Dorian Gray!
Friends of mine who are seeing this or something like it for the second or third time, NO I WILL NOT SHUT UP ABOUT IT. I WILL NEVER SHUT UP ABOUT IT.
So here's the scoop. My good friend and psuedo-boyfriend informed me of a quasi-nearby Border's that was going out of business. Naturally, like any good nerd, I jump at the chance at discount books, and we go. I purchase a drop dead gorgeous copy of one of my much loved books, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and two other books, and we leave. I'm not going into any details, but the whole trip took like, two and a half hours, and I was sore and tired by the time I got back. I was happy about all the books I bought, but most excited about Dorian Gray, because while I love it to death, I hadn't read it since sophomore year of High School. So I decided to put it in my multi-purpose not-a-purse bag and read it when I have gaps between classes.
Fast forward to this morning. Me, sitting in the campus coffee shop, grinning like a complete idiot because this book is everything I remember and more! The preface alone gave me so much satisfaction to read, it was incredible. I only got through the first chapter, because I only had about thirty minutes of reading time, but suddenly, I remembered the monumental way in which this book had changed me. And now, I share some of those way with you.
First off, I'm going to tell you guys how impressionable I am. Hint: It's really freaking impressionable. Like, here's an example. Close to the beginning of my first semester here at GSU, I was introduced to Nicole, a good friend of my roommates. She's pretty awesome, but that's not the point. She told me and dear Katty-kins about K-pop, Korean pop music, which is basically just R&B with flawless Korean men. It didn't take me long to become obsessed with it. I have stayed obsessed with it from then on, which is about....five months now, with no sign of stopping. and ever since then, I have become attracted to Asian guys. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say I'm impressionable. Watching a couple of episodes of Doctor Who in a row will cause me to start speaking in my terrible British accent. Too much Disney turns me into some sort of happy machine, spouting love and rainbows every time I open my mouth. Stuff like that. Dorian Gray, though, had some long term effects on me. On to those!
I'm vain. This is not a disputable fact. I'm as vain as movie star or model, and really, I have no real reason to be. I'm not anything that special. There are a lot of pretty girls out there, a whole lot far prettier than I am. But it never fails, every time I pass a mirror, I have to admire myself. Not fix my hair, or adjust my clothes, straight up Admire how awesome my face looks, and how much my hair style compliments blah blah whatever. It goes so far that I think my hand writing is the prettiest way to write words, ever. and I blame all of this vanity solely on Dorian Gray. Well, actually, it's Lord Henry's fault. He's the hedonist who basically corrupts Dorian, spoils him into thinking that his only worth lies in his beauty. And guess who also learned that lesson? Little 15 or 16 year old me. Subconsciously, I listened to every poisoned little word that Lord Henry said. And the remnants of that are still with me today.
Another thing is how self-centered I am. This leads to a lot of my derpy moments, I'm not maliciously self-centered or anything like that. I honestly have trouble, sometimes, realizing that the entire world is NOT there for me and me alone. Every time I leave my room, I expect to see at least one of my friends leaving at the same time. I have to put forth actual effort to remember that yes, other people can have differing opinions. Writing all this makes me sound like some sort of idiot, but all it really is, is that I have trouble taking the focus off of myself. I mean, look at what this entire post is. "I LOVE THIS BOOK, LET'S LOOK AT HOW IT IMPACTED ME". Huge meta-analysis for no particular reason, other than I really want to.
This is the one of the worse one, so please know that i am ashamed of this, and am working to fix it. I judge people based on appearances. Not so much strangers, but acquaintances. Usually, people who are trying to get closer to me. I like people better if I think they are attractive. This doesn't apply to girls so much as guys, because Oh my God, if I don't think a guy is cute, I will drop him if he does the tiniest thing that I don't like. It happens all the time, and it's those instances that I really do feel like a terrible person.
I'll stop now. But those are only a few examples of what i mean when I say that this book has really influenced me.
tl;dr: I really like Dorian Gray, and because I'm incredibly impressionable, I'm blaming some bad aspects of my personality on it.
