“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”
This is a story about Dorian Gray, a young, beautiful man who would sell his soul to stay young and beautiful forever.
This book explores so much- the loss of innocence, the human capacity for evil, vanity, selfishness, and the impact/power of art, just to name a few. The writing in this book is beautiful and the dialogue is witty, yet profound. This is one of the most quotable books I've read- almost all of my book is filled with annotations:
“What of Art?
-It is a malady.
--Love?
-An Illusion.
--Religion?
-The fashionable substitute for Belief.
--You are a sceptic.
-Never! Scepticism is the beginning of Faith.
--What are you?
-To define is to limit.”
“Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.”
“Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
Wilde examines how easily the human soul can become corrupt in the name of beauty. How aware, yet unconcerned people can be when they hurt other people in the name of their own vanity and selfishness. How people can so blatantly lack accountability for the consequences of their actions. How the superficial need to cling to beauty can be so damaging, and how society plays a role in it.
This was a good read and I understand why people consider this to be a masterpiece.
This book is part of Top 100 Books of All Time Challenge.
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