Let me just say, I could never ever pick just one book or author as my favorite. I believe all have their own merits, whether I like them or not personally. Also I have so many favorites it would literally be impossible to choose just one.

However, I've no idea why but the writing of Oscar Wilde has always captivated me. This book is one of the first classics that I ever read, and has hooked me for life. Its a sort of tragic story about a boy who is beautiful in every way, but gets caught up in it. He is pained by this artist and the picture (almost like magic) allows Dorian to live forever essentially. It takes all his sins, which are what would be aging him, and leaves him as youthful as the day it was painted. The picture ages with each of his sins. He murders, steals, drinks, sleeps around, etc. It eventually catches up with him, he is driven insane and cuts the picture up, but that ends up killing him because all his sins were returned to him and he ages instantly and dies. Its a book about souls and their corruption.

As horrible as I make this sound, please do not judge the book by what I say. I do not love it because of what is written, but how it is written. Oscar Wilde brilliantly paints pictures with his words in this book. The imagery he creates in your mind is so real, it is captivating. Even just the first sentence is rich:
   
     "The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn."

The words he uses are almost too descriptive. He goes over the top and gives every little detail in a romantic light. However he retains a solid air of mystery. They spend the first three pages simply describing the picture and the artist. You don't hear of the books namesake until page 12, and even then he is not a major character yet. The book evolves into his incredible life slowly. The plot may move slower than most books, but because of the dense description you are never bored. Oscar Wold also uses an advanced vocabulary, which I appreciate as a challenge. Most people despise reading older English because they say it is hard. I like it because it challenges you to think about every sentence. You have to analyze every word, even if its just a superfluous and extra description or an essential piece of dialogue. The first three pages of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Grey gets right into all this in a captivating way. This is why it is one of my favorite books. This is a book with soul written into it.


On a separate note, I LOVE the preface that Oscar Wilde added. It explains his book beautifully. And art and writing in general, and what they mean.
And everyone should go read it: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/174/174-h/174-h.htm#chap00

Thanks!

"Hope" by Emily Dickinson, is an exceptional metaphor relating a bird to the feeling of hope. My favorite lines have to be "...And sings the tune--without the words...I've heard it in the chilliest land..." I love this because its like she is saying that the wordless whistle from a bird is her hope, and even in the dead of winter when everything seems dead, depressing and hopeless, she still hears that song of hope. Its saying hope isn't a seasonal thing. Its their all the time, you just have to hear it.

"River of Dreams" by Billy Joel is very deep. Its a metaphor for a religious crisis. His personal struggle with his faith is related to a river. "...From the mountains of faith, To the river so deep...Through a valley of fear...Through the jungle of doubt, To the river so deep..." Billy Joel explores his fall from a Heavan or, a higher place down to a valley (of fear) where their is a river he cannot cross. It is how he is soul searching. The river is the doubt in his mind, that he cant seem to get around, or cross over to get back to his mountain of faith on the other side. The river is repeatedly "so deep" perhaps showing how he views his doubt as perhaps dangerous or impossible to get over.

"I am The Ocean" by Anastasia Sopchak

I am everywhere,
I am the middle of nowhere.
The silent moon pulls on me,
around and around and around.
I would follow it to the ends of this earth.
But when I reach, it evades, so I give up.
I am a pond, I am The Ocean.

I will never feel,
but for the fisherman's reel,
searching for a fish.
But fish are scarce,
so maybe I should just give up.
But I just cant.
Because I am The Ocean.

The slow, salty wind blows,
over my liquid terrain,
Pushing boats through my H2O.
They come and go,
pushed away by swift internal currents, too.
I love them dearly,
but... I am The Ocean.

Friends are rare, they come and go,
with the flow.
From my deepest depth,
to my most shallow shore,
I will ponder this enigma that is friend ship.
The Ocean will never die, it existed before their was life,
so I will love forever, because I am The Ocean.

An Ocean is solitary,
An Ocean is forever.