The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Free
1891

Photograph taken in 1882 by Napoleon Sarony.

The Picture of Dorian Gray was first published as a story in 1890. Wilde later added more chapters and amended the story to produce the novel version. Wilde was known for his wit and wordplay. 

A gentleman is one who never hurts anyone’s feelings unintentionally.

He was a leading playwright in London in the 1890’s. Dorian Gray was criticized for its homosexual allusions. Wilde was tried and imprisoned for gross indecency attributed to his homosexual behavior. He was sentenced to two years hard labor. He was a very controversial figure in London society and after his imprisonment he moved away to the European mainland. 

Wilde was critical of the penal system after his release publishing poems and writing letters to newspapers. He never fully recovered from injuries sustained in prison and died an early death a few years later at 46.

Ballad of Reading Gaol -Free

The Ballad of Reading Gaol (pronounced redding jail) is the main poem critical of the penal system and calling for reform, written by Oscar Wilde.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a story set in England following the main character Dorian Gray. He is having his portrait painted by a friend of his, Basil, and having a lively witty discussion. After the portrait is finished Dorian laments that he will grow old and lose his looks.

How sad it is!’ murmured Dorian Gray, with his eyes still fixed upon his own portrait. ‘How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. It will never be older than this particular day of June. . . . If it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that – for that – I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!’

Be careful what you wish for! Dorian’s Faustian wish comes true and he falls for a life of hedonistic pleasures. He becomes quite reckless never worrying about growing old or causing harm. Dorian loses his youthful charisma and comes to be disliked by his former friends. 

This story has been adapted into numerous film versions, Dorian Gray Films, including a 2010 version with Colin Firth. The character of Dorian Gray is also in the film, A League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), as a literary superhero. 

The wit and the dialogues are very interesting and funny. The story is very good from beginning to end with a great ending that will keep you thinking long after you have read it. Oscar Wilde was a true master story teller. This is one of my favorite stories by him and the one that made me read his other works. 

I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.

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Poe's Poetry

Alone
by Edgar Allan Poe

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view. 

January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849

Edgar Allan Poe is an American Romantic author and poet. He is best known for his poem “The Raven” and his short stories dealing with dark and macabre themes.

Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works - Free

He had a very tragic life, losing his parents at a very early age. He was adopted by John Allan and later change his name in honor of the family that raised him. He was plagued with money issues and alcoholism through his short life. He died of mysterious circumstances that led to many conspiracy theories, including madness and exposure due to alcoholism.

Poe’s works are still widely referenced and adapted in popular culture. Poe has become a fictionalized version of himself often used as the narrator of his poems. Poe is often depicted in comic books, fiction, film and theatre, due to the tragic circumstances of his life and the mystery surrounding his death.

Poe, A Biography - This is a great out of print biography about Poe’s life. Follows his life and career and when he published his poems and stories. Available used for $4.00 in paperback.

Edgar Allan Poe: A Biography - New biography by Daniel Dyer, available on Kindle. $4.99 purchase, free to borrow with Prime Account.

There is a new film coming out later this year titled “The Raven” with John Cusack playing Edgar Allan Poe. Also, a new film titled “Poe” is rumored next year, directed by Sylvester Stallone!

Here is the beginning of another beautiful poem by Edgar Allan Poe, 

Annabel Lee

It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

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Lit Challenge: 1 Book in 1 Month

The last lit challenge was the most viewed post to date. It was also the most tweeted and G+ed and I take that to mean that you guys really liked it. I think it is time for a new challenge. I try this one all the time and it definitely gets me reading more.

Challenge: Read one book in a month using the Kindle progress bar.

The progress bar is that little bar across the bottom of your Kindle that reads percentages and lets you know how far along you are in a book. With the average month being 30 days you can read 3% a day and be at 90% of a book. Here is the plan in a little more detail:

• Day 1: 3%
• Day 2: 3% + 3% = 6%
• Day 3: 6% + 3% = 9%
• Day 4: 9% + 3% = 12%
• Day 5: 12% + 3% = 15%
• Day 6: 15% + 4% = 19%
• Day 7: 19% + 5% = 24%

In the first week of the month you have almost read a quarter of the book. Repeat for four more weeks and voila! Since most people are busier during the week the challenge is to read 3% weekdays and 4% to 5% on weekends. Reading 3% a day leaves us with only 10% to make up during the month and that can be done by reading 1% to 2% more on days that we are not as busy, like weekends.

