The Picture of Dorian Gray (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)

I'm not sure it's worth my reviewing the story in this book since everyone is so familiar with it. But if you haven't actually read this original version then it is well worth doing so, if you can cope with the beautiful classic writing style.The main reason I wanted to do this review was to let you know just how nice this book is physically.The format is a Flexibound Edition by Barnes & Noble. It's basically a faux leather-bound cover. Obviously not real leather, it is a soft feel plastic or rubber which is marginally flexible in the hand.The first and last pages are backed in the old-world style using frantically patterned end papers.The page edges are colour sprayed to complement the cover.There is also a page marking ribbon.Even the relatively thick paper stock has slightly off white colouring and lends itself to the feel of an old original collectable.In short, for the incredibly low retail price of this book you get an absolutely stunning edition, which looks fantastic on the shelf in a collected set and feels great in the hand as you read. Barnes and Noble do a nice collection in this format. Just search for (Barnes Noble Flexibound editions) on Amazon

It took me a long time to get round to this one but it is a classic after all and considered one of the most eloquent Victorian novels ever to be published, so I thought I better at least give it a chance.Overall, I’m glad I did.I’d actually give it a 3.5, its positives far outweigh its negatives. An example of which would be the unnecessarily detailed manner in which Wilde describes the interests that Dorian submerges himself in whilst existing in his years of hedonistic vanity. I agree some content on this was needed, I just didn’t like the overtly flowery essay type style that Wilde employed. This of course is his style but it just went on too long for me, it was information that essentially distracted from the main plot and became uninteresting. It came across like Wilde merely wanted to show off about how much he knew about everything artistic. As I write that I realise it was actually quite informative of the way wealthy intellectuals perhaps filled their time but regardless it felt misplaced to me.Also, some of the character exchanges seemed very unrealistic. Particularly Henry’s dialogue with the duchess, a seemingly unending stream of snappy but artificial one liners. Poetic and lyrical perhaps but no one converses like that for as long as they did.That being said, I liked much of the other character exchanges. The ones between the male characters, and perhaps this speaks volumes about Wilde’s world view of women in general. I think he may have found women a frightening enigma and this is reflected in not only the dialogue with the female characters but also the way in which Lord Henry philosophises over the value of the female intellect.Some may find the overtly homoerotic (not so subtle) undertones a bit much. But I could see this was just Wilde injecting his own private thoughts into his characters and that is when a story is best. It was a time when such things were unacceptable to say let alone publish so this to me didn’t detract from the main plot or what his characters were essentially going through.When this novel was at its best was when it was dealing with the main themes of vanity and the perceivable worth of youth. The story is generally superb if somewhat abrupt at it’s climax and Wilde’s mastery of the english language is for the most part a wonder to behold.Tempted to go to 4 stars, but just couldn’t forgive the large chunk in the middle that was just Wilde peacocking and unashamedly parading his high intellect and knowledge. Still, a great novel.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a fantastic book. It’s not all that long, and is the only novelised evidence of Wilde’s literary talent. Personally, it took me two days to read, and I enjoyed pretty much every moment of it. There are times when Wilde spends a little too much time describing ancient kings and philosophers of the past, but these don’t need to be read in too much detail. Probably its finest moments are its beginning, as Dorian realises the importance of youth, and its end.This is a book that will really make you think. Its characters are so boldly imprinted on its pages that they are easy to picture; this is particularly true of the infamous Lord Henry, who slowly manipulates Dorian over the course of the novel. It raises a lot of questions, but rarely answers them. In my opinion, this is much preferable to having all your questions answered: it leaves a sense of mystery that hangs over The Picture of Dorian Gray and turns it into a fascinating read.

I have no doubt that The Picture of Dorian Gray is a great read - it is a classic after all. This copy, however, is far from a great read - I opted for the Kindle version and it reads as though it has been translated out of English and back again which, as I’m sure you can imagine, leaves it making almost no sense in some places (as shown in the photos).I’ve now purchased a different edit of the book which, after the first few pages, has highlighted just how bad this edit actually is.