I can't believe I haven't read this before, but it's one of those stories that everyone knows, isn't it? You don't need to read it if you already have that central image, Dorian Gray in front of his horrifying painted self. And in all fairness that image, and the basic idea behind it, are both creepy and compelling. The novel, I think, is less so. Don't get me wrong: I enjoyed it. And having looked the thing up on Wikipedia before I started, I learned that it was originally a novella, and Wilde bulked it up to novel length in order to have it published as a book, rather than in a magazine. I wonder if that initial novella would be an improvement, because this sags in places, particularly in the middle (that interminable chapter eleven!) and becomes unfocused in others. Wilde is witty, of course, but his wit wanders off-course in places, and makes the book version much more padded-out than it needs to be.

It doesn't help that nearly all the characters are unpleasant. Dorian Gray is a nasty, weak little man, and his mates aren't any better. I'm really only sorry that Lord Henry survived. He deserved the knife as well.