The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - UPDATED REVIEW

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde  Genre : Classics Blurb (on back of book) : Oscar Wilde’s only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind. UPDATED REVIEW MY OPINION : ****** I would like to start out this review by stating that this is undoubtedly m
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Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Genre: YA Classics
Image result for romeo and juliet book folger
Blurb (on back of book): One of Shakespeare's most popular and accessible plays, Romeo and Juliet tells the story of two star-crossed lovers and the unhappy fate that befell them as a result of a long and bitter feud between their families. The play contains some of Shakespeare's most beautiful and lyrical love poetry and is perhaps the finest celebration of the joys of young love ever written. 

MY OPINION: ***

This was a book I had to read for Freshman English and I have very mixed feelings about it as a whole. On the one hand, this is Shakespeare we're talking about here. On the other, I'm reading this from a very modern perspective so this might get a little rant-like.

I don't want to make this extensive because of the amount of writing I've had to do for this play already for class so I'll make this as short as possible.

I've seen so many productions (movies, plays, etc) of R&J that it almost felt like I was rereading it despite having never read the actual thing (though I have tried to multiple times).

We had to listen to an audio version of this in class and lemme just say, the sound effects were something.

THINGS I LIKED:
-Well, obviously, Shakespeare is an amazing writer. The literary devices that he managed to slip in there were profound and more than I could ever aspire to create. However, we must take into account that this is not Shakespeare's play and that he just rewrote/edited it a lot to make it more interesting. Yes, those literary devices are most likely his, but I'm just putting that out there.

-The pacing. Although there were some points where I thought it went a little quickly or a little slowly, overall the scenes were well-paced and I could follow along without getting bored or without getting confused.

-The long speeches that were made between Romeo and Juliet. Although these were unrealistic for our time now, because let's face it: all we teens do is text, they were filled with so much longing and "love" for each other that I couldn't help but enjoy reading the long tumultuous passages throughout the book, especially from Romeo.

-Juliet. Despite being younger than Romeo, she was definitely the mature one out of the two.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE/BELIEVE:
-The character's ages. Yes, I get that back then in these times everybody got married/fell in love younger than what we are used to now, but seriously, are 13-year-olds really going to kill themselves for each other under the false beliefs of love? I mean, despite it being a different time, it's not like we didn't have the same general feelings as some of these people. I, for one, am not going to kill myself over some guy I barely know, really.

-The speed of the relationship. I mean, yes, it's different back then, but still. They get married like two days after meeting each other. They're kissing within the first ten minutes of setting eyes on each other. Like, that's a little fast there.

-Romeo. UMMMMM, he had a lot of issues. Besides the fact that he's a little perverted, he's also rash, arrogant, and thinks he's in love with everybody.

-The deaths. I think it's quite doubtful that two tweens would kill themselves over each other. I mean, at that moment in your life, your brain isn't developed enough to even contemplate killing yourself for some person you just met. You definitely don't know what love is yet, so I mean, why even do it?

-TYBALT. He just annoyed me the entire time. Same with PARIS. And all of the parents.

-Everybody died. That was a little annoying. Like, even the mother died randomly.

-The stupid miscommunications that happened that could have changed everything. It was just so unsatisfying. IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED. THEY COULD STILL BE ALIVE.

-Juliet had no friends. That really aggravated me for some reason.

Overall, I liked it to a point. I would recommend it to readers looking for a classic tragedy.

Main Character: Romeo and Juliet
Sidekick(s): Benvolio, Friar, Nurse, Mercutio, etc
Villain(s): Death, miscommunications, the stars, etc
Classic Elements: This is a classic piece of literature.

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