Friday, June 29, 2012

The Picture of Dorian Gray

 [conclusion in English is at the bottom of this post]

“Like the painting of a sorrow, a face without a heart.”

Meminjam sebaris kalimat dari Hamlet karya Shakespeare yang juga dikutip oleh Oscar Wilde di buku ini, kupikir seperti itulah keseluruhan kisah The Picture of Dorian Gray ini. Dorian Gray adalah seorang pemuda 20 tahun yang ketampanannya menyiratkan kemudaan yang menyegarkan dan tanpa dosa, seperti jiwanya saat itu—saat sebelum dunia mulai meracuninya. Dorian bersahabat dengan seorang pelukis terkenal bernama Basil Hallward yang segera terpesona dan memuja Dorian. Basil melukis potret diri Dorian sambil mencurahkan kecintaannya pada pemuda itu ke dalam lukisannya, yang kemudian menjadi sebuah mahakarya.

Sahabat Basil yang lain, Lord Henry, adalah seorang pria yang memuja kenikmatan, dan memandang dunia dan kehidupan lewat cara pandang yang sinis dan skeptis. Lord Henry inilah yang kemudian—setelah berkenalan dengan Dorian—menyuntikkan ide-ide yang meracuni pikiran Dorian sehingga si pemuda menjadi pemuja kemudaan. Ia lalu ‘berdoa’ agar lukisan dirinya lah yang akan menjadi tua dan lelah akibat beban hidup Dorian, sementara dirinya sendiri tetap muda dan tanpa garis-garis kehidupan di tubuhnya. Entah bagaimana, ‘doa’ itu terwujud, dan ketika jiwa Dorian—akibat pengaruh buruk sekitarnya—makin bobrok, ekspresi dirinya di dalam lukisan itu pun pelan-pelan berubah. Sementara itu Dorian berubah menjadi makin jahat, dan jiwanya makin ‘gelap’. Dari luar ia tampak tanpa beban, padahal di dalam jiwanya keropos dan ia tak sanggup bangkit dari keterpurukan. Pertanyaannya, akankah Dorian Gray sanggup bangkit dari keterpurukannya? Ketika jiwa manusia sudah tergerogoti demikian dalam, manakah yang lebih gampang, berusaha ‘kembali ke jalan yang benar’ ataukah malah jatuh semakin dalam?

Dorian Gray adalah kisah gothic tentang gelapnya jiwa manusia, dan semua itu gara-gara racun pengaruh buruk dari lingkungan sekitarnya. Oscar Wilde telah merangkai kisah ini dengan cantiknya, memadukan sisi artistik dengan gaya menulis flamboyant khas dirinya, membuatku sangat menikmati kisah ini dari awal hingga akhir. 256 halaman itu bak secangkir kopi, bukannya kuminum dengan beberapa tegukan cepat, melainkan kuseruput sedikit demi sedikit sambil menikmati setiap sensasi yang bisa kureguk darinya. Benar-benar perkenalan yang memabukkan bersama Oscar Wilde. J Kalau anda ingin turut mencicipi kenikmatannya, percikannya ada di chapter posts ini (dari chapter I hingga XVII)

Lima bintang untuk Dorian Gray dan Oscar Wilde!

Conclusion:

The Picture of Dorian Gray, I think, is Oscar Wilde’s allusion to the world for over-worshipping beauty and youthfulness. Through this book we are also invited to see the development of human spirit in general. I see the picture of Dorian Gray as a reflection of his soul. Dorian wanted to have barter with the devil to exchange his own soul with the physical youthfulness of the painting, and with that, he hoped he will forever be free and have fun without having to bear the brunt of his actions because the painting was the one who will bear it.

I see there are two factors which initiated the fall of Dorian Gray's soul. First, the excessive worshipping of Basil Hallward towards Dorian Gray, that is the starting point; then coupled with the influence which Lord Henry has injected into Dorian’s mind, led Dorian to worship his own beauty and made ​​a prayer to barter his soul with the youthfulness of his picture. It is also interesting that, as one slumped deeper into his sin, his conscience being increasingly unbearable to him. When his soul was beginning to corrupt, Dorian could encourage himself to make repentance, the picture could act as his soul barometer, but when he has drawn deeper in the mud of sin, he refused to see the picture and chose to cover and hide it, both from his own eyes and from other’s. However, it is not easy to run away from one’s conscience; Dorian tried to please himself in hedonism. He plunged himself deeper in sin, so that when the last effort of ‘the representative of his conscience’ tried to take him away from the darkness, he could not bear it and killed him. At the end…this is the question for us all:

“What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”

Oscar Wilde has fascinated me with his paradoxes and artistic style in writing Dorian Gray. Just as Basil Hallward had left something of himself in the picture of Dorian Gray, I believe Wilde had also left his flamboyant personality and passion of aestheticism in his writing. As I already mentioned in one of my posts, if book was a drink, Dorian Gray were a cup of coffee; instead of drinking it in gulps, I took it sip by sip, while savouring the bitter-sweet taste, feeling the warmth liquid flowing through your throat and inhaling the sweet fragrance that come into my nostrils. There are many aspects in this particular ‘cup of coffee’ that I can enjoy, which, if I drink it in a hurry, I will certainly lose the sensation! That is how I have savoured The Picture of Dorian Gray in about ten days, having been busy with reading and posting chapter posts, but in the end it ‘s worth all the efforts J. I enjoyed Dorian Gray till the last drop.

