A review by kautaru
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

4.0

Beginning was definitely a 5 stars for me, but at one point, reading the book felt more like a chore than entertainment, but it ended on a pretty good note, which is why my final rating is 4 stars. The biggest thing I applaud is that people weren't exaggerating when they said that I'd want to highlight every sentence in this book. The sentences are so charged and full of subtext. Wonderful! The problem with this is if every sentence is like that for the whole book, it definitely takes a toll on the reader (I literally needed to take breaks while reading this so my brain wouldn't short-circuit). Another striking thing about this novel is the morals portrayed in it, the utterly backwards morals. I've never read a book that I have so firmly and vehemently disagreed with. It's better to be beautiful than good? Indulge in every sin known to man? Live life without any consideration for other people? Damn. No wonder Dorian Gray turned out the way he did. But maybe this book is trying to do that thing where it seems like it's agreeing with these morals by portraying them, but it's actually doing the exact opposite by showing the consequences of having such morals (hint: Dorian's end). The interesting thing is that its usually obvious when a book is doing that; it's not very obvious for this one. Something to ponder. Wouldn't say that it's a masterpiece, but I can confidently say that there isn't any book like this one. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea though.