I started this book a couple of years ago, but for some reason I got distracted and put it down. I do remember really enjoying it!

What was interesting to me was how annoying Dorian got. He didn't annoy me at all in the very beginning, but then he slowly started to get under my skin. But I think that's the whole point of the book.

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Yup, I think so too!! In fact, Dorian annoyed me all through the book.. but mostly in the beginning where he was so unbearbly innocent and naïve... I mean that was almost unnatural. Later I got to sympathise a little more with him because he had gotten himself out in something too big for him to handle - I mean that's human and it can happen to everyone.


Yeah, what do you all think everybody's reaction would be after he was found?
Lord Henry scared and intrigued me.. he reminded me so much of the devil himself... Do you guys think he had anything to do with the painting? After all, he was the one tempting Dorian and his painter-friend (sorry, forgot his name, I read the book in spring) into it. And Lord Henry was so mysterious and seemed to predict everything Dorian was and would do.
I never analysed the book or worked with it in school so perhaps some of you who did, can enlighten me!

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*Raises hand and waves it* I adore The Picture of Dorian Gray!!! Oscar Wilde was brilliant (if slightly perverted.) There's been movies of it, even one fairly recently, but it was...eh...inaccurate and slightly disturbing. Anyway...yes, Dorian forever! (No pun intended...)

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Son and A-U Twin of Legolas15
"I'm a brat, I'm a lover/I'm a child, I'm a mother/I'm a sinner, I'm a saint."

I'm not sure about the devil part entirely, but I 'm pretty sure he was the characterization. He was the one who introduced the thought of being young forever and the book too. He only knew what Dorian would do because he had a such an influence on him. I think Basil( thats the painter) does say something about not liking Dorian as much after him spending all his time with Lord Henry.

i loved the picture of dorian gray. i found it an interesting and thought-provoking read, much more so than i expected, and i love oscar wilde's style.

i don't have any problems (yet) with them casting ben barnes - i think he's certainly pretty enough (i always saw dorian as beautiful rather than handsome; not effiminate, but not overtly masculine). i'll reserve judgment on his ability to play the role until i've seen the film - he hasn't done anything remotely like dorian yet, so i couldn't say how well suited he is to the role. the casting i can't get my head around is colin firth as lord henry - from the moment i began reading the book, i saw rupert everett in that role, but maybe he felt he's already done enough oscar wilde films. i'll go with an open mind, though - i've always thought colin firth's best when not playing the romantic lead.

i guess lord henry is devil-like in the way he leads dorian into temptation, but i saw him as being most like a drug-dealer who's quite happy to sell drugs to others but is smart enough not to take them himself. i think he knew the dangers of the path he was sending dorian down and was not brave or foolish enough to risk it himself, so he lived out his fantasies through dorian with little regard for the young man's wellbeing.

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**MY BOOK**

~ proud to be a shieldmaiden for christ ~</center>

But when is the movie coming out?

Annabel & ethelfleda:: Interesting interpretations. Hmm.. well, the book plays on very extreme characters and themes. Dorian is truly pure innocence, the epitome of innocence. Lord Henry is a very shadowy character. He is clearly a tempter and he scared me, I was almost afraid to read the parts where Lord Henry spoke ... of fear of... I don't know.. his character just seemed so unpredictable, like I would regret what I was about to read.
But I think etelfleda is right, he is just the 'drug-dealer'. He is intrigued by Dorian, his youth and his beauty, and he can't help this experiment on him. Also, I don't think Lord Henry is the devil himself, he is not 'evil' as in he wants to do Dorian harm. He is clearly interested in the human nature and character and he explores and studies the darker sides - and who hasn't been interesting in that grey area? I can't figure him out, but for me he is definitely the most interesting person in the book.

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I have read the first 4ch in the plan; I aways have a book with me but the begining pushed me away because it is so long; I have watched the film and it still gives me shiver down my neck. Is the novel like the film? because it did have too many adult scenes that I never watch *I am a senctive reader*..

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Married Dean Winchester 3/18/13 (est. 2005)

I didn't get to watch the movie yet. But like I said, I found the book quite scary at times.. not like Boo scary but the whole feeling and tenseness of the story. The playing with Creation, cheating death etc... I think you should try to read it and then come back here and share.

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Probably one of my absolute favourite books, and one that really made me want to study literature at university.
I adore Wilde's writing. (it's really worth reading his plays, if you haven't already!)


Alas, the film doesn't do it any credit at all. And it also misses out large chunks of the subtlty to try and make it a more palatable film for a mainstream audience. But then again, I tend to hate films of books that I love: they can never do everything right...

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"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination" - Oscar Wilde

^How so? Like I said I didn't see the film yet but I will soon if I can convince my friend to get it and see it with her!

By the way, who are you, Shadowstorm? I've been wondering... did you change your name?

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They included new characters to try and redeem Dorian, which I wasn't particularly fond of - since the point in the book is that he's past redemption, and that even his "efforts" to change his ways are ultimately selfish.

There's also a total lack of subtlety in the relationship between himself and Basil, and Henry, out of nowhere, becomes the voice of conscience.

Some of it sticks to how I imagined it, and some of it I enjoyed - but those things just irritated me because they go against how the characters were written, and thus they change some of the message of the book.

As for who I am: I was originally around on A-U in 2006, I was generally known on the tag as Kael, and I was (before Miscellaneous didn't count toward the posting) the fastest person to ever reach Vala (in 12 days.)

I remember a lot more people than remember me, it's okay!

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"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination" - Oscar Wilde

OMG! The film did not let me sleep for ages; the story is dark and it got through me and I end up crying like a mad women. It's so deep.

I hated Henery he was the main reason to mak Dorian see the dark side of London.

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Married Dean Winchester 3/18/13 (est. 2005)

I just know the book scared me... a lot. And I just watched the trailer... and it sort of gave it all away if you know the story.. even the ending with the picture of an aged Dorian Gray...


Shadowstorm:: Hmm if you were such an active poster I'm sure I know you! Curse my bad memory. Sometimes people change over time and four years is a long time...

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^ It has indeed been such a long, long time! When I was last here, I was posting up my GCSE results...and I'm now in my 3rd year of university...

It's quite scary really!

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"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination" - Oscar Wilde

That book leaves a mark upon the soul; a dark mark of sorrow. It still haunting me till this moment.

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Married Dean Winchester 3/18/13 (est. 2005)