His eye fell on the yellow book that Lord Henry had sent him. What was it, he wondered. He went towards the little, pearl-coloured octagonal stand that had always looked to him like the work of some strange Egyptian bees that wrought in silver, and taking up the volume, flung himself into an arm-chair and began to turn over the leaves. After a few minutes he became absorbed.
– Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chapter 10. Dorian takes up the unnamed novel that Lord Henry gave him to read. The book’s title is never given but it is generally thought to be Joris-Karl Huysman’s nineteenth-century novel À Rebours (translated as "Against Nature" or "Against the Grain"). Dorian becomes completely absorbed in the book and it will have a huge influence on him for years to come.