Blog Assignment #3

When it comes to book genres and various strengths they all have, “Science Fiction/Fantasy” stands out with an unfair advantage.  When writing an engaging novel, it can be difficult to make the plot tackle controversial issues of the modern world; however, when writing in Science Fiction these controversial issues can be placed within the setting without sticking out like a sore thumb.  An example of this would be Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a story set in the “not so distant future” where ‘human augmentation’(‘Human augmentation” defined as both genetic engineering and cybernetic prosthesis) is almost a normality.  The story shows a society dealing with the issues of augmentation from both sides, corporations and purists.  Science Fiction allows the audience to see something prevalent and controversial in their day to day life and see it in a world where it is a normality and how that hypothetical society deals with the inherent issues of the topic.  For that reason alone novels with science fiction/fantasy -y disposition tend to attract my attention.

The novel I chose to read was The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde.  There were many factors that went into my decision. Firstly was my opinion of Sci-fi/fantasy [see above] (which I believe this novel should fall under although it is considered a “classic Gothic Fiction.”  Secondly was my attraction toward the deep dark mindset of psychopaths and their direct connection toward the dark side of humanity which is mysterious to all but a select few and unexplored by most.  This attraction I bear for the dark side of humanity is purely a intellectual exercise, I have to interest in seeking out the truth behind it with such passion that I fall to it (in a similar way that Mr. Grey fell while trying to expand that side of himself).

Thirdly I’ve recently been itching for a chance to read something by Oscar Wilde, and more specifically I’ve wanted to read The Picture of Dorian Grey for a while now.

The Picture of Dorian Grey bears many inherent strengths, first of which is it’s genre; officially listed as “Gothic Fiction” which describes the ‘mystery-esque’ and horror part of the book, I would also list the novel as Sci-fi/fantasy purely because of the premise of the painting.  The painting as well as the fact that it is also often thrown in with other works such as Dracula, The Invisible Man, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Ten Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, all of which are either sci-fi or fantasy but also bear the gothic fiction over/under-tone.
Moving on from the “inherent strengths” The Picture of Dorian Grey still has a multitude of things going for it.  Very important of which is that it is very well written.  The book flows effortlessly from chapter to chapter I spent virtually no time decrypting sentences to uncover their true meaning.  I find the novel’s other most important strength to be its subject matter.  The book does a masterful job of depicting what happens to a person upon the discovery of an absence in liability.  When someone can do literally any humanly possible task what do they turn into?  The Picture of Dorian Grey shows the change from an innocent young gentleman who soaks up and is corrupted by the seemingly not harmful anecdotes and philosophical discussions brought on by someone who Mr. Grey idolizes to a despicable shade, a person whose shadow has become a truer representation of their selves.  Simply the way that Wilde marks the passage of time in Dorian’s life with the corruption’s appearance on the portrait is just a master-stroke.

In the novel, there was an overwhelming amount of “lack of weakness.”  The one thing I can think of that I found to be not a strength was in a few points with Lord Henry when he talks on about something social and irrelevant as far a plot-furthering is concerned.  One moment that comes to mind is early on when Henry is meeting with his aunt, Dorian, and other upper class gentlemen/women, but he makes a quick stop to talk with his father.  When I was reading that few pages, I was incredibly bored.  Just the long-winded conversation that did not further the plot nearly put me sleep.  However, there were only a few pedantic moments like these and they were still very well written.