A Good Book About Appearance vs. Reality

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel by the Irish poet and author Oscar Wilde written in the last decade of the 19th century.

I don't want to say too much about it, since it's very easy to spoil, but Appearance vs. Reality plays a huge role in the story. It's very slow at first, since the main twist of the story isn't even acknowledged until the first third of the book, but it gets really good towards the end. The book isn't that long, either. I think it's only about 200 pages long. I read pretty much the whole thing while on a plane.

The Wikipedia page has a decent description of the book, saying, "The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Talking in Basil's garden, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Espousing a new hedonism, Lord Henry suggests the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfillment of the senses. Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian cries out, expressing his desire to sell his soul to ensure the portrait Basil has painted would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, plunging him into debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging."

Don't read much more of the Wikipedia page if you're interested in the book, since the plot summary contains huge spoilers, but I recommend it to anyone interested in the topic. And, having read it, talking about masks constantly remind me of Dorian.

You can also get a little idea of what might be contained in the novel by looking at Mr. Wilde's scandalous Wikipedia page. Link to Oscar Wilde's Wikipedia page.

Enjoy.