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For many years, I have developed a habit, that is: after reading a book, if you want to write Regarding the review of this book, I will definitely not go back and quote a large section of the book to assist my point of view, except for some necessary names of people and places...
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There are two copies of "The Picture of Dorian Gray" in hand. One is the English version of "The Picture Of Dorian Gray", which was purchased on August 7, 1990. It was a popular original offset printing at the time. I wrote on the back cover note:
August 7, 1990 at Guanqian Xinhua Bookstore. After buying the book, I went to the fourth hospital to visit my grandfather.
At that time, I was in my sophomore year, studying in Shanghai. Grandpa is critically ill, so I rushed back to see him for the last time.
The second is the Chinese version of "Portrait of Dorian Gray", purchased on February 8, 2008.
When I bought the first book, I was afraid it was more for learning English, but the facts proved that Wilde's English was too gorgeous, and it was not something I could deeply understand when I was in my sophomore year. Of course, At that time, I was not as "vulgar" as I am now...
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the covers of the two books (click on the small picture to see the larger picture):
English version of the cover in
English cover version
Chinese version of the cover
Chinese version of the cover
to be honest, I prefer the cover of the English version. The two people on the cover of the Chinese version (one person, one in the picture) are TYTSTN, and they look a bit like Orlando Gloom, I really don’t know where the editor’s inspiration came from... The cover of the English version is very appropriate. NS:
The portrait replaces the owner (the one on the far left on the cover) to bear the accumulation of years and sins in appearance, but the owner is still as youthful, pure and charming as he was 18 years ago... And the middle-aged man in the middle of the cover should be It was the painter Basil who created this painting for Dorian, who was eventually killed by Dorian for rebuking Dorian for his immoral behavior... and Basil was the only person besides Dorian who knew the secret of the portrait... …
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Imagine a young man with a distinguished family background, daily advancing for gold, knowledgeable, and good looks. No matter what era he is, he will be destined to be an extraordinary character , But embarked on a degenerate road. So what is at stake?
Wilde first introduced a premise: the passage of years will of course leave traces on the appearance of people, and furthermore, any evil deeds will leave a shameful mark on the appearance... His idea of good looks when he was 18 was so strong that Dorian made that irreversible oath: let the portrait bear the mark of the erosion of the years and the mark of evil deeds, and the appearance he presented to outsiders will always be so good. , Charm...
External beauty, in Dorian's heart, is a sign of beauty. It represents the situation that Dorian wanted to pursue. However, in the process of pursuing it, his heart—characterized by the portrait—has undergone a shameful depravity. Therefore, if I say: In the process of pursuing beauty, using ugly means, then people have lost the beauty itself, even if the "beauty" pursued is widely recognized, it is not the essence of "beauty" . I think I am not wrong.
And when Dorian murdered Basil, the conflict reached a climax: Basil symbolized Dorian's deepest innermost trace of good nature. And what we see is that once we sink in-or enjoy-the beauty of sin (the beautiful sin), then the good nature-no matter how stubborn it is-will be ruthlessly obliterated by us . An inappropriate analogy for this approach is: it is enough for the parent to know that the child is wrong, but it is not allowed to allow others to make irresponsible remarks. Dorian's friend, Lord Henry, did a great job on this point: he adopted a completely admiring and conniving attitude. At this level of Dorian, no self-reflection is self-acceptable.
Dorian didn't realize what had happened until the end. He just recklessly chose to destroy the portrait. Wilde lays a conclusion here: the human soul is the foundation of human existence. When Dorian stabbed the portrait with the dagger that killed Basil, a weird scene happened, and the whole novel came to an abrupt end after the ultimate climax: Dorian was dead, and his appearance after death was abominable; and the portrait "lived." It’s restored to what it was 18 years ago...
What we see here is neither Dostoyevsky’s "crime seeking punishment" nor Kafka’s "punishment seeking crime", but the third type. : The annihilation of crime and punishment.
However, Wilde also planted an introduction-and I still cannot agree with this-that is: can death be a way of salvation for the soul (self)? I did not see any confession from Dorian, only his usual practice of enjoying himself or covering up his sins with greater sins.
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Undoubtedly, Wilde was extremely contradictory at that time. His personal private life was also criticized at the time, and people at the time obviously cared more about it than now. I can understand the pressure he is under. When he adopts a line that is almost the same as Dorian in his real life, it is normal for the goodness of his inner nature to be "causing". Wilde does not have a portrait that can be destroyed, nor can he destroy his self. He can only express a hope in despair through the plot in a fictional novel.
My interpretation of the book is limited to this...
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This comment was written in January 2009, and I didn’t know that there was a current film at that time. After reading it, the basic idea is consistent with your comments: the adaptation is very strange. So I won't say much.
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