Thursday - March 08, 2007
Dorian Gray crossed off the list
...
I'm honestly not sure what to make of it. To say
that I enjoyed it would be wrong...It was difficult to watch Dorian's descent
into "badness". But it was a good
book.
Of course, there's tons of stuff on the web to explain the book & it's references, etc., so I won't go into it too terribly much here. For me, I suppose the homoeroticism is there, but I just didn't feel it as strongly as all the "critics" do/did. Perhaps I'm just a product of my age that those sorts of "allusions" just don't seem jarring to me...
I very much like the Gothic Horror idea of this book, though. It is indeed dark in many places (although ridiculously funny in others). That appeals to me. Dorian's trips to the seedy parts of town & into the opium dens therein are some of the best parts of the book that deal with Dorian's descent. I love Wilde's line that says "There were opium dens where one could buy oblivion, dens of horror where the memory of old sins could be destroyed by the madness of sins that were new." I just love that image.
I'm still not sure exactly how LIz Phair means her reference to Dorian Gray in H.W.C., though. I get it....but I don't get it. The fountain of youth thing.....I'm not sure I can believe that what she's describing in that song, though, could *possibly* be bad for a woman....but that's just me, I suppose.
Of course, there's tons of stuff on the web to explain the book & it's references, etc., so I won't go into it too terribly much here. For me, I suppose the homoeroticism is there, but I just didn't feel it as strongly as all the "critics" do/did. Perhaps I'm just a product of my age that those sorts of "allusions" just don't seem jarring to me...
I very much like the Gothic Horror idea of this book, though. It is indeed dark in many places (although ridiculously funny in others). That appeals to me. Dorian's trips to the seedy parts of town & into the opium dens therein are some of the best parts of the book that deal with Dorian's descent. I love Wilde's line that says "There were opium dens where one could buy oblivion, dens of horror where the memory of old sins could be destroyed by the madness of sins that were new." I just love that image.
I'm still not sure exactly how LIz Phair means her reference to Dorian Gray in H.W.C., though. I get it....but I don't get it. The fountain of youth thing.....I'm not sure I can believe that what she's describing in that song, though, could *possibly* be bad for a woman....but that's just me, I suppose.