There is something so curiously morbid about the Picture of Dorian Gray.
To begin with, this is not an enjoyable book. No character is worth rooting fThere is something so curiously morbid about the Picture of Dorian Gray.
To begin with, this is not an enjoyable book. No character is worth rooting for, every choice made turns wicked, and the few decent characters never last long in this world of debauchery and depravity. At the beginning of the story, Dorian Gray is an innocent, beautiful, perfect youth, who in that moment, represents the very best of us. He represents our virtue, an unspoiled version of our natures. He represents what we would've been, if not for sin. We almost feel a sense of envy for this man that all others praise. They call him Adonis, Apollo, a man of magnificence and fascination and renown. He is society’s darling, and he occupies a place of glory that all of us have wished, at some point in time, that we possessed.
Yet Dorian does not remain a perfect person for long. He allows society’s endless praise of his beauty and youth and gracefulness to infect his soul and change his fundamental morality. Convinced by his friend Lord Henry, he begins to believe that there is nothing greater in the world than youth and beauty, and nothing more horrible than ugliness and age. So at the age of twenty, he trades his soul: the portrait of himself that his artist friend had painted for him will grow old and ugly and contain the sins he has committed, while he, Dorian, will stay forever beautiful.
Eighteen years pass, and Dorian spirals into hedonism, pursuing pleasure and beauty above all else. Yet still he remains physically unspoiled and beautiful. By the end of the story, there's almost a sense of unreality. Dorian has become so lost in his own madness and seeming perfection that we almost feel a sense of righteousness. Had we been in Dorian’s position, we whisper to ourselves, we would not have done the things he did. We would not have cruelty on our lips and hypocrisy in our eyes and blood on our hands. Yet Oscar Wilde, in the very final sentences of the book, juxtaposes the horrors of Dorian’s soul with the beauty of his face. Even with as deep as he sunk, Wilde points out, he was innocent and unspoiled once.
As I read, I found myself becoming frustrated at all the choices Dorian was making that were so clearly ruining his life. And then I wondered why I felt so irritated. He’s a quintessential perfect person, and we as humans love watching the downfall of perfect people. So why do I feel so frustrated?
My answer came after I finished the book. I read a note Wilde had written after the book had been published, and critics had been calling the book “poisonous.” Wilde had responded thus: “Each man sees his own sin in Dorian Gray. What Dorian Gray’s sins are no one knows. He who finds them has brought them.”
That single statement explains the book. The real sins Dorian commits over the years are left vague on purpose; the sins we see in Dorian are the sins we ourselves possess. And because of that reflection, we hate him. We hate him for giving into those sins, for putting to words and actions the feelings we have. He shows us all of the wickedness and depravity we have ever imagined committing, and we hate him for it. That was why I felt such frustration: I, like countless readers before me, had wanted everything to work out for Dorian because that meant it could work out for me. That is what makes Dorian so repulsive, yet so compelling. He is the figure of admiration that we aspire to, even as he is the monster we have nightmares of becoming. Dorian Gray is somehow both the best of us and the worst of us, and none of us can forgive him for it.
Even as morbid as this book is, I am glad I read it. Some books you have to read to properly understand what horrifying places humanity can slip to, and how terrifyingly easy it is to find yourself there.
Thank you, Oscar Wilde. We needed your book.
Ratings: Book Rating: ★★★★★ If This Book Was a Movie Rating: R
Recommendations If You Liked This Book: Dracula by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka...more
In all the reading I've done, I've figured out one thing: the best crime novels aren't about how a random detective in a random town solved a random mIn all the reading I've done, I've figured out one thing: the best crime novels aren't about how a random detective in a random town solved a random murder. The very best crime novels pry apart emotions, strip away morality, and delve into the darkest parts of the human heart. They take all your standards of justice and challenge each of them, one after another. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, and now Good Girl, Bad Blood, are two of those novels.
no spoilers
While the plot was brilliant and full of twists, the characters are what really makes this book so heartwrenching. As uncomfortable as it is to shine a light on ugly things, Holly Jackson does just that, vividly painting how broken and painful each of us are, even those who are meant to be exacting justice.
Our "random" detective is Pip, someone who, by every conventional trope, should be the good girl. She is the straight-A student, the one who's kind and caring and hates it when bad things happen to good people. She should be the one who seeks justice because they believe in the good of humanity, of fairness, of right and wrong, of the inevitability of justice.
But Pip is not that person. She lies, she steals, she manipulates, she blackmails. She knowingly walks through that gray area between right and wrong and can't find it in herself to care. She handles her cases the way she does, not because she believes in the good of humanity or the inevitability of justice, but because she has seen just how awful humanity can be.
The book also touches on other topics: justice, forgiveness, and the whole domino effect of murder.
There will never be true justice. As much as we complain about how broken and corrupt our justice systems are, there's no way to completely fix it. Sometimes the killer will get away. Sometimes the innocent are bullied and shamed. Sometimes the person that searches for the criminal is just as awful as those they're searching for. That shouldn't mean we stop seeking justice, but know this: we can do our best, but there will never be perfect justice.
This book, even more than the first one, explores forgiveness. Giving people second chances, even when there is no way in hell they deserve it. Maybe there is hope for some of these people. Maybe one of them could be saved. It's impossible to escape the demons of your past when no one will let you forget and try again.
Finally, Holly Jackson truly illustrates how murder is never about just one person. One death kills a army of people, breaking them and hurting them and making them bleed out. One death could have been prevented by a whole other army of people, people that stood on the sidelines and did nothing while the world went up in flames. In the end, who really was the murderer? Was it the one who pulled the trigger? Or all those who stood by and looked away?
I don't know any of the answers to these questions. Maybe there are no answers, maybe there isn't a solution. I suppose it all depends, really, on the details of the case....more
i am ruined for Roma and Juliette. they are literally the most adorable teenagers on the planet and now i cannot accept their enemy-ship in the actuali am ruined for Roma and Juliette. they are literally the most adorable teenagers on the planet and now i cannot accept their enemy-ship in the actual duology anymore ...more
honestly a great book, Nora's dedication to her career and her Peleton was so so relatable and i loved how much she loved my New York City <3honestly a great book, Nora's dedication to her career and her Peleton was so so relatable and i loved how much she loved my New York City <3...more
before I read this book, I imagined I was going to write a rant review about how ridiculous it was that this book beat out the Love Hypothesis by 563 before I read this book, I imagined I was going to write a rant review about how ridiculous it was that this book beat out the Love Hypothesis by 563 votes in the GR Choice Awards.
but then I actually read it.
it fully deserved to win the GR Choice awards ...more
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