Is Portrait of Dorian Grey worth reading?

Question

I think it would be a good book but it might end up like Frankenstein where the story sounds interesting but the book itself is so long and prosey that it loses all of its fun in its vocabulary.

Answer 1

absolutely, the symbolism in the book is amazing and the psychological aspect appealing. The portrayal of beauty and materialism, the presence of corruption all were amazingly written in my opinion. There is a part in the middle that will be difficult to read since it is so long but just FYI it is meant to feel like you take forever to read that part, Oscar wilde's intention was to give the reader a feeling of time passing. anyways..hope you read it, its great!

Answer 2

The question would first be what kind of books do you like to read? The Portrait of Dorian Grey is an excellently written book. Oscar Wilde is one of those authors whose words are simply beautiful. He is very cynical in his writing, but not overly complicated so you would never feel bored with his books. For this kind of author is not that much the "adventures" that he narrates what are the most interesting, but the underlying message that he transmits and of course, the way its written. Its not a long book anyway.

Answer 3

There is no easy answer for you. Likes and dislikes in literature are a very personal theme, generally based on genres, themes, and writing styles. "The Portrait of Dorian Grey" delves more into the human psyche than "Frankenstein" does and it illustrates how a basically good person can gradually transorm into something evil.

Answer 4

As others have suggested, this very much depends on your tastes. On reading it, I felt that Wilde used much of the book as a vehicle for his ideas on aestheticism as a movement and philosophy - while this does indeed tie in well with the storyline, it can be quite a grueling read. It is perhaps best not to think of it is a plot driven novel, but as a exposition of a philosophy, which is superbly illustrated by a brilliant plot construct.

I would say, read it - it's one of the great classics of victorian literature, by one of the period's best writers, but be warned: if you disliked the verbosity of frankenstein, you might feel this one to be quite heavy going.

Answer 5

The author was Oscar Wilde. Never boring. In fact, the cheesy movie is worth watching, as well. But the book is much better.

Answer 6

Many books written at that time are "wordy", it seems to typical of that era. I enjoyed the book however and don't remember getting bogged down.

Answer 7

If you cannot get through it (good as it is, but challenging) rent the 1945 movie; it is great!

Answer 8

yes defenitely. it tackle the idea of ; art is true beauty. beauty does not die.