Dorian, an Imitation is a British novel by Will Self. The book is a modern take on Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. The novel was originally published by Viking Press in 2002 and subsequently by Penguin in 2003. Self was originally asked to adapt the 1890 Wilde novel into a film screenplay, but this project did not come to fruition. Instead, Self took this uncompleted screenplay and re-worked it into a novel, which he described as "an imitation - and a homage" to the Wilde original.[1]
Self draws correlations between the life of his character Dorian and Diana, Princess of Wales, particularly over the time period from June 1981, the time of the Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, up to 1997, the year of Princess Diana's death.[2][3] The novel adheres closely to Wilde's original in its overall plot, with retaining the names of the key characters Dorian Gray, Henry Wootton, and Basil Hallward (with Hallward receiving the short nickname 'Baz').[4] Updates in Self's novel compared to the Wilde original include the following:
Basil Hallward's oil portrait of Dorian Gray (Wilde) becomes Basil Hallward's video installation 'Cathode Narcissus' (Self).
In Self's scenario, Dorian becomes an asymptomatic carrier of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and infects others with the disease, including a former girlfriend.[4] Dorian remains physically unchanged, whilst the 'Cathode Narcissus' video installation depicts the increasing corruption of Dorian and what should normally be the physical toll of AIDS on his person.
Sybil Vane, the aspiring actress in the Wilde novel, becomes the teenage Soho rentboy Herman in the Self novel. The prussic acid (Wilde) is transposed into heroin (Self).
Henry Wootton no longer has his aristocratic title in the Self novel.[1]
dorian, imitation, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, august, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Dorian an Imitation news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Dorian an Imitation is a British novel by Will Self The book is a modern take on Oscar Wilde s The Picture of Dorian Gray The novel was originally published by Viking Press in 2002 and subsequently by Penguin in 2003 Self was originally asked to adapt the 1890 Wilde novel into a film screenplay but this project did not come to fruition Instead Self took this uncompleted screenplay and re worked it into a novel which he described as an imitation and a homage to the Wilde original 1 Dorian an ImitationFirst editionAuthorWill SelfCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishPublisherViking PressPublication date26 September 2002Media typePrint Hardcover amp PaperbackPages278 ppISBN0 670 88996 2Self draws correlations between the life of his character Dorian and Diana Princess of Wales particularly over the time period from June 1981 the time of the Wedding of Charles Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer up to 1997 the year of Princess Diana s death 2 3 The novel adheres closely to Wilde s original in its overall plot with retaining the names of the key characters Dorian Gray Henry Wootton and Basil Hallward with Hallward receiving the short nickname Baz 4 Updates in Self s novel compared to the Wilde original include the following Basil Hallward s oil portrait of Dorian Gray Wilde becomes Basil Hallward s video installation Cathode Narcissus Self In Self s scenario Dorian becomes an asymptomatic carrier of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and infects others with the disease including a former girlfriend 4 Dorian remains physically unchanged whilst the Cathode Narcissus video installation depicts the increasing corruption of Dorian and what should normally be the physical toll of AIDS on his person Sybil Vane the aspiring actress in the Wilde novel becomes the teenage Soho rentboy Herman in the Self novel The prussic acid Wilde is transposed into heroin Self Henry Wootton no longer has his aristocratic title in the Self novel 1 See also editAdaptations of The Picture of Dorian GrayReferences edit a b Robert McCrum 29 September 2002 Self analysis The Observer Retrieved 24 May 2015 Neil Bartlett 21 September 2002 Picture of ill health The Guardian Retrieved 24 May 2015 Jonathan Heawood 29 September 2002 The sincerest form The Observer Retrieved 24 May 2015 a b Michiko Kakutani 28 January 2003 Delighting in Ruination With AIDS The New York Times Retrieved 24 May 2015 nbsp This article about a novel of the 2000s with a lesbian gay bisexual or transgender theme is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it See guidelines for writing about novels Further suggestions might be found on the article s talk page vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dorian an Imitation amp oldid 1083534509, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
