I'm back! After a hiatus of 5 months, I've finally gotten around to picking up book review blogging again.
The book I picked to break the dry spell is Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray". Always wondered about the book since I saw Gray's character appearing in a movie (forgot the title) and how the heroine eventually broke free of the evil Gray's clutches by exposing the actual picture of himself.
The plot can be simply summed up thus: a portrait painted by his artist friend awakens Gray to his own physical beauty and thus tempted, he made a wish that he could stay young forever whilst the portrait grew old. The portrait did, but the toil it took on Gray's own character (Wilde used "soul" but I thought it rather fanciful so I opted for the more staid "character") tainted it so that eventually the morally-corrupted Gray tried to destroy the canvas. In so doing he pierced the chimera of his own existence, and he died, but not before he was transformed back into the decrepit old man in the portrait. (O dear, have I gone and done a spoiler?)
One tidbit before I launch into the review: "The Portrait of Dorian Gray" was Wilde's first and only published novel.
I think if one were to do a literary criticism à la English Literature as taught in school, there are volumes one can devote to how Gray's portrait is the inner reflection of his soul, the references to the private and public self, how the portrait actually becomes a mirror of the social, cultural mores of the society then, etc. Even the saint-devil pairing of Hallward (the artist) and Lord Henry, who initiates Gray into the path of hedonism, is worthy of mention, for no two good friends can be more different, and have such different impact on Gray's life.
Wilde's bon mots are also something to treasure in this book, though they come fast and furious to the extent that I was quite inured to it by the end of the book.
All in all, a fascinating read, the first few chapters which saw me through six hours of transit at BKK airport, direction home bound.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
(P.S.: No image of the book can be found online, though it is not for lack of trying.)
