Lynness- June Classic

For my classic I read The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.
Here's a summary from wikipedia in case you're not familiar with the basic storyline:

"The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is greatly impressed by Dorian's physical beauty and becomes strongly infatuated with him, believing that his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Talking in Basil's garden, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Espousing a new kind of hedonism, Lord Henry suggests that the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and the fulfilment of the senses. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian cries out, expressing his desire to sell his soul to ensure that the portrait Basil has painted of him would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, subsequently plunging him into a series of debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin being displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging."

The 'rest of the story'...   In the end he is an addicted, paranoid, but still beautiful person with blood on his hands and many enemies.  He eventually attacks the portrait to rid himself of it and thus kills himself.

    It's one I've always thought about reading, since the idea intrigued me, but never did until now.  It's not very long and I read it online at Project Gutenberg.  I don't think I can say I enjoyed it, but it certainly gives one a lot to think about (mostly to disagree with).  It makes me wonder what Oscar Wilde himself believed as far as morality and the soul and art.  It's so different from The Importance of Being Earnest or The Happy Prince, which are the only other things I had ever read by him.  It makes me grateful for the gospel and living prophets as a moral anchor so that I am not "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; " (part of a Scripture Mastery!! Ephesians 4:14)  Lord Henry seems like the devil to me- or maybe the reverse- I can picture the devil as Lord Henry: suave, sophisticated, has an answer for everything, nothing is sacred or truly matters to him, and he knows just what to say to get you started in the wrong direction!  This is not to say that I believe Dorian Gray does not bear responsibility for his actions, but it makes for an extreme lesson on how friends influence you.