Cornflower Book Group - The Picture of Dorian Gray

 

    If you didn't know that Oscar Wilde was a playwright you could certainly guess it was so on the basis of his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. There are many declamatory passages, 'stage-y' scenes, melodramatic, 'back of the hand to the forehead' moments, and enough epigrams, aphorisms and sharp, barbed wit to keep an audience engaged throughout three acts.

    If it were a play, the sets and costumes would be beautiful (see, for example, the description of the little library in Lord Henry's Mayfair house at the beginning of chapter IV, and Sibyl's clothes as Rosalind in ch. VI), and noticeably, given so many exquisite details of dress, objets and decor, there is rather a lack of food - again, is this the dramatist's mind dwelling on what is most effective on stage and eliminating that which can't be easily done? Just by the way but on the subject of things, I was amused at Dorian Gray's interest in what I suppose was an early form of aromatherapy and crystal therapy in chapter XI!

    Those are the externals, while the internals - the aestheticism, the faustian pact, the corruption and immorality, make the familiar story, one set in a world in which everything is deceptively simple: "The secret of remaining young is never to have an emotion that is unbecoming." Everything leads back to that, it seems.

    Throughout the book there is a disconnection between narrative and reader, in the sense that as with a play in a conventional theatre, the reader watches and listens from a certain distance in the stalls and the circle - there's that proscenium divide, and thus none of the immediacy and close involvement that an apron stage or viewing in the round would provide. This is Wilde's natural habitat, both professionally and personally, and every word, every detail is arranged just so, to attract and retain the reader's attention. This artifice is almost like looking at the most beautifully dressed shop window - the passer-by may have no interest in the merchandise on show, but the display itself is arresting.

    I'm glad I've read the book, although at times doing so was a bit like sipping a particularly potent and somewhat bitter liqueur - enough was quite enough. What did you think of it?

(Edited to add: this book's cake is here).

Comments

[Anji]

I can't say that I liked Dorian Gray or Lord Henry- what a nasty man he was. Oscar Wilde certainly got my attention. Once I had taken a deep breath I tried to focus and pay attention to what Oscar Wilde was saying about youth and beauty and art and not to be repelled by the characters in the story. It was an adult fairy story, a cautionary tale.

In the notes that came with my copy of the novel, it stated that this was the only novel that Oscar Wilde had written and that it wasn't very well received by the public at the time of it's publication. I am not surprised, it probably wasn't something that they expected, such a dark story,particularly as Oscar Wilde was known to be so witty and charming. I did struggle with it and I agree with you, Cornflower it was quite bitter. I am pleased that I stuck it out and finished the book.

[B R Wombat]

I'm glad that I've now read The Picture of Dorian Gray, but I didn't exactly enjoy the process of reading for the reasons that Cornflower has set out - the artificiality, preciousness and lack of humanity. The basic device of the painting showing the evil soul of its subject is such a clever one that it's no wonder that it's known far better than the book itself is.

[efi]

thank you for introducing this book.i chose to read it in greek to understand better the nuances and innuendos.i am familiar with Oscar Wildes theater and his aphorisms.this book has been in my fathers library for ages however i have not read it till now.dark,sarcastic it reminded me of Greek mythology tales about narcissism and self destruction.Lord Henry really frightened me, a real devil.i admired the technic os showing the ugliness of the soul through the painting.thank you again.

[Julie Fredericksen]

Yes, Lord Henry is certainly the villain here. At least Dorian Gray doesn't start out that way. I thought in order to make a deal with the devil one would have to knowingly do it, not just utter a thought. After all, Dorian didn't know he was face to face with Beelzebub himself - absolute evil with the face of innocence.

I must be quite the dolt not to catch the staginess or the disconnect. However, that turned out to be a plus for me, as it did not spoil my enjoyment of the book.

I can't believe I graduated from college with a degree in Engish Literature without having read anything by Oscar Wilde. Thanks for the opportunity - or shall I say nudge?

[Sandy]

I thought that the plot was a clever idea. But I did not enjoy the style of writing, which seemed to be a vehicle to show off the writer's cleverness. Ultimately I became wearied with those phrases such as "Even things that are true can be proved" and the doublets like "there is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." They were overdone.

I would have liked a bit more plot development (or make it a short story) and some likeable characters. But that's just me - I realise the book is a respected classic.

One good thing was that I acquired it free from the Guttenberg Press for the Kindle, thanks to the info here!

[Mr Cornflower]

Yes, it was a bit like being under a remorseless barrage of profiteroles, and the 'hey look at me aren't I clever' attitude can be rather wearing. But I am glad that I overcame my irritation and persisted to the end, firstly because there are some extended passages of genuinely brilliant writing - for example, the whole of Chapter XI - and secondly because in many respects it is an unsettlingly modern book.The narcissistic obsession with physical beauty and with 'lifestyle' objects could come straight out of Vogue, while at a deeper level there is a huge and largely unacknowledged debt to Nietzsche and other preachers of 'self-realisation for the elite'.

[Barbara MacLeod]

I absolutely loved it! I have a Reading-Ranking System: Category A - immediately read again.... down to Category D - a couple of pages and chuck it. This one was Category A. For me, it was like going from monochrome reading to technicolour!

