Fuck! I just wrote this huge post about my experiences with Dorian Gray, but  I decided to experiment with the options and now it has disappeared. And so in my pissed state I bring you the updated ver. 2.0

Dorian Gray is a book about Dorian Gray, a young picturesque (and in the beginning untainted) male living in the late 19th century. Dorian’s friend and painter Basil paints a portrait of him, upon which he wishes that the stains of time be placed upon the portrait and not himself. And so his wish comes true, after murder, heartbreak, and many years, his face has not changed, but his portrait has become a ghastly demon-like representation of himself. Finally after 20 years, he realizes that time and age are important and wants to again be good so he decides to destroy the picture. A scream is heard by his servants and they rush in to find Dorian stabbed in the heart with a knife, now old and weathered, and his portrait restored to it’s original state.

The book ended very quickly. It was less a tale of fantasy or mysticism than it was a look at the 1800’s and the upperclasses ideals during that time. Many of the points made in the book are still true today, which I have found to be true of most good book messages. One thing I thought was of interesting note are Wilde’s forrays into the world of art, and how he says (as character Basil) that art is no longer the representation (i’m paraphrasing) of the world, as it should be, but more of a biography of the artist. I think this has become especially true today, at least in my own experience. It seems I try to do art not for the sake of art, not to report what I see, not to show the world the world, but instead to show the world me, or at least my slant on what I am seeing. Art being anything, writing, graphic design, drawing, etc.