The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray
Ratings562
Average rating4
15
Ratings562
Average rating4
More than 120 years after Oscar Wilde submitted The Picture of Dorian Gray for publication in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, the uncensored version of his novel appears here for the first time in a paperback edition. This volume restores all of the material removed by the novel’s first editor.
Upon receipt of the typescript, Wilde’s editor panicked at what he saw. Contained within its pages was material he feared readers would find “offensive”—especially instances of graphic homosexual content. He proceeded to go through the typescript with his pencil, cleaning it up until he made it “acceptable to the most fastidious taste.” Wilde did not see these changes until his novel appeared in print. Wilde’s editor’s concern was well placed. Even in its redacted form, the novel caused public outcry. The British press condemned it as “vulgar,” “unclean,” “poisonous,” “discreditable,” and “a sham.” When Wilde later enlarged the novel for publication in book form, he responded to his critics by further toning down its “immoral” elements.
Wilde famously said that The Picture of Dorian Gray “contains much of me”: Basil Hallward is “what I think I am,” Lord Henry “what the world thinks me,” and “Dorian what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps.” Wilde’s comment suggests a backward glance to a Greek or Dorian Age, but also a forward-looking view to a more permissive time than his own repressive Victorian era. By implication, Wilde would have preferred we read today the uncensored version of his novel.
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TL;DR - a true blue masterpiece, and one that is going to make me start a classics binge shortly.
Whether it is the characterisation, the heady Faustian themes, and a surprisingly great plot - my first foray into Wilde's literature was nothing short of spectacular. Lord Henry's cynicism was laugh-at-loud at parts, and somewhat deep at others, but where the novel truly shines is in depicting Dorian's corruption - first as a charming and uncorrupted seventeen-year old, but then whose countenance grows darker the more he revels in his senses. What I liked the most in this depiction is that we get to know about Dorian's behaviour second-hand, and that too in parts - thus the misuse of the omniscient PoV is kept to a minimum.
A slight addendum - there are slight socialist undertones I got from this (for example, the depiction of vacuousness of the people having inherited wealth is unsubtle), to the point where I began to wonder if Wilde was a socialist - which he was? Unsurprising, but it only added to my appreciation of the text.
It's a very deep book about art, immortality and other topics that are more interesting. While dialogues are quite extensive, they aren't boring, but provide much useful information and interesting at the same time. This book is a classic that everyone should read.
This was a good book, but the content was too short and simple to make me enthralled and the subject outside of my interest. Dorian Gray is a naive aristocratic young man in Victorian England that is first empty, then vain and then becomes callous, cynical, hedonistic and selfish.
His emptiness of spirit I think it could be attributed to a typical noble upbringing for the time, that resulted in an indifference to the world and no interest for intellectual or artistic pursuits. He would be a typical millennial these days, someone that never had to endure any real hardships, only cares about social events and dreads how boring life is.
This is not elaborated in the book, I'm just assuming that how he was before he met Basil Hallward. This is when he is told that because he is beautiful, nothing else matters. Basil encourages his vanity, but Dorian is still unaware of what all his youth and good looks can get him in the world if he would just learn how to use these qualities to “explore” others.
That's where Lord Henry comes in. He is the personification of everything that is rotten in the world. Well, I don't really think that, but that is how he is portrayed, as an alluring bad influence to young impressionable minds.
Dorian cannot help but to be attracted by this individual that is so interesting and confident. Someone who seems to know everything about life. All of his friends were probably mindless drones that just went with the flow, and suddenly comes into his life this magnetic personality that defies all common reason.
Lord Henry preaches a life of self pleasure, one that does not care for the interest of others as long as you do what is right for you. As times passes by, Dorian's plunges in more deeply into the corruption originated by this hedonistic lifestyle. And the ugliness of his soul is reflected in a portrait that his artist friend Basil has made for him.
Again, this was a good book, with a good message told in an interesting way. But it was not enough for me to like it too much. I'm giving it +1 star because it made a subject I don't care about (aesthetic) into a palatable short story.
Wow a lot of WTF stuff happened one after another