Depending on the length of the book and the font size used, this can be two to three page turns per percentage point; for much longer books it can be up to be fifteen page turns per percent.

I came up with this challenge because I always viewed the progress bar as a challenge. When I would read the progress bar would cheer me on. If I was on 19% of a book I could not put it down until I reached 20%. The 1% would nag me until I reached it. 20% seems like a much nicer place to stop than 19%, anyone else feel this way? I originally did this in 5% increments but I found that I normally had the time for that on weekends and so I adjusted it so that I could finish a book in one month as opposed to twenty days or three weeks.

3% percent is small enough that it is easily doable but enough of a challenge that you can complete a novel or anything else in one month.

Variation: 

A simple variation of this challenge would be to read 3% - 4% of anything you have on your Kindle every time you pick it up. Since I normally read multiple books at once this comes in handy to keep up with reading. Even if I didn’t complete a single book in a month I finish about a book in a month.

I find that if I am a little more lenient with a challenge I am more likely to finish it. Let me explain this. If I forget to read the 3% on a certain day I don’t worry about it too much. I spread out the 3% over the next three days by reading 1% more each day. Thursday I read 4%, Friday 4% and Saturday I read 5% to catch up. This amounts to 5 to 10 minutes a day of reading more per day. Even when I am extremely busy with work and school and watching my daughter I can find 10 minutes to catch up on reading. I love to prioritize my reading because I think it makes me a better conversationalist. When talking with a friend I always have a new book I am reading or just finished. The same way I recommend books here I do it in real life.

Challenge yourself and try the challenge! You have one month to complete this challenge. Think of this as an expansion of the last challenge. By reading 3% a day for a month you can read that book you have been planning. There is no better way to finish that book you been meaning to read than to start reading it today! If you forget a day or have too much to do do not worry. Just spread out that day's reading into the next few days and you will stay on track.

Don’t have a book to read? Try last year's Pulitzer prize winner in fiction. 
A Visit from the Goon Squad

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Dramatic Irony

William Shakespeare
King Lear
First Published 1608


I would love to link a free version of King Lear from Amazon Kindle Store, unfortunately they do not have one! All the versions in English of King Lear are .99 cents and up. Fortunately, you can download from these sources:

• Magic Catalog. If you have this on your kindle you can just search the book and download directly. If not click the link for a guide on installing it.
• Project Gutenberg
• Feedbooks
• Manybooks.net
• The Internet Archives

Inkmesh is a great source for finding eBooks. Inkmesh is a search engine for eBooks. I used it to find free versions of King Lear. You can search specifically for free eBooks and it will search multiple databases including the kindle store and Project Gutenberg.


King Lear is a tragedy written by Bill Shakespeare. After spending the last six months studying fourteen of his plays, I feel like I am on a first name basis with Bill. I read all the plays on my Kindle. The play explores social and moral notions of justice and whether they are possible in a natural world. King Lear is retiring and is leaving everything to this three daughters. When the good one, Cordelia, decides not to play to his ego she is removed from the inheritance. The two older sisters divide the land and come to hate their father. The tragedy is that King Lear abandons his only loving daughter and the other daughters come to abandon him. The two daughters eventually fight over Edmund, a grand villain written by Shakespeare, and come to a bad end.

Tragedy n.
any dramatic or literary composition dealing with serious or sombre themes and ending with disaster.

Or as my Professor calls them, “plays where everyone dies at the end.” There are a few survivors in King Lear. With Shakespeare, the ending is not the important part, it is the journey he takes us through. We read Shakespeare for the human insight and depth of character’s psychological development. Freud loved reading Shakespeare because his characters were so complex and well developed.


Edmund is one of the vilest villains created by Shakespeare. He has a great soliloquy in Act 1 Scene 2 where he tells us how he feels about being called the bastard son and his brother the legitimate one. He tells us his plan to turn his father against his older brother Edgar with a letter and how he feels of everyone that is not made out of passion.

As to th’ legitimate. Fine word, “legitimate”!
Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed
And  my invention thrive, Edmund the base
Shall top th’ legitimate. I grow, I prosper.
Now, gods, stand up for bastards!

Shakespeare uses this soliloquy to build Dramatic Irony.

Dramatic Irony n.
irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.

