#17: The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray is my all time favorite book. I first discovered it during my senior year of high school and I was instantly entranced by it. Since then, I have read it almost yearly and loaned it out to any person who has not discovered the magic of Oscar Wilde.

This is a book about a young man who makes a wild wish that a painting of him should grow old instead of him growing old. His wish comes true and he spends years watching his portrait age and show signs of all of his misdeeds. He becomes a truly cruel, bad person. He is guilty of doing horrible things to other people, yet his face looks as young and innocent as an 18 year old boy.

The Picture of Dorian Gray also explores the relationships Dorian Gray has with the friends who molded him into the person he becomes. This focus on the relationships gives a good picture of 19th century British society and the way that men in that time related to one another. It also comes very close to mirroring Oscar Wilde's relationships with men. Without saying it, the book makes it seem possible that at least one of the men has homosexual feelings for Dorian Gray.

One of the reasons that I love this book so much is that it is so dark and seems so taboo. It is not hard at all to see why writing it caused Oscar Wilde to be ostracized. It must have seemed very scandalous at the time for someone to approach such a subject. It really is fascinating to me that such a book that was shunned and thought inappropriate for its time has become such a classic. It is an amazing character study and a book that I believe everyone should read at least once.