The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

229 Pages Paperback (Fiction)

Anyone who has read Oscar Wilde before won’t be surprised at my review. Unfortunately, up until this point I have never read Wilde. I am certainly a huge fan now.

I think most people know the basic premises of the Book. A young man makes a wish that a portrait of him would age instead of himself. He was always admired as a fantastic person with a magnetic personality. All the people in society were interested in him. A large estate left by a benefactor makes Dorian’s life sleeping in and parties. What I found interesting was you really delved into the lives of affluent people of the late 1800’s. Gray is the main character is the focus, but we are constantly treated to the inner workings of the people around him.

Once Dorian discovers his wish has been granted he becomes obsessed. Not only does it age for him, but the picture bares all the evils of life, broken hearts and hatred as well. Soon he is doing things just to see the changes in the painting. It seems that Wilde uses this background to make a discussion about people and our actions. The book is more a commentary on modern life then a story about a certain character.

Now obviously Oscar Wilde is considered one of the greatest writers in history. So any amount of praise will just be blather in the wind. I will say what I appreciated most. His style of writing is like an ocean wave. Each sentence flows and is a partner to the sentences around them. I am most sincerely a fan of his work and will surely seek out more to read.

4 Intellectual/Emotional: It is easy to become a part of the story and find yourself sitting at the table of a wealthy lady discussing Victorian life.

5 Readability/ Style: This is what makes this book so great. Every page is a joy to read just for the sake of reading.

4 Long Term Impact: This book has already stood the test of a hundred years and will be a part of our culture for much longer.

13 out of 13. An extremely good score that is well deserved. In fact this could have a chance at a 14. “Classic” books are usually pretty good. Some are a little dryer than I would prefer. A Picture of Dorian Gray suffers no issues and is well worth your time.

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JFK: A complete biography 1917-1963 by William H. A. Carr

There is no available picture for this book.

255 Pages (Biography)

My grandmother gave me this book. As you can probably guess it is about John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s life. It starts with a little family history. It moves on to his childhood. His education is mentioned and little bit about who he is as a person is revealed. It focuses a lot on his rise in the political arena. His older brother was supposed to be the political man, but he died young; John took his place. Using the family fortune, they put more money into buying elections than ever. The family helps Kennedy rise through the political machine to eventually become President.

I felt the book was very poorly written. Carr is a journalist. It reads like a 200 page newspaper column. Just the facts. But then occasionally he would add something like “they were so nervous, their hearts beat quickly” How does he know this? Seems as if the author is attempting to bring story to the book, but fails. This would happen every so often and feel jarring and fake.

4 Emotional/Intellectual: Intellectually this book gives you the facts, 0 emotional content.

1 Readability/ Style: The book is easy to read, but the style is so uninspired.

1 Longterm: This book probably had been in a box in my grandparents place for 50 years. That is where is belongs.

6/13 -I am sure 100’s of books about Kennedy are readily available. Read any of those. I am sure almost everyone would be a better read.

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A Perfect Balance By Rohinton Mistry

With A Perfect Balance I continue my exploration into Indian literature. Maybe I am fascinated by the culture or I have been getting lucky with surprisingly great writers. This book is also a part of Oprah’s book club. Now I am not a fan of Oprah’s show, but I can appreciate the things she does and I would love to be able to say that most rich people act like she does. Anyway what I am getting at is her book club has yet to let me down.

Onto the review. The reader starts out the book meeting the four main characters. Aunty Dina, Maneck, Ishvar and Omprakesh. The setting is a flat in a huge city, that is never named, in India. Dina rents the flat and because of certain laws is allowed to stay there without rent increase as long as she can afford it. The problem is since the death of her husband and her increasing age she is unable to afford the current rent. This coupled with the fact that the landlord does what he can to make her move makes things difficult. In order to pay the bills she hires two tailors, Ishvar and Omprakesh. These two make clothes that she sells to a big company. Maneck is the son of Dina’s childhood friend. Maneck is going to school and is a paying guest.

The book then jumps back in time. It follows the early lives of all the main characters until they get to the point at the beginning of the book. From there it continues with this unlikely groups lives and eventual friendship. The book is labeled as fiction, but you know that it is all based on real situations. Dina chooses to get married to a man without the approval of her family. She lives with the constant judgment of her surviving brother. Ishvar and Om leave the countryside because there is no work. The hope is living in the city will bring good fortune. After months of living on the street and in a shack on the side of a railroad track, they finally get to work for Dina. Maneck goes to college to learn refrigeration. He develops friendships that are torn apart by politics.

The book uses the characters to tell the story of India in the late 1970’s. The political upheaval of the time makes crime and extortion the best way to survive. Children are mutilated on the streets so the can gain more money begging. The police will roll into town and sweep everyone off to a work camp to make money for road builders and the politicians and police they pay off. Hundreds of other atrocities are made to “better” the country.

The book is also about friendship. How, even through these hardships, these four unlikely people become a family. The struggle of Dina to care for those that “are below her.” The hotheaded Om accepting someone in a place of power as a friend. The way all the characters grow as people interweaves throughout the book.

The writing is simple, but engaging. You become invested in their lives and feel for their hardships and rejoice at their successes. I think any reader would be drawn into their world and come out better on the other side.

5 Intellectual/ Emotional: The combination of learning about the lifestyle of the people of India combined with the emotional impact the characters provide makes this worth 5.

3 Readability/Style: Mistry’s style is simple and easy to read. Occasionally you are graced with a line that sticks with you, but for the most part it is very bare bones.

3 Long Term Impact: Unfortunately, I feel this book will get lost in amongst the many other great artists writing in India. He is young though and hopefully he will produce mre great work that will bring this to a more popular stage.

11/13 – A great little book. Anyone interested in literature would find this worth the read.

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