I have been extremely busy these past two weeks and I apologize for not reviewing anything last week. However, I am glad to say that I am now back.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a graphic adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 1891 novel of the same title.
Dorian Gray is the gorgeous young subject of the painter Basil Hallward. On the day his portrait will be completed, Dorian has a pivotal conversation with Lord Henry Wotton. Wotton tells Dorian that the only things that matter in life are beauty and youth. Dorian knows that his beauty and youth will fade, so he sells his soul so that his portrait will age instead of him. Dorian will remain the same physically forever, but he becomes menacing and secretive towards everyone.
The original Dorian Gray uses many images to develop the plot and this makes it a great choice for a graphic adaptation. What really stood out for me was how well Culbard illustrated the aging portrait. He draws Dorian in the first painting as youthful, in the second as semi-wrinkled, and in the third as white-haired and repulsive. These illustrations give readers a great sense of how Dorian ages in his portrait.
As for the story, the characters are really unlikeable. Dorian is a raging narcissist and indirectly and directly kills people. Basil is simply hypnotized by and infatuated with Dorian's beauty and only thinks about Dorian. Lord Henry is rude to his wife and encourages Dorian to only pursue life-long beauty. Basil and Henry were just annoying.
Throughout the book, Dorian lives a double life. He is an upper-class socialite who goes to dinner parties and plays. At the same time, Dorian goes to a London opium den and commits crimes. Dorian's conscience eventually catches up with him. His story demonstrates that what goes around comes around.
Overall, this book did a good job of showing how Dorian's character grew malevolent, but it could have been done in fewer pages. For the unnecessary extra detail, I give the book three out of five stars.
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