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    The Picture of Dorian Gray
    The Picture of Dorian Gray
    The Picture of Dorian Gray
    Audiobook (abridged)57 minutes

    The Picture of Dorian Gray

    Written by Oscar Wilde

    Narrated by Ian Hunter

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Full-cast dramatiztion of Wilde's only published novel featuring Ian Hunter, David Enders and Lewis Stringer
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSaland Publishing
    Release dateJan 5, 2009
    ISBN9781906394110
    Author

    Oscar Wilde

    Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on the 16th October 1854 and died on the 30th November 1900. He was an Irish playwright, poet, and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. Several of his plays continue to be widely performed, especially The Importance of Being Earnest.

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    Reviews for The Picture of Dorian Gray

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    • 5/5
      Are you sitting comfortably? Got a cup of tea? Not going to need to let the cat out any time soon? Then we'll begin.Dorian Gray mourns that he will lose his youth while his portrait remains unchanged and wishes for the portrait to age instead of him, little suspecting that his wish will come true and that the portrait will display the ravages of his depravity and hedonism.This is a story of horrible people doing horrible things and becoming even more horrible. By rights, that ought to make it a horrible story. It isn't. It's magnificent.Normally, I have to sympathise with at least some of the characters to feel that I have got something out of a book - but the characters on parade here were universally irritating or loathsome. I'm not particularly keen on Oscar Wilde's writings generally. I don't like the self-conscious witticisms that are trying to be aphoristic but merely sound pretentious. I didn’t have much patience for the comments on art and I don't much admire Wilde's style. And yet, other than a couple of places where I faltered, I found the book compelling. The way in which the book commented on wrongdoing, hedonism and conscience - and the way in which it prompted me to think about those things - was mind-blowing.Wilde doesn't describe the details of Dorian Gray's lifestyle. He alludes to it - we see hints of relationships ended badly and abuse of opiates - but we never see details. And I think this makes it more powerful. The actual acts don’t matter so much as the fact that they stem from selfishness, and the damage they do the person who commits them. The reader can never feel superior for not having lived as Dorian lived, or argue over whether a particular action or choice is actually wrong at all, but instead is provoked into considering the root causes of Dorian Gray's situation and asking, 'am I - how am I - trying to hide the damage I am doing to my own soul by my own bad choices?'The picture itself is a fascinating plot device. It strikes me as being as much a metaphor for conscience as for sin. The things which Dorian Gray does affect the picture in the same way they affect his soul. He becomes twisted and callous, and the portrait shows that. To begin with, he isn’t indifferent to the effect of his behaviour on others. Not at first. He feels some guilt over Sibyl Vane, although later his concerns over what he does to Basil are entirely selfish. He becomes gradually more and more calloused - less and less attuned to the feelings of others, less and less able to feel the damage he is doing.He understands that the picture represents his soul, his state of sin, and he knows that each selfish action will cause more damage. In that way, the picture is a kind of external conscience, telling him incontrovertibly that he has done wrong. And yet despite that, he does not change. He hides the picture away and refuses to allow the world to see what his soul is like, and broods over it until the obsession leads him to the final act of self-destruction.Our consciences can never be physically seen, by us or by anyone else. Yet we still hide away things that we have done which we know or believe to be wrong. For most of us they are little things, but they are things we don’t want others to know about. Human beings have an astonishing capacity to disregard the damage they are doing to themselves and others - physically, emotionally, spiritually - and instead to seek short-term pleasure. Dorian Gray's hedonism and refusal to consider the consequences of what he does is an extreme example - people generally have the capacity for great love and kindness and well as acts of selfishness - but it seems to me that it's designed to be (and ought to be) a prompt for the reader to consider what a picture reflecting their own soul would look like.Exactly how we as readers unpack this is going to depend to some extent on our worldview: whether we believe people are fundamentally good, evil or good-but-flawed, and the extent to which we believe we make our own destiny or are affected by outside influences. For me, it was impacted very strongly by the Bible verse, 'If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.' (1 John 1:8). None of us is perfect, all of us do things wrong from time to time. Dorian Gray refused to face his own flaws, hiding the evidence of them away. He refused to face the consequences of his actions, or to use those experiences and their consequences to become a better person. He brooded on the picture and the state of his own soul, and was concerned only with them and not with the people he had hurt. He looked at the visible manifestation of his own conscience and refused to accept or act on what it was showing him. When we're faced with the consequences of our own misjudgements, selfish actions, poor lifestyle choices - sins - we can ignore the evidence and mire ourselves deeper as Dorian Gray does, or choose to act on the warning and turn things around.
    • 4/5
      Loved it. Consistently interesting, though a few of the speeches dragged on as did a few of Wilde's "detailing paragraphs." Though I may not have agreed with everything that was said, overall it was very good, and Wilde is a beautiful writer.
    • 4/5
      Young, handsome and innocent Dorian Gray has his portrait painted, and as he becomes more and more corrupted, in part because of the bad influence of his friend Lord Harry, the portrait takes on the aspect of his corruption while Dorian himself retains his youth and beauty. This is a classic Victorian horror tale that I mostly enjoyed even though I felt at times that the moral lesson it contains was a bit obvious. It also left me wondering what was in Dorian's back ground that made him so easily corruptible, and what made Lord Harry so cynical and jaded. With more character development I think this could have been a great book, instead of being merely good.
    • 3/5
      Despite a hasty bargain with his soul which left him perpetually youthful-looking, Dorian Gray was unable to avoid one heck of a midlife crisis.

