The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Ok, so we're in England in the late 19th Century. Victorianism is at its height. And Oscar Wilde gives us The Picture of Dorian Gray. On the surface the story is about a beautiful young man of the upper classes who is having his portrait painted by a fawning artist. With a wish, Dorian Gray, the youth being painted, gains immortality in the painting. His aging and his experiences (mostly sins) will be reflected in the portrait but not in Dorian's flesh. So Dorian goes through his life living a "new Hedonism" and leaving a wake of corruption and sin. The portrait, which Dorian keeps locked away, continues to become uglier and more marred with each corruption. After many more terrible things happen due to Dorian's actions, keeping the secret of the portrait, and moreover, living with the visible corruption of his soul finally overtakes him.

So what we have is a morality tale that could have probably been told in 50 pages. Instead, the edition I have runs over 220. Why? Many, many excursions into what the upper class in England at the time cared about and how these were shallow preoccupations. Also, it gave Wilde many opportunities to impress the reader with clever epigrams and witticisms. It didn't impress me as much as it did make me wish he'd get on with the story.

Other than making oblique references to homosexuality at the height of the Victorian Era, I don't see what all the fuss is about. Not a bad novel, in my opinion, but I truly don't understand its enduring appeal.