Hauntingly Beautiful!

Fiftieth book reviewed as part of the 130 Challenge.

Oh! Is there anything even close to an Oscar Wilde novel? If there is something that is horrifying and disgusting, yet somehow most reassuring and beautiful, this is it. A novel that shook up the world into which it was born. So ahead of its times! So exquisitely written with such a rich language and splendid narrative! I honestly don’t find myself capable of reviewing such a book.

I write this only because I had decided that I must review all the books that I read this year. I read this book as a teenager and I was scarred by what it contained. I couldn’t complete it and I shuddered at the very thought of opening it again, but I was drawn to it again and again, until finally, this year I could resist it no longer.

I knew how the story goes and I was prepared for a dive into the starkest examination of human depravity, but even so, I was overwhelmed. I do not think one should even try to expect something from this novel, one should just surrender to it.

I must stop now before people think that I lavish too much praise and judge the book even before reading it. If you are wondering about it, let me just make it amply clear – This is a magnum opus. This is a masterpiece. This. is. it.

P.S. I tried hard to narrow down the best quotes from the book, but it was simply too difficult a task. By page 3 of the novel, I had already collected 10 quotes that I just couldn’t not add to my collection. So, I just gave up. WikiQuote does a really good job of collecting all the good quotes from the book.