Book review - The Picture of Dorian Gray

I believe this was the only novel written by Oscar Wilde, first published in 1891 this book still maintains a great deal of the shock factor it created upon its release.

I will confess that before I read this book, I had been seriously slack on the book front for a long time, I'm not quite sure what made me read it, but I'm so glad I did. It fully absorbed me into a believable world of characters, passions, innocence, debauched antics and society in the 19th century.

The book explores morality and pursuing exploits purely for your satisfaction. It poses the question that if the risk of loss was taken away, would you act differently?

I don't want to spoil it for you, but the book is really fast paced, exciting and really throws you into the feelings of the characters, their inner turmoils, temptations & adorations. There is an almost devil & angel style battle going on at points, and you start inwardly shouting at the character.

Here are a couple of my favourite quotes;

“To realise one's nature perfectly—that is what each of us is here for. People are afraid of themselves, nowadays. They have forgotten the highest of all duties, the duty that one owes to one's self. Of course they are charitable. They feed the hungry, and clothe the beggar. But their own souls starve, and are naked. Courage has gone out of our race. Perhaps we never really had it. The terror of society, which is the basis of morals, the terror of God, which is the secret of religion—these are the two things that govern us. And yet——”

“My dear Gladys!" cried Lord Henry. "How can you say that? Romance lives by repetition, and repetition converts an appetite into an art. Besides, each time that one loves is the only time one has ever loved. Difference of object does not alter singleness of passion. It merely intensifies it. We can have in life but one great experience at best, and the secret of life is to reproduce that experience as often as possible.”

I was a little bit naughty at first, and this book was downloaded on iBooks for free, but I loved it so much I purchased this lovely penguin edition when I saw it in a shop. I can't wait to read it again and it has even been selected as the next read at the vintage book group I attend. The perfect excuse to get reabsorbed into it. 

Have you read this book? What did you think?