We, the reader/audience, know the intentions of the character in the play. The other characters on the stage are unaware of what he is doing. Now when Edmund says something on stage there will be multiple meanings to it. We know what his plans are but his father thinks he is a great son for telling him what is going on. The audience can see what he is doing with the letter and and have mixed emotions about the character. We don't want him to succeed but we can’t do anything about it. He is telling us what he plans to do and we can see everything he does with a different understanding.


The Dramatic Irony in Shakespeare’s comedies is even more complex. When you have boys dressing as girls who are pretending to be boys, the meaning of their lines is quite complex. When a boy who’s really a girl played by a boy is being courted by a man starts talking about who we really are, on stage, talking about plays while acting, well you really don’t know how to take it besides to laugh.


King Lear is a great play about the tragic situation of a man who loses everything he once loved. Ian McKellen does a great job in the 2009 version of King Lear. Read the play then watch the movie. The characters in this play are very interesting. I now contradict myself! The last scene, where Lear walks in carrying a dead Cordelia, is gut wrenching. The scene gets it's emotional power because of everything that Lear has gone through. 


This is the second post in my Shakespeare series. Certain terms need to be explained in order to be able to understand the plays better. A soliloquy leads to dramatic irony in many plays. Understanding what certain scenes are helps in reading that scene. If you see a character come on stage alone you know he will give you information that only you will know for the rest of the play. You have to pay special attention to soliloquies to understand the multiple meanings of what they say later on.


Please share this post or any others on your social media of choice and bookmark the site for future post. You can also grab the rss feed or try a   free 2 week trial*  on your kindle to have the posts delivered directly to you. Follow me on twitter @seframos. Happy Reading.

Soliloquy

Literary terminology is important in understand works. I am working on presenting terms in relation to the works of literature discussed. Soliloquies are used extensively in plays. The most famous soliloquy would have to be Hamlet’s “To be or not to be.” A soliloquy is normally a person alone on stage talking about his real feelings or innermost thoughts.

Soliloquy  [suh-lil-uh-kwee] n.
1.an utterance or discourse by a person who is talking to himself or herself or is disregardful of or oblivious to any hearers present (often used as a device in drama to disclose a character's innermost thoughts).
2. the act of talking while or as if alone.

Shakespeare was a master of language and his soliloquies are studied and quoted extensively.

William Shakespeare
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
First Published 1608


Hamlet Nicely formatted. $0.99 


Hamlet Quarto 1608 Free


Hamlet Folio 1623 Free


A nicely formatted version is available from the Magic Catalog for free!

I have not read Hamlet yet, but I have read about it. The reason I am including it here is that I will be reading this play starting tonight! Anyone want to read along with me?


Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Hamlet:

The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. Set in the Kingdom of Denmark, the play dramatizes the revenge Prince Hamlet exacts on his uncle Claudius for murdering King Hamlet, Claudius's brother and Prince Hamlet's father, and then succeeding to the throne and taking as his wife Gertrude, the old king's widow and Prince Hamlet's mother. The play vividly portrays both true and feigned madness – from overwhelming grief to seething rage – and explores themes of treachery, revenge, incest, and moral corruption.

Sounds great to me! Wikipedia and Sparknotes are great resources for background and notes on text. This is especially useful when the language is a barrier to full understanding. Shakespeare had a ridiculous vocabulary and the language has also changed a bit in the last few hundred years. His texts are studied with annotations in universities that are done by Shakesperian Scholars. Attending a play or watching a film version will also help with understanding the work. YouTube also has theatre outfit’s recordings of the plays that you can listen to while you read along. I recommend doing all of these. Study up on the play by reading online. Read an act or two and look up the synopsis online to make sure you are following along and understanding it all. Finish the play then watch a  film version. This will give you much more interaction with a play and help with the understanding of themes and characters.

Shakespeare’s works are a challenge but ones that are well worth it.

Please share this post or any others on your social media of choice and bookmark the site for future post. You can also grab the rss feed or try a   free 2 week trial*  on your kindle to have the posts delivered directly to you. Follow me on twitter @seframos. Happy Reading.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
1793
Memoir and writings of one of our founding fathers.

This autobiography is one of the most influential in the genre. The structure and organization of the autobiography has been influential to others as well as how he wrote and what he wrote about. Benjamin Franklin was one of the most successful Americans in history, becoming very wealthy and owning many businesses. He was a self made man starting at an early age when he left home to make a life for himself. He was originally apprenticed to one of his older brothers and had a falling out. He ran away to another state and started many different businesses in order to make ends meet. The autobiography recounts his early years and his eventual success in businesses.