So here's the scoop. My good friend and psuedo-boyfriend informed me of a quasi-nearby Border's that was going out of business. Naturally, like any good nerd, I jump at the chance at discount books, and we go. I purchase a drop dead gorgeous copy of one of my much loved books, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and two other books, and we leave. I'm not going into any details, but the whole trip took like, two and a half hours, and I was sore and tired by the time I got back. I was happy about all the books I bought, but most excited about Dorian Gray, because while I love it to death, I hadn't read it since sophomore year of High School. So I decided to put it in my multi-purpose not-a-purse bag and read it when I have gaps between classes.
Fast forward to this morning. Me, sitting in the campus coffee shop, grinning like a complete idiot because this book is everything I remember and more! The preface alone gave me so much satisfaction to read, it was incredible. I only got through the first chapter, because I only had about thirty minutes of reading time, but suddenly, I remembered the monumental way in which this book had changed me. And now, I share some of those way with you.
First off, I'm going to tell you guys how impressionable I am. Hint: It's really freaking impressionable. Like, here's an example. Close to the beginning of my first semester here at GSU, I was introduced to Nicole, a good friend of my roommates. She's pretty awesome, but that's not the point. She told me and dear Katty-kins about K-pop, Korean pop music, which is basically just R&B with flawless Korean men. It didn't take me long to become obsessed with it. I have stayed obsessed with it from then on, which is about....five months now, with no sign of stopping. and ever since then, I have become attracted to Asian guys. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say I'm impressionable. Watching a couple of episodes of Doctor Who in a row will cause me to start speaking in my terrible British accent. Too much Disney turns me into some sort of happy machine, spouting love and rainbows every time I open my mouth. Stuff like that. Dorian Gray, though, had some long term effects on me. On to those!
I'm vain. This is not a disputable fact. I'm as vain as movie star or model, and really, I have no real reason to be. I'm not anything that special. There are a lot of pretty girls out there, a whole lot far prettier than I am. But it never fails, every time I pass a mirror, I have to admire myself. Not fix my hair, or adjust my clothes, straight up Admire how awesome my face looks, and how much my hair style compliments blah blah whatever. It goes so far that I think my hand writing is the prettiest way to write words, ever. and I blame all of this vanity solely on Dorian Gray. Well, actually, it's Lord Henry's fault. He's the hedonist who basically corrupts Dorian, spoils him into thinking that his only worth lies in his beauty. And guess who also learned that lesson? Little 15 or 16 year old me. Subconsciously, I listened to every poisoned little word that Lord Henry said. And the remnants of that are still with me today.
Another thing is how self-centered I am. This leads to a lot of my derpy moments, I'm not maliciously self-centered or anything like that. I honestly have trouble, sometimes, realizing that the entire world is NOT there for me and me alone. Every time I leave my room, I expect to see at least one of my friends leaving at the same time. I have to put forth actual effort to remember that yes, other people can have differing opinions. Writing all this makes me sound like some sort of idiot, but all it really is, is that I have trouble taking the focus off of myself. I mean, look at what this entire post is. "I LOVE THIS BOOK, LET'S LOOK AT HOW IT IMPACTED ME". Huge meta-analysis for no particular reason, other than I really want to.
This is the one of the worse one, so please know that i am ashamed of this, and am working to fix it. I judge people based on appearances. Not so much strangers, but acquaintances. Usually, people who are trying to get closer to me. I like people better if I think they are attractive. This doesn't apply to girls so much as guys, because Oh my God, if I don't think a guy is cute, I will drop him if he does the tiniest thing that I don't like. It happens all the time, and it's those instances that I really do feel like a terrible person.
I'll stop now. But those are only a few examples of what i mean when I say that this book has really influenced me.
tl;dr: I really like Dorian Gray, and because I'm incredibly impressionable, I'm blaming some bad aspects of my personality on it.