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/lit/ - Literature

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12546950 No.12546950 [Reply] [Original]

I just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray. I know this is entry-level literature but I'm an entry-level reader right now. I have to say, this book did so much for me. I underlined and dog-eared all the witticisms and epigrams I liked and now the book is twice as thick. I'm trying to read other things right now but I just keep thinking about the huge hole this book has left in me. Can we have an appreciation thread for this book and recommendations for similar novels?

>> No.12547038

>>12546950
Don't sell it short, anon, it's a great Faustian tale with wonderful wit and prose.

The politics around it are fascinating as well. Wilde defends himself as an aesthete but it's painfully clear to us what is going on.

His trial is well worth reading, in combination with the words at the start of Picture.

>> No.12547049

>>12546950
It's good indeed, even if it's closer to much older works (Pushkin, ¨Poe, Hoffmann) rather than modern stuff. Wilde was untimely
Or perhaps - would a native english reader establish a connection between Wilde and Henry James for instance? being curious

>> No.12548198

>>12547038
I'll check it out today. Reading Dorian Gray it is clear that Oscar Wilde is a genius. It's unfortunate that he couldn't exist freely as he wanted to.

>> No.12548230

This book is only language-wise way ahead of its time. Can't believe how modern and clear Wilde's language was, seems as if it was written today

>> No.12548236

>>12546950
I hate how this book is generally considered entry level.

It's without question one of the greatest novels of all time. I envy Wilde's writing skills.

>> No.12548369

>>12546950
Why are homosexuals such gifted artists? The same disproportion of Jews found among scientists can be seen in homosexuals/bisexuals among the canon of the greatest Western artists, across all fields - literature, visual arts, music and elsewhere. Shakespeare, Proust, Tolstoy, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Tchaikovsky, the list goes on and on.

Any gaybros care to answer? What is it you guys have that us straightscum lack, allowing you to dominate fields of artistry?

>> No.12548398

>>12548369
I'm not gay, but I think it might have something to do with LGBT people being forced to do a lot more self-examination compared to straights.

I've noticed that the vast majority of great geniuses tend to have effeminate qualities. That was certainly the case with Wilde.

>> No.12548568

>>12548369
The greatests artists were all straight, though.

>> No.12548593

>>12548369
They can work on their art all day because they don't have a wife and children to provide for.

>> No.12549053

>>12547049
I feel Henry James to be a proto-modernist and would never have thought to connect him to Wilde. As a native Englishman I think more of Lord Byron in connection to Wilde.

>> No.12549099

>>12548236
It undoubtedly is entry level. I'm not saying it's not a masterpiece. It's easy to pick up and read, not long, the surface level themes are not complex and the descriptions never become to overly abstract. It being in originally in English and being extremely well known makes it perfect for beginning readers.

>> No.12549151

>>12548369
As a bi man I've found that I've spent a lot of time questioning myself. I believe that this has led me to have greater introspective abilities and therefore not just a greater understanding of the self but also of human nature as a whole. I empathise well with others also. I may be a bit of a hermit but it is by choice and I do not ever feel trepidation when eyes are upon me. In fact I'm rather an extrovert and rather dominating in discussions. I am not average in appearance either, I am actually quite handsome (people who hide behind computer screens are more likely to be attractive or ugly due to them finding a respite in not being judged as they normally would be) and so I find it easier to be welcomed into groups and confided in. I have found that people wish to around attractive and well-groomed people over those who look do not. I am not sure what this reason is but it has allowed me to diversify my views.
I have not gone over what I have written above. It has been stream of conscious I guess. Hope that this was somewhat useful. It could also be the mild mental illness which runs in my family has turned my mind into a useful machine. I am a writer of course as we all our here though with some arrogance (I do not have a filter or care for social conventions, the other day i was sitting on the bus and saw that a lad of my age kept on glancing at my book (A Man From The North) which had been written by an author in whose city we were riding in; the lad must have been 17 I'd say but he was grateful my having talked to him and not being afronted by his trackies and beany) I would like to declare myself an important one. This is my first long post in a while and so I shall sign of with my first name.
- John

>> No.12549298

>>12548369
genuinely feels incredible to hear someone being kind to my kind, praising us instead of persecuting us. bless you anon, i think i might tear up a bit

>> No.12549347

>>12549298
straight guy here, i love you bro. stay blessed in your life

>> No.12549350

>>12549151
>as a bi man
fucking lol

>> No.12549438

>>12547038
This

Dont ever reject a work of lit because its entry level. Shit like Catcher in the Rye and Brave New World can be just as subtle and intricate as some shit like Kafka or Rimbaud if youre willing to engage the work and the writer with respect and close reading.

>> No.12549446

>>12549438
Yo shit like dis FUCKING nah shit like dis FUCKING is really tho it foreally doe real eyez realize real ones she a foreign i was at the mall i heard it all

>> No.12549452

>>12546950
It's just anti-metaeugenics and promotion of hyperhedonism don't over think it dude lmfao

>> No.12549457
File: 281 KB, 400x400, 1544193277950.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12549457

>>12549151
>>12549298
>>12549347

>> No.12549458

>>12549452
begotten and synthetic. unbelievably cruel and you let it crawl out of your belly like a caterpillar bearing wasp spawn