Five whole stars for this book!

Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Author: Oscar Wilde
Publisher: Penguin Popular Classics
Published: 1994
Pages: 256

20 comments:

  1. ahhh...forever young! kayaknya godaan dari jaman dulu sampe sekarang ya =) apakah bahasanya oscar wilde cukup njelimet mba?

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    1. Kalau bahasanya gak njelimet kok, hanya pemikirannya yg kadang2 bikin bingung, misal tentang hedonisme dan art. Asal gak terlalu berhubungan dengan cerita, aku skip aja, hehehe..

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  2. Itu ada bab gratisannya mbak? kalo di repiunya mbak Dina, karya ini dulu agak2 berbau homoseksual sebelum katanya dirombak ulang oleh penulisnya

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    1. bab gratisan? Chapter posts itu ya? Iya, bisa baca disitu tp hati2 ada spoilernya :). Kayaknya sih gitu, yg sekarang gak ada adegan homoseksualnya sih, meski tetap saja pemujaan Basil thd Dorian udah bisa dikatakan gay kan?

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  3. ini belum diterjemahin ya mbak?

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    1. Sedang dalam proses penerjemahan oleh Penerbit Dolphin (yg nerjemahin mbak Dina Begum). Tunggu saja ya...

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  4. oh ini chapter yang biasa mb fanda posting itu toh? lumayan seram nih kayaknya

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    1. Iya Lis, serem banget nggak kok, menarik, lebih tepatnya :)

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  5. oh, post chapter ada spoilernya ya, untung baru baca bbrp yg awal, hehe... prtama th buku ini malah gara2 Ben Barnes, haha, kacau banget.. makanya agak aneh dgn Basil di post sblm2nya, trnyata dmaksudkn sbg gay toh..

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    1. Heheh..iya, kalau kisah bildungsroman susah kan gak spoiler karena fokusnya memang ke perubahan karakter. Tapi spoilernya tidak secara langsung kok.
      Tentang Basil, aku sebenarnya juga gak ngeh kalau kisah ini ttg gay, tapi karena Oscar Wilde memang gay, jadi tidak heran dengan "keanehan" seperti yg kamu sebut itu.

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  6. dari ceritanya mbak fanda udah serem gitu deh ni buku --" penasaran sih, tapi.. hmm.. apa nonton filmnya aja ya.. :D

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    1. Hehehe..masak serem sih? Gothic memang ada unsur serem2 memang tapi ini bukan horor. kalau aku sih selalu berusaha baca bukunya dulu baru filmnya. Tunggu aja, buku ini sedang diterjemahkan kok..

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  7. Di buku yang aku baca, Dracula My Love, juga dibahas tentang buku ini :D. Yang jadi Dorian di filmnya si Ben Barnes ya? Uhuuuy, mau nonton ah ^^

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  8. Mirip hikayat narcisius ya, tapi penulis juga menyoal ttg kebobrokan moral dari dalam. Aq penasaran sama Dorian Gray setelah liat A League of Extraordinary Gentleman, di situ ada Dorian Gray, Mina Harker, Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde, Kapten Nemo dan Allan Quartermain :D

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  9. I loved your description of enjoying the story like a cup of coffee. Rich and warm and satisfying. Those are the best sort of reads, I think. This has made me want to read The Picture of Dorian Gray again. I first read this is secondary school and am finding that many of those same stories are different experiences at my current place in life.

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    1. Dorian Gray is a book worth to re-read, although we always remember the story, but Wilde's writing style is enjoyable.

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  10. I have to agree with Lesann above, I loved you comparing it to drinking coffee. I really enjoyed 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' because Wilde has such an amazing way with words. He uses language beautifully! Hop on over to read my review if you have the time!
    http://universeinwords.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/review-picture-of-dorian-gray-by-oscar.html
    Juli @ Universe in Words

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    1. True! He can often be witty too. I wish Wilde have written more novels like Dorian Gray...

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  11. Hi Fanda, This is one of my favorites...but I didn't sip it like coffee; I was definitely chugging it down quickly. Nice review. My thoughts: http://tinyurl.com/yddrzl5e

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    1. Thanks, Joseph. In fact, I have read your review the other day (at office hour), and have wanted to say something in the comment. But then my boss called and I just closed your blog without leaving a trace :)

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What do you think?