The Picture of Dorian Gray
My first taste of Oscar Wilde's. A mysterious story on the philosophy of vanity, bad influence and immorality, which smacks of the feel from Marquis De Sade's "Incest" (though an immorality of a different nature). The similarity lies in both villains' twisted logic in justifying their immoral world views - Lord Henry's in The Picture of Dorian Gray and Franvel's in Incest, that it was fulfilling to live up to one's vanity at the expense of other people as it was fine to sleep with one's daughter.
But the story's intrigue lies in its philosophical quest for the price of youthfulness - how much would one pay to keep one's best look for life? And when one comes face to face with the ugly truth, Davey Jones' words from "Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End" resonate hauntingly - the trick is to live with oneself!
I couldn't help but wonder who have been lucky in the aging game, so far, and seem able to keep the good look , if not all youthfulness. Pierce Brosna, George Clooney, Johnny Depp and Rob Lowe, in the order of age, are top on my short list.
As no one can keep a good look forever, the trick really is to be at peace and live well with oneself. No doubt someone with a Buddha mind, by definition, does it best. On the other hand, there were tragic stories of people - celebrities - turning victims of themselves, including the commitment of suicide, in the cruelly decrepit and degenerating process of aging.
But perhaps the hardest part in life is not so much about the fading of youthfulness and good look (for those who had it in the first place) as the suffering of terminal illness. The mysterious question to which the answer will never be known until the final moment is about how life will end. The best death is no doubt a painless pass-out in sleep, or even amidst any kind of leisure activities, though possibly posing inconvenience to people around, which by then would be a non-issue to the deceased anyway. But this Utopian ending could only be wished and not planned for. Chances are that a person will have to go through terminal illness in one way or another leading to the finale. When all sense and sensibility is lost, gracefulness also becomes a non-issue.
But the story's intrigue lies in its philosophical quest for the price of youthfulness - how much would one pay to keep one's best look for life? And when one comes face to face with the ugly truth, Davey Jones' words from "Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End" resonate hauntingly - the trick is to live with oneself!
I couldn't help but wonder who have been lucky in the aging game, so far, and seem able to keep the good look , if not all youthfulness. Pierce Brosna, George Clooney, Johnny Depp and Rob Lowe, in the order of age, are top on my short list.
As no one can keep a good look forever, the trick really is to be at peace and live well with oneself. No doubt someone with a Buddha mind, by definition, does it best. On the other hand, there were tragic stories of people - celebrities - turning victims of themselves, including the commitment of suicide, in the cruelly decrepit and degenerating process of aging.
But perhaps the hardest part in life is not so much about the fading of youthfulness and good look (for those who had it in the first place) as the suffering of terminal illness. The mysterious question to which the answer will never be known until the final moment is about how life will end. The best death is no doubt a painless pass-out in sleep, or even amidst any kind of leisure activities, though possibly posing inconvenience to people around, which by then would be a non-issue to the deceased anyway. But this Utopian ending could only be wished and not planned for. Chances are that a person will have to go through terminal illness in one way or another leading to the finale. When all sense and sensibility is lost, gracefulness also becomes a non-issue.
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