The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

"The story revolves around a portrait of Dorian Gray painted by Basil Hallward, a friend of Dorian's and an artist infatuated with Dorian's beauty. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton and is soon enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: beauty and sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing. Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian desires to sell his soul to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied amoral experiences while staying young and beautiful; all the while, his portrait ages and visually records every one of Dorian's sins". - Amazon blurb

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) by Oscar Wilde is book two for my classics challenge, choose a gothic classic, hosted by Ann at Search For Wonder.  I thought I would be reading Dragonwyck by Anya Seton but I decided to go with The Picture of Dorian Gray instead.

And having read Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde a few years ago I knew what a talented and witty writer he was but I was taken aback by the brilliance of The Picture of Dorian Gray.  It's one of those classics where you know why it's a classic.  Here for example is the cynical Lord Henry Wotton who upon first meeting young Dorian at the unveiling of his portrait tells him: 

"Because to influence a person is to give him one's own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions. His virtues are not real to him. His sins, if there are such things as sins, are borrowed. He becomes an echo of some one else's music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him. The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly—that is what each of us is here for. People are afraid of themselves, nowadays ... Courage has gone out of our race. Perhaps we never really had it. The terror of society, which is the basis of morals, the terror of God, which is the secret of religion—these are the two things that govern us" 

The irony is that Lord Henry who warns Dorian not to be influenced by others makes sure at their first meeting to influence him in a very dangerous way:

"The moment I met you I saw that you were quite unconscious of what you really are, of what you really might be. There was so much in you that charmed me that I felt I must tell you something about yourself. I thought how tragic it would be if you were wasted. For there is such a little time that your youth will last—such a little time"

And it's that advise that puts fear into Dorian about losing his beauty and youth, a fear that was not there before Lord Henry came into his life.  Dorian now terrified of growing old says a prayer to remain always young.  He is granted his wish.  And Dorian spurred on by Lord Henry's worldview begins to lead a life of debauchery. He remains young and beautiful as the years go by but his portrait, locked away in the attic, becomes more and more hideous. 

Lord Henry is a scoundrel but I didn't finish the book feeling empathy for Dorian Gray either.  Lord Henry certainly influenced Dorian but Basil Hallward the painter of Dorian's portrait was a true friend to Dorian and he warned him about Lord Henry but Dorian would not listen.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a great novel and I do recommend it.  But one thing I will say is that in quite a number of 19th century classics you will run into prejudice and unfortunately it's here in Dorian Gray as well.  It's a shame because this book is brilliant but I am glad we live in somewhat more enlightened times.

The Sky Unwashed by Irene Zabytko

I was scrolling through Amazon a few months ago and discovered The Sky Unwashed (2000) by Irene Zabytko.  I had never heard of the author but the plot and the atmospheric cover drew me in and I knew this was a novel that I would be reading.

The Sky Unwashed is set in 1986 in the rural Ukranian village of Starylis.  For generations the residents of Starylis made their living through farming.  The older residents keep the traditions and customs.  In comparison many of the younger people scoff at the traditions of their parents and grandparents.  They want a  more modern life and to be able to afford nice clothes and new appliances.

Life in Starylis is not that different from other rural villages across Ukraine with one historically tragic exception.  Starylis is just down the road from the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl where many of the residents of Starylis report to work. 

The Sky Unwashed begins at a wedding celebration which everyone in the village is attending.  Marusia Petrenko bakes her famous wedding bread for the occasion and is very pleased at the compliments she is getting.  Marusia who is in her 70's is a sweet person and at the reception there is drinking and dancing.  And then Marusia's son Yurko and some of the other men at the party leave to work their nightshift jobs at the Chernobyl plant and as the Amazon blurb tells us:

"In the morning, the air has a strange metallic taste. The cat is oddly listless. The priest doesn't show up for services. Yurko doesn't come home from work. Nobody know what's happened (and they won't for many days), but things have changed for the Petrenkos-forever"

The majority of The Sky Unwashed takes place a year later when Marusia decides after all she has been through to move back to her home in Starylis.  It's a sealed off area, closed to the public.  But Marusia decides that if she is going to die anywhere it will be in her home.  And this is based on a true story of grandmothers ("The Babushkas of Chernobyl") who returned to their homes, tried to plant new gardens and would not listen to the authorities when ordered to leave.

The Sky Unwashed is moving, funny at times and sad.  But despite the sadness I am glad I read this novel.  Irene Zabytko has a nice writing style and Marusia is an inspiring character.

