The Picture of Dorian Gray: A Gay Novel by Mark A. Roeder
I have seen various adaptations of Oscar Wilde’s classic The Picture of Dorian Gray and have yet to read the original piece. Ironic really, skipping over the original to read the LGBT adaptation. But, nevertheless, I found it to be a great read. Moreover, I like how Mark A. Roeder keep to the original while adding a sexy LGBT twist to it.
Like the original, the story follows the theme of hedonism, aestheticism, and duplicity as the main character, Dorian, live a life of well…every indulgence that life has to offer. Harmless on the surface but terrible in execution as Dorian’s true nature and character begin to surface. And, like clockwork, the people around him began to cripple through mindless and selfish actions. Actually, selfish isn’t the right word. Try sociopathic and dangerous.
Following the same storyline as the original with a more modern update, Dorian managed to destroy so many lives through various means without any equivocation. Even worse, each action had a ripple effect that ended up hurting more people and, of course, darkening the main character’s soul and painting. It’s because of that Dorian had to get a very personal intervention which ended up giving him, and those around of him, a happy ending. Actually, this is the only thing that was different from the original as Dorian killed himself in that version.
It was quite the redemption for a deplorable protagonist. Dorian was a man of little morals and, for all intents and purposes, an inflated ego. He really thought he was untouchable until he realizes that his soul wasn’t as untouchable as he originally thought. “It’s your soul that needs surgery,” like Beyonce’s song, Pretty Hurts, would put it. I still didn’t like the character but I think that was the whole point of it all.
Yep yep, I’m going to give this book a nice B.
