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The Picture of Dorian Gray | 
 enlarge | Author: Oscar Wilde
Publisher: Digireads.com
Category: Book
List Price: $4.95
Buy New: $3.95
You Save: $1.00 (20%)
New (18) Used (10) Collectible (2) from $3.86
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 131832
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 124
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4
ISBN: 1420925288
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9781420925289
ASIN: 1420925288
Publication Date: January 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is Oscar Wilde's classic tale of the moral decline of its title character, Dorian Gray. When Dorian has his portrait painted by Basil Hallward and wishes that he would stay young while his picture changes, his wish comes true. In exchange for this Dorian gives up his soul and as he ages the bad deeds that he commits are reflected in his painting and not him. "The Picture of Dorian Gray", arguably Wilde's most popular work, was considered quite scandalous when it was first published in the late 1800s in Victorian England.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Who wants to look young forever? October 9, 2008
Basil, who up until now was a mediocre painter after meeting Dorian Gray a young Adonis, was inspired to create a masterpiece of which he puts himself into. Against Basil's wishes, Dorian Gray is influenced by Basil's friend Lord Henry. Dorian looks at his portrait and realizes that while the portrait will stay young forever, he will grow old; so Dorian makes a wish that if only he could stay young forever and the portrait can age.
At first Dorian does not realize his wishes been granted. He falls in love with a beautiful young actress who is every woman that Shakespeare ever wrote about. But once again due to Lord Henry's influence, he realizes that she's just a common girl.
Starting with absent-minded acts Dorian slowly sinks into debauchery. And with every new act his picture becomes more grotesque while Dorian stays is young and as innocent looking as the day his picture was painted.
What will become of Dorian?
What will become of Dorian's painting?
What would you do if you were Dorian?
Oscar Wilde paints a picture himself as he describes Dorian Gray's dilemma. And we as readers travel with Dorian as each decision is made. In some places in the story Oscar Wilde seems to drag on and on with detail; however we find that this detail is necessary to set the next scene.
Oscar Wilde himself led a risky life that lead to a jail sentence; is attitudes can be seen in the dialogues in this book.
The Picture of Dorian Gray Starring: George Sanders, Hurd Hatfield
The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame August 24, 2008
Wilde sees the world more clearly than any writer of fiction in the last century. It is for that reason that his work is so filled with countless paradoxes and contradictions that challenge the mind and titillate the senses. Wilde lived in an infinitely ironic age, when society had grown so influential as to crowd out the individuals that made it up. Today, we have taken for granted this incongruity and so our writers cannot express the kind of irony that Wilde mastered, despite the fact that we all know that something is amiss.
`The Picture of Dorian Gray' is filled with this irony. The plot shows us the ultimate irony of a man giving up his soul for the beauty of youth--the condition that is exalted in the modern age above all else, intellect, truth, justice, life itself. Interspersed are dialogues and epigrams that persist one hundred years later as some of the finest word handling ever recorded. Even a few samples should compel the potential reader:
"The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."
"Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter."
"A man cannot be too careful in his choice for his enemies."
"The only difference between a caprice and a life-long passion is that the caprice lasts a little bit longer."
"Men marry because they are tired, women marry because they are curious. Both are disappointed."
"I love acting, it is so much more real than life."
- "I am on the side of the Trojans, they fought for a woman."
- "They were defeated."
The mastery of wit that Wilde displays must be seen in its context. He was a decadent as much as the characters he portrays are. Ultimately, the disillusion that the decadent faces comes through in the story and the reader is left with a very uneasy feeling upon completing `Dorian Gray.' Is life as absurd as it seems? Is there a solution? Or are we stuck with a life of paradox? Perhaps our current period of decadence will show us an alternative. Until it does, we can enjoy the astounding word play offered here.
Disturbing- yet good July 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was difficult to read at first. I accept that the great ones always take a while to hook you as they build the characters. It has been a while since I read this book and yet much of it is fresh in my mind. Not a beach read. It's too deep. A story like no other I have ever read.
 No Extras May 28, 2008
Honestly - the book came brand new, but it didn't have any of the footnotes that other people's versions had. I was disappointed by that. Also, the pages are HUGE with small print. Don't get this version if you're reading it for a book club or school, you'll be disappointed.
Another edition of the timeless book March 16, 2007
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
I ordered the book having read it already, just to have it for my library. It has a beautiful geometric pattern cover, which looks better on the computer screen than in real life. I prefer the hard-cover edition, but this one will make a nice, inexpensive, but meaningful gift.
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