[fantasyfan]

I was unable to get the new "unexpurgated" edition and it does get quite mixed reviews. Wilde never bothered to get the original published as he could have done in his final years in France. Of course he may just have lost interest in this early work.
Since I haven't read the original I can only theorise but perhaps this may be a case where the editing of the two published versions has been of benefit. But each reader will have to decide for her/himself.
I did read both the original 13 chapter version which appeared in Lippincott's Magazine july 1890 and the later 20 chapter expansion.


While I read, I became aware that the novel is not the natural literary medium for Wilde. A character like Sir Henry could come straight out of one of Wilde's plays and there is a tension between the frothy cynical brilliance of the wit and the underlying tragedy of the novel. The 20 chapter version does give more character development but the style of writing is often overly rich while the earlier effort has considerable intensity--though even here some of the passages are simply over-elaborated. I am left with the impression that this should have been at most a novella or even a novelette. Dorian Gray's character is simply not interesting enough to sustain the length of even a short novel.

Still, it does have some brilliant moments--particularly in the dialogues and has an excellent fantasy theme which has become iconic.