The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Interlude
Hey Everyone!
So I just wanted to keep you all informed on the going-ons of myself and the blog. Later today I’m going to be hopping on an international flight to Paris. I was extremely lucky, and was able to get a position as a summer associate (basically a law school intern) at a Parisian law firm. So I’m going to be overseas for the next two months.
I don’t think the blog is going to be affected in the first month considering there’s no way that the job is going to take more time than my first year of law school did. However, in July I’m going to be walking/backpacking a part of the pilgrimage, el Camino de Santiago, in Northern Spain and I’m definitely not bringing my laptop.
I just wanted to give all my followers a heads up, since I’m not positive what frequency I’ll be able to maintain this blog for the next two months. In any case I want you all to know that I’m not abandoning you. Also I probably going to knock out a ton of books since it seems as if I’m going to spend a good portion of my trip either waiting in a train station or on a train.
I love you all! Thank you for sticking with my through thick and thin. I also hope that all of you have an amazing summer filled with spectacular adventures on and off the page.
-The Literary Snob (aka Classicliteratureconfessions)
Those cloth bounds you posted are absolutely gorgeous!
I agree with you wholeheartedly!! I just typed into google something about sets of children’s books and they popped up. I really want to get the version of Peter Pan!
Moderator’s Note: Can I just note how beautiful Puffin’s Clothbound Children’s Classic Collection is. I just couldn’t cover up the spines with the text, because I wanted to share the beauty of these with all my followers. Also, I just checked and yes they’re available to purchase on Amazon.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
So crowdsourceinspiration sent in this song as a confession to The Picture of Dorian Gray. I love the fact that the song is the confession. I welcome and want to encourage all my followers to be as creative as they like and send in confessions in all mediums.
After reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, it is difficult to grasp what Oscar Wilde’s true feelings on aestheticism and Hedonism were; he was likely uncertain himself. Given Dorian’s tragic death, I want to say Wilde doubted the idea of a life of vice and art for art’s sake; but in the preface to the book, he writes gems like “no artist desires to prove anything.” Whether Wilde truly agreed with the sentiments in the preface or not, they are self-defeating. To say artists are not trying to prove anything is, in fact, a claim that demands proving; this is an inescapable catch-22 that aesthetes cannot conquer. And yet, maybe Wilde attempted such a conquering with his novel; by having characters tout so many counter-intuitive philosophies simultaneously, readers are left wondering what the moral is—which is, in some ways, the same as there being none whatsoever. It seems as if the book proves nothing. Except I do feel a point in the story because while my head wonders, my heart knows: Dorian’s life and death are tragic things. Tonight’s song is an audio rebuttal to many sentiments in Dorian Gray. I believe in didactic art, art that has a point. I am always making a point when I create. Always. Now, I do not claim my view is right (I’m doubtful there even is such a thing as right and wrong); rather, I want to prove that my view/idea/emotion merely is—that it exists—and, in existing, is valid. The best part of this creation is that the lyrics make a point about making a point, thus achieving a double whammy of an up-yours to aesthetes. I dedicate this post to these great blogs with Oscar Wilde/book content: fuckyeahoscarwilde, oscarwildeassembly, owildeapproves, and fitzfaustus. This was fun, so if you listeners have any other pieces of fiction that you’d like to hear a song about, make a request! — Kavalier
The Song of Dorian Gray
Lord Henry certainly is a fascinating fellow,
with his mouth full of Hedon’s jello
and endless chatter about pleasing the senses.
And narcissist, you soaked it up:
every word of that yellow-covered book.
Now you’re against nature,
and it’s against you.
Dorian, you Faustian devil,
Sibyl’s death was not a one act play;
and it was you, not the knife
who took Basil’s life away.
The point is, you can’t escape blame.
The world doesn’t happen to you;
you happen to the world
and everyone around you.
We aren’t objects;
we aren’t just stones.
We are a living, breathing,
destiny shaping gods on thrones.
The choice is you,
you are what you choose.
If there’s no point to what you do
then, Dorian, why do
anything?
