The Picture of Dorian Gray

2026-07-15 13:19

I recently came across the beautifully formatted public domain books in the Standard Ebooks catalog and decided to look for the classics sitting on my TBR list for way too long.

Another great surprise was discovering that Standard Ebooks is also quite active on the Fediverse. Thank you, guys!

The Classic

The main premise of The Picture of Dorian Gray is well known, but just in case, I won't spoil it here.

Anyway, already knowing what was going to happen was probably making me a bit anxious. The more I read, the more it felt like the big revelation would never arrive. Then, right after the painting plot finally kicked off, I gradually lost interest and moved on to a different book, then another, and another...

Eventually, I came back to it and, to my surprise, started enjoying the book again. However, I don't think it had anything to do with the story itself.

Time Travel

Old books like this have a special power over me. I don't know exactly what it is, but they send me back in time. Maybe it's the writing style being so different compared to today's. Or perhaps the details of a long-gone world create a nostalgic feeling for a moment in time I never lived in. Anyway, it's probably both, plus my love for history.

It's even more intense when the narration is non-fiction. For example, when I read The Voyage of the Beagle, I knew some of the cities Darwin was describing. On top of that, he is constantly talking about real customs and real people. Sometimes, the passages even resemble tips you'd see in modern travel guides.

Yes, I meant to say "he is". First-person narrations have another special power over me. It feels like the person is talking directly to me right now, as if things are happening in real time. And because this is a real diary of a real person, it's like he's on his 19th-century trip at this very moment. Yet another time travel ingredient.

Standard Ebooks also had it in their catalog, so here I am, reading it again. And now, having visited more of the places described by Darwin, the narration is even more pleasant.

Final Thoughts

Back to Dorian. Given the developments of the story, the ending was to be expected. For a book written so long ago, in such a different societal context, I don't think there was any other option. And that's fine. It's much better than a never-ending Netflix series.

One last thought before I go. While reading, I kept wondering if Dorian Gray is a topic that comes up in psychology classes.

Oh, and definitely go check out the Standard Ebooks catalog.