Snowflake Challenge: Day 2

Day 2

In your own space, share a book/song/movie/tv show/fanwork/etc that changed your life. Something that impacted on your consciousness in a way that left its mark on your soul. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

So, to keep things interesting, I'm going to just rule out Harry Potter for this one :P It's a valid candidate, but let's have something different.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Wilde's poetry and quotes had interested me for some time, so I went out to buy this book and finally read it when I was in my late teens or early twenties. My lord, was it hard work... I'm a slow reader anyway, but this took me months upon months because I kept having to read over sections again. He's just so loquacious and it's now rather old fashioned, making it difficult bedtime reading. I nearly gave up a few times, because he spends such a long time going on about things that have nothing to do with the plot. There's a lot of social narrative and criticism which rather went over my head as I know little of the class structure and norms of the late 19th Century.

However, within it, there were moments of perception and beauty which astounded me. One section in particular stays with me. It springs to mind from time to time, when trying to articulate an atmospheric concept. For me, it represents how I want to keep seeing the world, and how I hope that I, as a writer, can learn to express myself.

So, for your interest, here is the excerpt. It can be understood and appreciated entirely independently of the plot and characters.

( The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter XI )