Today I finished A Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, and if I'm honest I felt a little let down by it. It's blurb spoke of unspeakable scandals, and while I knew that 19th century scandals are timid compared to today's fare, I knew of Oscar Wilde's reputation and thought I'd be in for a treat. But instead of a fast paced account of a wild soul-less man, parts of the story were slow, the characters weren't at all lovable, and the ending was a bit of an anti-climax. It's mere twenty chapters took me over a week to read, purely because I would read a page and then my attention would be drawn elsewhere. The book definitely improves as it goes along in my opinion, but its redeeming quality is ruined the poor end Gray comes to, which leaves the story almost unfinished.
However, this book is regarded as one of the classics, so a large number of people must've enjoyed it thoroughly, perhaps it wasn't in my taste, I do prefer crime or romance novels, and I do like a book to thoroughly describe what its characters do, rather than skimming over half a decade in an obscure way.
So, today I'm asking for a bit of interaction, if you've read the book yourself, what did you think of it? Even if you haven't, have you ever disliked a book that everyone else thought was marvellous?
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completely agree with you there, i was let down as well. but i expect it was terrifying back then. and also hated the skimming section in the middle
ReplyDeleteI haven't read the book, but saw the film and (my film skipped a chapter or two so I have no idea what happened) I was disappointed, if I am honest.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in answer to the question of whether people have read classics and disliked them... I started reading Little Women. Got to chapter three and had to stop for fear of suicide. I was so bored. Can't imagine how anyone could find that a gripping read. Lol.