Reading journal:
Dorian Gray, chapter 1
Yoonhoo Chang
121111
2013. 08. 29
I
first have to say that I read Dorian Gray first as a comic book, which was designed
to charm young readers. It contained less complicated conversations, and as one
can expect, it was shorter and simpler. I never liked that comic book because
of its dreadful ending, so consequently, I never really tried to read the
'real' book. I expected no more than few dreadful portrayals of the portrait
and few beautiful descriptions of young man. However, when I started reading
the 'real' book, my indifference turned into interest. The first chapter was
weird, but fascinating, and dark, but somehow charming.
Mom
always told me not to judge people by their appearance. "Appearance is
never a mirror that reflects that person's inner part.", said she. But
it's actually very hard not to judge people by their appearance. People, if
they are naturally born in the society where the concept of beauty is quite
universal, are naturally fascinated by good-looking people, and are naturally
inclined to have prejudice against bad-looking people. Artists, especially. Basil,
who met Dorian Gray and felt fear that something inside him would change from
this encounter, first tries not to explain his feelings. He is sure he will be
made fun of by Lord Henry, and wanted to keep his secret feelings to himself.
But when he finally revealed his secrets, it was surprising and disappointing
at the same time. It was surprising because the heart of Basil towards Dorian was
so pure, and it was disappointing because he was only loving Dorian because of
his face, not because of his brain or anything else. Basil is happy because of
this beautiful man, but to me, he seems like a thoughtless, however beautiful,
doll.
People
wither, and their beauties always are temporary. Attempt to preserve the beauty
almost always causes some major problems. Outer beauty is never permanent, but
inner can be.
And
I also found in the book that Lord Henry is a special, and abnormal character. 'You
never say a moral thing, and you never do a wrong thing.', said Basil. Henry
seems like a person who lives the world to seek pleasure. His duties for his
wife are always there, but even though he does care about these, he is not
totally concerned about this relationship. But at the same time, he is a
contaminated person, perhaps tainted because of his cynical views of the world.
Judging from this opium-accompanied conversation, he is now greatly interested
in Dorian, who seems to me like a prey waiting to be eaten by a predator. Will
Henry taint Dorian? Will his influence be bad to Dorian? How? I have so many
questions, and only solution is to read further.
I
don't know what will come next. But what I can say for sure is that even the
first chapter, which is said to be the most painstaking one to read, is fun and
makes readers expect more and more. These first two characters are already
charming. And the main character didn't even come out yet.
Nice work. A suitable mix of reflection, opinion, and reference to the book. After learning more about Wilde himself, we can see that he's immensely clever and smart, but also dismissive and a bit cruel. Obviously, he insists on judging books by their covers, and toured America preaching the values of aestheticism. As for his "new hedonism," it obviously is touching upon his sexual experimentation - also present in the book and how Basil is infatuated with Dorian, and how Henry decides to "take" Basil's object of affection simply because he was told not to.
답글삭제Dorian will become the major character, but I think we needed to meet him through the eyes of an outside character to understand him.
Good work Yoonhoo. A Dorian Gray comic book sounds weird. It would be hard to adapt for sure.