YamPuff wrote:

I think that the idea of Dorian Grey has become so ingrained in the public consciousness as having these specific set of morals (like a Christmas Carol for example) when the truth is that point of the story is, as you say, catty people being clever fucks.

I definitely get from the content of the novel that Wilde didn't necessarily mean for this story to be interpreted the way it has been. It's been given this very deep meaning based on how easily we all relate to the idea of it. We all want a painting that absorbs the awful things we do, but the novel focuses much more on the moral transfer to the painting, and the preservation of innocence. Dorian's gift isn't immortality, it's that his actions are supposed to not result in the creation of guilt and remorse. The painting is supposedly absorbing everything that would mar his innocence, so his every experience, from opium dens to murder, is experienced through an innocent's eyes. Ultimately the painting fails this, for whatever reason you choose, and that's his downfall. But it's not the immortality and means to do everything you could want that's the point of the story. It's the value of that innocent experience, and how different and vibrant and ultimately dull life is if you see it so innocently, so purely, all the time. It's a very bleak outlook on life. Dorian doesn't get past the age he would probably naturally have lived, but he's behaved like he means to live forever, exploring every sensation, every religion, everything....and it leaves him wanting. Because in the end, it's the cynicism and bitterness and catty clever shit we develop that gives entertainment and relevance to life. We pine for an innocence that would have no value stretched over time, and the finite nature of our experience is what gives it flavor. Dorian is given guiltless eternity, and it's a failed experiment.

Nocturnalux wrote:

@Gio, did you get the non-censored version? It surfaced a couple of years ago and for some reason it is still only released through Harvard University Press:

http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php? … 0674057920

I strongly recommend this version to everyone interested in Oscar Wilde. It is the original text as Wilde intended to present it. I have yet to read it myself but it sits very prettily on my shelf, courtesy of a friend who sent it from the States.

I wish I had read it when I did my essay on Morality in Dorian Gray, back in the day

What are some of the differences, if you don't mind elaborating?

I'm alternating between reading the Marquis de Sade's Justine and a collection of Grace Culver detective adventures. So, basically, alternate bad things happening to good people with... bad things happening to good people and sometimes criminals.

I loved The Handmaid's Tale. I read it as a teenager actually - my mother gave it to me, and she'd always had good taste in books (she also gave me 1984 and Brave New World, which I also liked and have written about here in the past). I'm so glad you guys like it too, but I have to say I'm not surprised.

I need to read Dorian Grey. It's been on my to-read list for a while, not because it's a classic (though I suppose it is, after all Wilde is a dead European guy) but because it always looked like a good story to me, and Wilde is pretty awesome.

On a non-fiction note, I just borrowed a copy of The Botany of Desire from a friend, so that's my next book that I'll be reading.

Rereading Stephenson's Diamond Age, because I've forgotten most of it. And because it's dense, pacing it out by rereading Princess Diaries books.

This goes surprisingly and elegantly well.

Reading Elantris, as I can't find it in me to commit to a trilogy right now.

One thing I noticed about Brandon Sanderson is that some of his characters have rather strange nicknames. Kelsier - Kel I get. But, say, Sazed - Saze? Or Sarene - Ene? Like, how do you even pronounce those? They only sound good to me if pronounced differently from that part of the original name, and that's a somewhat unnecessary complication.

And complicated magic systems, but I quite like those.

I am currently reading Victor's Hugo The Man who Laughs and I'm crying again.

Victor Hugo, you are dead for centuries now, yet somehow you made so many fictional characters so fucking alive.

You play me emotionally like a fiddle.

Reading the new Princess Diaries book! There's a new Princess Diaries book! Yay!

And, Royal Wedding continues the tradition of PD novels being much closer to my experience of fandom, my feelings about being fannish, compared to more normative Big Bang Theory episodes or whatever. PD and Otaku No Video know the score. And PD wins by adding more melodrama, varied levels of silliness, and talking up how good some people's necks smell more often. Which is a strong truth.

