The Mystery of Dorian Gray

Spinning: Love will keep us together, Captain & Tenille
Lyric sample:
Whatever young and beautiful
Someday your looks will be gone

Never mind me, I just feel like going on about old books.

I've always loved the feeling of old books - I think it has something to do with all the really old books my local library used to have - you just pick them up and they have this very unique aroma of old paper and frequent use. Just think of all the eyes who have searched over those words before you! One of the things I miss after I moved away, absurdly, is the stamp that was in every library book in Eidsvoll: A little drawing of Henrik Wergeland (the poet who lived in Eidsvoll) and a quote:

Boghyllen er den stige,
Hvor du kan blive din overmands lige
(Roughly translated: "The bookshelf is the ladder/Where you can become your superiour's equal)

I just really miss that stamp.

( CLICK HERE FOR THE MYSTERY OF DORIAN GRAY )

Short shock

For the sake of everything that is HOLY in literature! How naïve I've been!

As a sort of continuation from all I've written about The picture of Dorian Gray - let me say I finished the book about half a minute ago. And was shocked.

When I got to the lettering that said THE END, it finally dawned on me: This wasn't the same story.

As I read it, I kept trying to remember the details of the story as I had read it three years ago - and when I shut it, it dawned on me: Sibyl Vane's brother wasn't in this one. He was majorly important in the book I read three years ago - but he wasn't even mentioned in this one.

You know, when I got it, I was slightly disappointed over how thin the book looked, and now I've discovered it misses several chapters... I'm a bit embarassed I didn't find the conclusion until I had read the book: The story was first published in Lippincott's Magazine in 1890 - the story was such a major success Oscar Wilde rewrote it, changed it, added subplots and gave it out in bookform.

It's the original Magazine version I own! Wow, I never knew! No wonder it didn't have the Preface, because that was written for the book! In fact, I didn't think the Magazine edition was available any longer. But hey, I got an 1907 edition, it might have been available then.

Well, you know what that mean - I have to buy the book version and read that through too, and find the differences! The Magazine edition had a sort of rushed ending - I remember when I read it three years ago, I got this weird feeling somebody that had never made sense before did - whereas this edition just gave me a little chill.

Let me see; Another book for my 'Books I plan to read' list, then...