly is changing? Wilde creates an unforgettable "portrait" here of one man's (or is it the whole of Victorian society?) demise. Many critics of Wilde have seen him and "The Portrait of Dorian Gray" as pure evil and criticized the undertones of homosexuality, and linked it with a lifestyle of debauchery and degradation. Wilde was thrown in jail for his "unlawful activities". To them I must concur with Wilde, that "Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault."
Rating: 3
Summary: A sub-Faustian tale of self-love and self-obssession
Comment: Though it's rather slow to get going in the initial chapters, Oscar Wilde's "Picture of Dorian Gray" builds up into a splendidly effective piece, written in highly polished prose. Dorian Gray, who is suggestively described as "charming" and "beautiful" ... is painted by his friend and admirer, Basil Hallward. Dorian, a self-centered social luminary whose character is reminiscent of Narcissus, makes a bizarre sub-Faustian wish which tragically comes true: that his beautiful portrait may age, while he retains his youthful looks. The conclusion is disastrous, the culmination of a narrative containing elements of murder, suicide, blackmail, a confrontation in a grimy alley and an episode in an opium den. The characters are very well sketched out, particularly the triad of Dorian, Basil and the intellectual cynic, Lord Henry, Dorian's mentor and the mouthpiece of some of Wilde's most cutting amoral opinions. The style is, typically, marvellous, characterised by brilliant exchanges and aphoristic gaiety. Wilde lacerates English bourgeois culture, the conceptions of sin and virtue and the attitudes towards art of his time with tremendous aplomb. Some of his quips are patently snide, sometimes mysogynistic, as in: "Woman represents the triumph of matter over mind, while man represents the triumph of mind over morals." Oh, isn't that just despicable?! I love it!
Rating: 3
Summary: Mark from Holy Angels
Comment: I thought the picture of Dorian Gray was ok. There were some parts that I was confused with and some parts I did not like. It is about a man named Dorian Gray who asks for his portrait to be done. His friend Basil Hallward does his portrait. When he recieves it he wishes he could always be beautiful. He is this really handsome guy. So he gave away his soul in order to have eternal youth,so no matter what happened nothing would happen to him and the portrait would grow old instead. Later he goes insane and kills... In between these confusing times he still has a normal life at the same time. He is engaged to a girl but she commits suicide. He has this good friend named Lord Henry. Lord Henry helps teach him how to have emotions and he teaches him about life. Sometimes it is really confusing advice. He even throws parties. Then Dorian's engaged person's brother is seeking revenge and tries to kill him but is accidentely shot; but how? Then he is tired of having eternal youth so he... You will have to find out what hapens to him.
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Title: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson ISBN: 0486266885 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 January, 1991 List Price(USD): $1.00 |
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Title: Dracula by Bram Stoker, Leonard Wolf ISBN: 0451523377 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: October, 1997 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells ISBN: 0486270718 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 05 February, 1992 List Price(USD): $2.00 |
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Title: King Solomon's Mines (Oxford World's Classics) by H. Rider Haggard, Dennis Butts ISBN: 0192834851 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: August, 1998 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne ISBN: 0812550927 Publisher: Tor Classics Pub. Date: 15 October, 1995 List Price(USD): $3.99 |
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