Week of 18/2/14: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Prompt: What emotions do you feel about your reading? Describe what is going on in the reading that makes you feel that way.
Pages: Whatever was said last week until finish (yay!)

Anyone who reads this book, regardless of age, life experiences, or intellectual capability, will definitely feel a wide range of emotions that this book will stir inside of them.  Of course, this is on purpose. Lord Harry/Henry, or more fitting, "Prince Paradox" lives for a good epigram and will tire endlessly to get the last word in.  This makes many of the book's statements thought-provoking and kind of make you evaluate yourself through Dorian's life and experiences.  I feel as though I make most of my blog posts with the phrase "Spoiler Alert" tacked on at the end, so I shall refrain from doing so this week.  Because I really, really, really, really, really recommend this book to you, or whoever is reading this.  Nobody takes the spoiler alert seriously, and to spoil this book would be to spoil a revelation... A valuable experience really. Really, really, really, really, real-.... Ok I'll stop.

I learned from the 'forward' in this book that Oscar Wilde often liked to think of himself as someone very close in personality to Prince Paradox (that's just a more romantic name, don't you think?) so I can see where this book's multitude of epigrams, which some might call pretentious, but I wouldn't say anything against Prince Paradox.  He's much to cool of a character.  Lord Harry/Henry is one of those character's who you totally are enamored with while seeing/reading about them but in real life, you know you would punch them in the face every time they opened their mouth.  Which makes them even a more fascinating character.  Everybody loves the lovable jerk.

Now I'm beginning to realize I haven't answered your query in the prompt yet.  I have my reasons!  It's basically the same emotion you have when everything just kind of makes sense but it really doesn't.  You want it to make sense so badly yet you haven't had the experience you need to let it make sense yet.  Which leads you into a freaking paradox!  Because as soon as you experience one of these things, it shuts a door but opens yet another one, and another one, and another one!  You see my frustration?  It is one of the most endearing things I find, having to go back and reevaluate something and a book that makes you self-evaluate and entirely changes your opinion.  And then you can't see why you thought something earlier in your life when it is all so clear now.  But it really isn't clear now, because you want to feel this sense of satisfaction again so you're stuck endlessly.  I believe it was Prince Paradox who said something about repeated pleasures being an essential part of life, or something along those lines.  It fails me now, but I will remember it in time.  Kind of like how I will never forget this feeling, a whole new emotion, this book has given me.