Decrescent Daytripper wrote:

Also, book confession: I cannot read the title of IQ84. I see 1984 every time, on covers, on websites. My brain won't allow IQ84 to exist.

1Q84, isn't it?

IQ84 would be a good title for an inspirational book about a man who overcame intellectual disability to accomplish...something. Possibly of an Orwellian nature.

Atropos wrote:

Decrescent Daytripper wrote:

Also, book confession: I cannot read the title of IQ84. I see 1984 every time, on covers, on websites. My brain won't allow IQ84 to exist.

1Q84, isn't it?

IQ84 would be a good title for an inspirational book about a man who overcame intellectual disability to accomplish...something. Possibly of an Orwellian nature.

See what I mean? Fundamental block against it.

Or, something.

S'weird. My brain just doesn't want me to process the title.

YamPuff wrote:

I just finished listening the LOTR trilogy audiobooks on my commute to work. It was great, the reader had this lovely british accent and sang all the songs and poems. Gave a different dimension to the story. I bought a copy of the Silmarilion and I am ready to dive in. I even found a Silmarilion reading guide on Tumblr to make the process easier, since in some ways it reads like a history text rather than a novel.

I am now listening to The Dark Tower novels by Stephen King in audiobook form. The first book so far has a great reader who does Roland's voice serious justice.

Finally, I am reading this BL manga called Canis or Dear Mr Rain (not really sure what's the official title) and the art style is just 100% my aesthetic. God if I could draw like that....

I've been thinking of listening to audiobooks on my hour long commute but not sure how versatile they are. I often re-read paragraphs multiple times, i'm guessing that wouldn't be as convenient on an audiobook.

Finishing Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, about a fic writer going to college and feeling distanced from her twin sister, meeting new people, realizing the world doesn't necessarily embrace fanfiction or fandom the way she (and her family) do.

And, starting the very short but wonderfully open Catching the Big Fish, David Lynch's ruminating on stuff, centering around his meditational and artistic practices. He's beautifully candid one moment and then the next chapter, he'll start telling a story and refuse to finish it or give a key detail and... it's better that way. For anyone who does any kind of creative work, it's well worth diving into. Inspiring, and reassuring without being a bunch of platitudes and promises of success. (True story: I was at Lynch's house for a dinner, years back, and was absolutely terrified at the expense and seriousness, until he called out for someone to get the oleo wrappers from the fridge door so he could grease a pan. The book is a lot like that.)

I really loved Fangirl.
Of course, if you just replaced 'fanfic writer' with 'online freelance artist' you basically would have had exactly me, down to the concept that I would stay in my room eating granola bars because the cafeteria is strange and scary. Like, it's kind of played off as a joke.. but I've been there.

Yasha wrote:

Right now I'm reading the Symphony of the Ages series. It's my version of trash books. It's not trash, not like Laurel K, but I sort of treat it that way. It's immensely readable and has enough romance and danger to make you want to know what comes next, even if you've been reading for hours. The main character (sorta, there's a lot of points of view) is the most beautiful woman on earth, so beautiful that she causes riots if she takes down her hood in a public place. She romances a dragonkin dude with part of a star sewn into his chest. They have adorable cute moments when he tries to speak ancient elvish to her and fails, meaning to say he thought she had a great ass but actually saying she had great muffins.

So, uh, yeah. It's got some of the wish-fulfillment aspects of trash books, but it's well-written and holy fuck is the world ever fleshed out. Legends, songs, stories, myths, ancient races, histories spanning thousands of years... like wow. The worldbuilding is amazingly thorough. It's interesting just for that, and I actually highly recommend these books as a rest from srs bsns fiction without being totally rotten crap like the Anita Blake series.

[Yes, I have a grudge. ABVH was fucking awesome for the first eight or so books and then all of a sudden became a sobby random sexfest, a competition to see how many different times and ways Anita could get her hole filled.]

I remember Rhapsody - although I thought Achmed was the best character. I forget if I shipped him with Rhapsody or his servant dude. Wow. It's been years.