Synopsis:
After having his portrait painted, Dorian Gray is captivated by his own beauty. Tempted by his world-weary friend, decadent friend Lord Henry Wotton, he wished to stay young forever and pledges his very soul to keep his good looks. As Dorian's slide into crime and cruelty progresses, he stays magically youthful, while his beautiful portrait changes, revealing the hideous corruption of moral decay. Set in fin-de-siecle London, the novel traces a path from the studio of painter Basil Howard to the opium dens of the East End.
My Thoughts: (Orginally Reviewed August 5, 2003)
This story was really good. It's about Dorian Gray who is about 18 at the time his friend Basil paints a portrait of him. Gray prays that his portrait would age and he himself would remain young, and of course his prayer is answered.
Having been written in the late 1800's, it's hard to get past some of the vocabulary in this book, and also there are endnotes which makes it hard to read because you have to flip to the back and find what that part meant and then go back to reading. Another thing that I didn't like was when the author went on and on about jewels and embroidery - it was so hard to follow and it wasn't necessary the story at all.
Overall I liked the story, but it was a tough read, and although it's not a very long book (a little over 200 pages) it is not a light read. I think you should read this book if you're into classic literature, but otherwise I would pick something else.
Rating: C
No comments:
Post a Comment