The picture of Dorian Gray

Hi everyone, a little while ago I read 'The picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde and I thought I'd do a quick review on the book for you. This was the only novel that Oscar Wilde published as he mainly wrote plays, poems and short stories. As I've mentioned previously I had wanted to read this for a while after it had been mentioned to me by a friend.

This book was a fantastic read, the writing was poetic and the plot riveting. It tells the story of a vain young man who has his portrait painted by a friend. Afterwards he realises that while he will grow old and lose his looks the portrait will always remain the same. He wishes that it would be the opposite and after a while realises that the portrait has indeed changed and is ageing while he remains the same.

I love the way that this book explores the ideas of perfection and how it condemns people to a life without change. Throughout the book Dorian travels and attempts to find hobbies that interest him. He spends a fortune indulging in hobbies that interest him for only short amounts of time. Throughout the novel Dorian becomes increasingly more paranoid about his ever changing portrait, coming to dread leaving it for any length of time and even suspecting his manservant of sneaking around the portrait.

This is brilliant and definitely worth a read. It's Oscar Wilde, gothic horror and a classic. In short, just read it! Until next time,

Catherine