But How Does It Make You Feel?

Don't tell me what it's about... tell me how it made you feel.

I wish people understood that when I ask them how their day was they don't have to list off all of the things they had done or planned to do; if I cared for the logistics, I would ask to borrow your agenda? I want to know how all of that affected that person. Same with a book. If I ask, "Have you ever read The Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde?" I don't want him/her to tell me what happened in the portrait or what Basil Hallward thought or what Lord Henry said. I don't care about all of that. If I did, I would read the back of the book (which I don't do... ever by the way).

I want to know that while reading the book something moved inside of them. An shift of ideas or ideals. A new way of thinking or believing came about because of this novel. I am interested in the the how and why of those questions more than the plot itself. And, a little secret: so is the author.

A good author (by my standards) writes a novel to put down his or her ideas. An author doesn't write to simply tell a story- if s/he did, then the story would fall flat (which a lot of stories do). The story, or plot, is merely a vehicle for the greater purpose. If an author can embed their story in the tucks and folds of a well told narrative, then the reader won't even know that they are reading the author's ideas, ideals, thoughts, beliefs, bias, prejudice, morals, principles...

Why did I mention The Portrait of Dorian Gray in this little rant of mine? Well, amongst many - this book opened my eyes (how shut were my eyes before all of these eye-opening stories!?). Oscar Wilde is one of the most incredible artists to have lived, in my esteem. He is the single-most arrogant person to have walked the Earth as well: a statement that would compliment him if he were alive. A dandy by his very definition, Wilde created a movement based on his own work, or created work based on his own movement? Either way, he invented a genre that no other writer can file himself under (maybe George Gissing, but barely anyone knows who that guy is).

A celebrity in his own right, Wilde was a genius and when I read any of his pieces, I laugh out loud, a raise a brow (or two), I snicker, I snort, I condescend, in short, I am transported to the time and place of the novel, play, essay or dialogue and I am engaged wholeheartedly. Dorian Gray is the most well-known pieces of aart that Wilde produced, not only for his intricate story and characters, but for its lesson. The reason I love it? I feel like reading Wilde is like being at the coolest club in town: it's for cool people who know about cool things that only other cool people talk about. Reading Wilde was like being at a speakeasy, then understanding Wilde is like having the secret password to the speakeasy beyond that ultra-cool club.

Read ANYTHING by Oscar Wilde, you won't be sorry. The easiest way to slide right in is with The Portrait of Dorian Gray. Enjoy!