The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen

The Bone Garden (2007) by Tess Gerritsen is a historical dual timeline mystery.  And the novel begins in present day Weston, MA when we are introduced to Julia Hamill.  Julia is recently divorced and somewhat lost as to how to proceed with her life.  She has bought an old home that she is repairing and while trying to plant a garden she uncovers the skeletal remains of a woman buried on her property a very long time ago.  The woman was murdered but her remains date back to the early 19th century and so the police close the case.  But Julia maybe as a way to escape from her current anxieties decides to investigate. 

We then go back to Weston, MA 1830 (where most of the book will take place) and we meet Norris Marshall a medical student.  Norris is conscientious and very smart.  He attends Boston Medical College.  But to be able to afford medical school like many other young men of that time he works as a "resurectionist", someone who steals dead bodies which are sold on a black market to medical schools.

And then a nurse is found brutally murdered and within a few days another nurse and then a doctor is murdered in the same gruesome way.   The newspapers are calling the killer The West End Reaper and before long Norris is the prime suspect.   But Norris is innocent and a young seamstress Rose Connolly knows this because she was there the night both she and Norris caught a shadowy glimpse of the killer fleeing the scene of the crime.  Norris and Rose must work together to find out who the killer is because both of their lives are at stake.  

The Bone Garden also includes a real life historical figure, Oliver Wendall Holmes, Sr. who would later go on to great acclaim after discovering a medical breakthrough that would save many lives.  He is also the father of Oliver Wendall Holmes Jr who would later become a Supreme Court Justice.  

But mainly this novel is about the fictional Norris Marshall and Rose Connolly.  They meet under less than ideal circumstances but Gerritsen creates a real chemistry between Norris and Rose.  And though the book is long, 500 pages, I read it in 4 days and enjoyed it a great deal.  One thing to keep in mind the book is graphic in describing autopsies. But if you don't mind some blood and guts I heartily recommend The Bone Garden.

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

"There’s a castle on the coast in Fanteland called the Cape Coast Castle. That is where they used to keep the slaves before they sent them away, to Aburokyire: America, Jamaica. Asante traders would bring in their captives. Fante, Ewe, or Ga middlemen would hold them, then sell them to the British or the Dutch or whoever was paying the most at the time. Everyone was responsible. We all were…we all are.” - Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing.

Homegoing by the Ghanaian-American writer Yaa Gyasi begins in 18th century Ghana with two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, who live in different villages.  The sisters are told when they are young that they have a sibling but they never meet each other.

Effia remains in Ghana and marries a British man, James Collins, who is the Governor of Cape Coast Castle.  It will be a happy life for Effia although she blocks out the fact that her husband makes his money in the slave trade.  

And that brings us to Esi who, in comparison to Effia's life, is living a nightmare.  Esi along with others from her village is kidnapped, sold into slavery and put on a ship headed for America.   

The novel proceeds and we learn about the different paths Effia and Esi's lives take.  We also learn about the lives of their descendents.  We watch Effia's children, grandchildren, great grandchildren navigate the changes happening in Ghana.  And we follow Esi's descendents in America through the Civil War, the Great Migration, the Jazz Age and on up to the present.  

In 2016 Homegoing won The National Book Critics Circle Award and I can see why.   I was invested in the lives of Effia and Esi's descendents all the way through this novel.  Yaa Gyasi is an excellent writer and Homegoing is one of the best books I will read this year.

Walden: Or, Life In The Woods by Henry David Thoreau

"I rejoice that there are owls. Let them do the idiotic and maniacal hooting for men. It is a sound admirably suited to swamps and twilight woods which no day illustrates, suggesting a vast and undeveloped nature which men have not recognized. They represent the stark twilight and unsatisfied thoughts which all have. All day the sun has shone ... but now a more dismal and fitting day dawns, and a different race of creatures awakes to express the meaning of Nature there." -  Henry David Thoreau

This year I am taking a classics challenge created by Anne at In Search of Wonder.  Anne's prompt for January was to read a book from our TBR list and so I decided to read Walden; Or Life In The Woods (1854) by Henry David Thoreau.  

Currently I am half way through Walden.  It's not a book you can breeze rhrough and so I am taking it slow so I can reflect on what Henry David Thoreau has to say about nature, solitude, civilization and the meaning of life: 

These days Henry David Thoreau is more popular and widely known than he ever was during his lifetime.  And today with people building their tiny houses or getting into their RV and heading west the philosophy behind Walden lives on.  And with the weather getting better maybe the best way to read Thoreau is outdoors experiencing the natural world that he loved and wrote about so powerfully.