dorian gray

王尔德的作品一部都没看过（或看完整过），昨天抽出老早买的二手complete works of oscar wilde翻了几页，还是从他唯一的小说开始读吧。似乎小七的最爱就是dorian gray，很好奇啊。最感兴趣的是de profundis，原稿存于大英博物馆封印60年才公诸于世，只因为60年后书中的人物全已消失于人世，所以这本书算是死后遗言了，还死无对证。


actor ben barnes(who's that?), in the upcoming movie dorian gray co-starring colin firth

dorian gray 2009 behind the scene


i think the tone oscar sets in the preface is very authoratative to the extent of preaching, as if he's writing the bible of art, and at the very end pronounces it useless. what a campy queen lol. but hell, sure this's beautiful prose!

the picture of dorian gray, preface
道连·格雷的画像 | 序 （中文版按这里）

The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim.
艺术家是美的作品的创造者。艺术的宗旨是展示艺术本身， 同时把艺术家隐藏起来。

The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.
（缺）

The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.
自传体是批评的最高形式，也是最低形式。

Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.
在美的作品中发现丑恶含义的人是堕落的，而且堕落得一无可爱之处。这是一种罪过。

Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope. They are the elect to whom beautiful things mean only beauty.
在美的作品中发现美的含义的人是有教养的。这种人有希望。认为美的作品仅仅意味着美的人才是上帝的选民。

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.
书无所谓道德的或不道德的。书有写得好的或写得糟的。仅此而已。

The nineteenth century dislike of realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.
十九世纪对现实主义的憎恶，犹如从镜子里照见自己面孔的凯列班的狂怒。
（＊caliban, an ugly character from shakespeare's work)

The nineteenth century dislike of romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.
十九世纪对浪漫主义的憎恶，犹如从镜子里照不见自己面孔的凯列班的狂怒。

The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter of the artist, but the morality of art consists in the perfect use of an imperfect medium.
人的精神生活只是艺术家创作题材的一部分，艺术的道德则在于完美地运用并不完美的手段。

No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved. No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style. No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything.
艺术家并不企求证明任何事情。即使是天经地义的事情也是可以证明的。艺术家没有伦理上的好恶。艺术家如在伦理上有所臧否，那是不可原谅的矫揉造作。艺术家从来没有病态的。艺术家可以表现一切。

Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art. Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art. From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician. From the point of view of feeling, the actor's craft is the type. All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.
思想和语言是艺术家艺术创作的手段。邪恶与美德是艺术家艺术创作的素材。从形式着眼，音乐家的艺术是各种艺术的典型。从感觉着眼，演员的技艺是典型。一切艺术同时既有外观，又有象征。有人要钻到外观底下去，那由他自己负责。有人要解释象征意义，那由他自己负责。

It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital. When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself. We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
其实，艺术这面镜子反映的是照镜者，而不是生活。对一件艺术品的看法不一，说明这作品新颖、复杂、重要。批评家们尽可意见分歧，艺术家不会自相矛盾。一个人做了有用的东西可以原谅，只要他不自鸣得意。一个人做了无用的东西，只要他视若至宝，也可宽宥。

All art is quite useless.
一切艺术都是毫无用处的。