So ... I offer this as Food for Further Thought:

[1] Frank Deleany's James Joyce Re:Joyce series no. 42 talks about the notion of paradox: "Paradox - statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. " [Ref: http://blog.frankdelaney.com/2011/03/re-joyce-episode-42-from-noah-to-zeno.html]

[2] A discovery for me: Zeno, 5th century Greek philosopher who states "The way of paradoxes is the way to truth". I agree.

[3] Further reading: Oscar Wilde Art of Lying - more of the same. Great stuff!

[4] I enjoyed the repartee on the topic of the differences between American and British women. Whilst sitting in the dentist's waiting room I came across this quote in the February 2011 issue of Tatler:

Gaby Darbyshire of Gawker stated that a Cambridge professor had this topic observed perfectly: "He said that for Americans, the most important thing is to be sincere and the worst is to be pretentious. For the British, the most important thing is to be witty, and the worst is to be boring. But for Americans, English witticisms are pretentious and, for the British, American sincerity is boring."

[adele geras]

This was one of my favourite books as a teenager and I think that the cracking TWIST and the highly wrought and yes, very theatrical feel of the thing is just right for young people who go round writing verse of quite a Wildean nature ( me at 15 or so!) I love Mr C's 'barrage of profiteroles! That's very accurate but hey, I adore profiteroles! I think 'fairytale' is true as well. Not real life but somehow poeticized and polished and with every facet gleaming somehow. Terribly overwritten in parts too, and just Oscar being very very clever and 'look at me.' But I don't mind. I fell in love with the whole Wilde thing at an early age and still reckon The Importance of Being Earnest the funniest, wittiest and most delightful play in the world.

[adele geras]

Too many 'somehows!' Overwrite? Moi?

[Dark Puss]

I love potent and bitter and gothic so for the most part this book was a resounding success. Yes it reads like a stage play turned into a novel and of course Wilde was showing off madly throughout much of it. I didn't mind in the least the unpleasant, indeed evil, characters, just what one needs in a book from time to time; I'd have loved to meet Lord Henry and probably I would have got my whiskers singed, or indeed my whole fur set on fire, for my troubles.

The Cornflowers have commented upon the shop-window or vogueish aspects of the book and I do wonder if the current crop of magazines such as i-D, Wallpaper*, Alt Fashion etc (dare I mention Gothic Beauty?) are a descent (?) into the world of 21st C Lord Henry and Dorian Gray. Perhaps the current recession will wield the knife of the final chapter?

[Dark Puss]

"Even things that are true can be proved"

Actually that's not correct* and Godel's realizing it (expressed in his incompleteness theorems) caused the collapse of Russell, Whitehead and Hilbert's heroic attempt to systematize mathematics using logic and axiomatic set-theory in one self-consistent way.

*Roughly speaking, some things that are true cannot be proved within the system in which they are true.

[Dark Puss]

"crystal therapy" ??

You mean like my use of lead tungstate and cerium-doped yttrium oxyorthosilicate scintillators?

Sparkling Cat

[Lindsay]

"Even things ... " surely means "some" things, not "all" things (or why the "even"?). So while you are of course right about Godel, I think Wilde is right here too!

[Susan E]

I just finished listening to a production of the Importance of Being Earnest which was a delight. The novel has many aphorisms which would fit right in, but the glittering wit and beautiful writing did not jibe with the ugly underside of the story in a way I found aesthetically pleasing. An undertone of misogyny was also a turn off, but I'm glad for the opportunity to get around to reading this.

"I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now. It is an absurd attitude to take towards life. We are not sent into the world to air our moral prejudices."

[Martina]

So glad I had the chance to re-read this novel. And like the best of the second reads, this brought me much more satisfaction. It is a "stagey" novel indeed, but his stage writing is so very fine that it just adds so much drama and delight to his prose.

"A barrage of profiteroles" is an apt description of the quicksilver conversational exchanges!!

This reading was also a more emotional one as well. There were moments of real horror so well constructed and such a memorable ending, ironically making me feel that my reading experience was quite fresh.

The ideas at its core were so timeless and disconcertingly modern. I found myself reading sections again, and carrying away thoughts for mulling over. Always a very good sign. And having selections from contemporary critics to read was fascinating wasn't it? His ideas may be timeless, but the some of the reaction was very much of its time.

It has also been so helpful to read everyone's twenty first century reactions and insights. Just added wonderfully to my own experience. Not a book I will forget this time round.

[Dark Puss]

I agree about the misogyny, that certainly took a little of the shine off it for me too.

[Dark Puss]

The use here of even is to me ambiguous; I'm sure your interpretation is (at least) as good as mine!

[Simon T]

I've read this a couple of times, although not for six years or so now, and love it. Except for Chp. XI which I found incredibly dull... You're right that it's dripping with witty sayings and so forth, but somehow it still worked as an engaging tale for me. The recent film, however, was hugely disappointing.

[Julie Fredericksen]

What's a profiterole??

No need to respond - I looked it up. You could have just called them cream puffs!

[Sandy]

I think that the elegance of the french-inspired word makes the naughtiness of the delicacy more enjoyable!