There are many parts to the autobiography including early years, letters to his son, relationships with his family and even his failings. Benjamin Franklin learned many valuable lessons while growing up and running businesses and compiles them here for all of us to benefit. He would work daily on improving himself and becoming a better man. He was almost obsessive in his search for perfection. He admits that he failed at some of the lessons he wrote down but says the importance is the process of improvement.
Here are the 13 virtues, as he calls them.

1. TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
2. SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
3. ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
4. RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
5. FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
6. INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
7. SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
8. JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
9. MODERATION. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
10. CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
11. TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
12. CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
13. HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

He would work on one of the virtues at a time until he mastered the virtue and them move on to the next. He organized them in a way that one virtue would help with the next one. He carried a little journal around and would write if he succeeded or failed at a virtue.
There are over 3,000 people who highlighted this passage in the Kindle version. These 13 virtues are always motivational to me. I have read this work 3 or 4 times and always refer to it when I need some motivation in my life. Reading this book always makes me more productive and creative with whatever I am doing. I was reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and came across similar ideas in that. (Available for free in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library if you have a Prime account) Why pay for that book when you can go to the source for free? Franklin lived his life as an example to others and wrote this autobiography to inspire other people to do great things. His most admitted failing was lack of humility. Over 200 years after his death he is still being read and discussed. I think he had a right to be not so humble!
Download a sample or the entire book for free! and pass it on. This is a great book to gift to people in your life. Not only is it an autobiography of a great man but a guide to improve your own life, no matter how successful you are.
Please share this post or any others on your social media of choice and bookmark the site for future post. You can also grab the rss feed or try a 2 week free trial on your kindle to have the post delivered directly to you. Happy Reading.

Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury - August 22, 1920 – June 5, 2012

Ray Bradbury was a prolific and influential American writer. He passed away on Tuesday at the age of 91. He was a great writer that produced many great books. He was a naturally talented writer, never going to school to study the craft. He moved to LA at a young age and started writing while working odd jobs. He would write 1 short story every week for decades. Best known for his novel ‘Fahrenheit 451’ he was a master storyteller.

I love his novel but I think his short stories are the best. He has a way of creating suspense and captivating the audience with his words. He even has an award named after him; The Ray Bradbury Award is presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for screenwriting. He published over 600 short stories in many genres including Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror.

The Stories of Ray Bradbury – $22.48 Hardcover. This is a great collection of his short stories and is over 1100 pages long. Not available on the Kindle! Link is for the same hardcover version that I own.

Fahrenheit 451- $9.99 His most famous and influential novel.  It was made into a movie in 1966. This book is taught at all levels of education in English classes and I know someone who read it for a Political Science class.

Kindle Page for Ray Bradbury books that are available on your Kindle.

He was outspoken against the internet and later eBooks. Only in the last few years did he make his work available in eBook format.

I have been thinking about his short stories ever since I heard of his passing and how much I love them. He was a great American writer and will be missed.

What is your favorite Ray Bradbury story?

May Roundup

Here’s a roundup of all the books and such discussed last month that are available for your Kindle. (Mostly)

The Magic Catalog
The Magic Catalog - Great for downloading things into your kindle.
Project Gutenberg - The site that all the public domain books are originally from. They have many more that are not available in the Kindle store

Myth and Epic
The Odyssey - Many translations of a great Epic
The Iliad - The prequel to the Odyssey. The one that started it all.
Ovid - The Metamorphoses tales.
Tales from Ovid - The Ted Hughes translations are great but not available on Kindle!
Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold by C.S. Lewis.
The Aeneid by Virgil

Literature Challenge
The Man Who was Thursday, A Nightmare

Of Human Bondage
Of Human Bondage - W. Somerset Maugham. My favorite.
The Talisman - Peter Straub and Stephen King. The first.

The Harvard Classics 
Download these to a computer and Unzip.
The Harvard Classics 1-19
The Harvard Classics 20-29
The Harvard Classics 30-51

Other sources mentioned
The Kindle Chronicles - Kindle Podcast
Calibre - eBook management software

New kindle
A guide for what to put on a new kindle


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Happy Reading.