      I didn't like this book as much as I expected I would, but I did enjoy it. The description is lush, and there's some fabulous dialogue---to be expected from Wilde---some of which is almost entirely gratuitous (like the conversations between Lord Henry and the Duchess near the end), but it's so great, I didn't even mind.

      There is a lot about the separation of the soul from the body and if it's even possible to have such a separation. At times, it sounds like a perversion of Buddhist philosophy, like when Dorian says to Basil, "To become the spectator of one's own life, as Harry says, is to escape the suffering of life." It got me thinking about what exactly the difference is between mindfully allowing emotions and physical sensations to go by and completely separating oneself from them, as Dorian does. Of course, the separation in Dorian's case causes him to abandon his non-physical self to corruption and degradation, which isn't really in line with Buddhist philosophy at all.

      Dorian muses, "Beneath its purple pall, the face painted on the canvas could grow bestial, sodden, and unclean. What did it matter? No one could see it." What does it matter that our souls become corrupt so long as they remain hidden? But of course, it does matter, both in the book and in real life. There's such a focus in the book on beautiful-looking things necessarily being beautiful in nature (or that it doesn't matter whether someone/something is good or evil so long as it looks good). I think that Oscar Wilde is criticizing the focus on physical beauty and material excess of his own age; with our culture's worship of youth and rampant consumerism, this criticism easily applies to our own age as well.

      There were a couple of encouraging bits, though, like when Lord Henry says, "The only artists I have ever known who are personally delightful are bad artists," which was encouraging to me as someone who, though possessed of many good qualities, has never been described as "delightful." It made me feel hopeful for my writing, if the converse is true. Of course, coming from Lord Henry, perhaps I shouldn't accept that as encouragement. He says a lot of things that appear wise but really shouldn't be taken seriously.

      But I absolutely love what Wilde writes in the Preface about art and criticism:

      "The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.

      The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.

      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."

      Next book I read needs to be a lot more positive, though. I think Dorian's incorrigible poverty of spirit may have been responsible for the very hopeless mood I was in all of Tuesday.
    • 4/5
      A good story about the morals of man, and the effect it has on us. Conversation after conversation of seemingly brilliant characters about the morals that we all fight with every day, and the way life would be if we could forget about living with morals. A unique look into the mind of a man going crazy from guilt and secrets. As the introduction by Camille Cauti states, Oscar Wilde is very quotable so there is always something interesting to read.
    • 5/5
      The most exquisitely written book that I have ever read. I can not fault it. Wilde writes with such grace and eloquence. At times he writes so vividly one feels as if they are right beside Dorian Gray at one of his many soirees, as he is listening to the malicious whispers of Lord Henry, plunging the knife into Basil's throat and finally facing the true horror of his soul in the form of a portrait.The Picture of Dorian Gray is a hauntingly reminiscent tale of the human conscience. Wilde does not hold back upon the darkness that inhabits the human mind, of what we are truly capable of without our soul. It is one of those books that absolutely must be read. It has given me a greater understanding of life and it is a story I will always remember.
    • 5/5
      "I have nothing to declare but my genius."
      ? Oscar Wilde

      And indeed, he was genius! I actually read Wilde's masterpiece, The Picture of Dorian Gray, as a child in the early 1980s, but then again, for a second time, in 2012. And even after all those years, it still gave me the creeps. For it is a story most petrifying.

      The Picture of Dorian Gray was way ahead of its time?still reverberating volumes today. It is a cult classic in literature, and I reckon that it will continue to remain so for generations to come.
    • 3/5
      While I don't think it will ever be my favourite book (more than halfway through for it to become even remotely entrancing?), the latte half is intriguing, with some interesting bits.
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars

      "The artist is the creator of beautiful things."

      WELL, THIS WAS INTERESTING.

      This book has a lot going for it. For one, it has some beautifully written passages. Pretty much every other line in this novel can stand on its own as a thought-provoking, philosophical quote. The Picture of Dorian Gray really is great fodder for essays, and discussions, and any form of communication requiring words really.

      As for this novel's characters, I will say that they were not the most likable, and I think that's kind of the point. At first I was like oh, Lord Henry seems to have some cool stuff to say but then I was like nah he's just a pretentious snob. The stuff he preaches is nothing if not controversial though. Basil was a semi-normal, tame human being, which was nice given the nature of the other characters (i.e. crazy/depraved/not very nice). Dorian was... interesting? HE IS MESSED UP. I honestly don't know how he got off the rails so quickly. Regardless, I enjoyed how his storyline ended up unfolding, especially the ending (!!!). Seriously, he thought he could do all the horrendous things he did and then atone for them by "being nice." That is not how it works my friend. Also, I cannot leave out Sybil because her storyline was ridiculous. I don't know if it was hilarious or grating. Probably both. I could not have rolled my eyes enough times.

      My only qualm with this book is that I wish it had more plot with better pacing. Apart from a couple of "big" incidents, (the reveal of what the painting could do, Sybil dying, Basil getting STABBED and burned) there wasn't much plot-wise that I could really sink my teeth into. Because the plot was so slowgoing at times, the pacing felt a bit inconsistent. Some parts left me totally engrossed, while others just left me wondering why any of the stuff I was reading mattered.

      I kind of wish I had studied this in class because there's heaps and heaps to talk about when it comes to Dorian Gray.

      Conclusion: The Picture of Dorian Gray is the kind of novel that begs to be analyzed, urging you to look more closely at what it's trying to say. It's engaging, it's accessible, and it's definitely worth your while. Also, its prose is just a wonder to behold.

      PS: The comments on women in this book were not very nice.
      Exhibit A: "My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly."
      It took everything I had to keep it together. If this weren't a classic I probably would've lost it.
    • 4/5
      Read in kindle/Audible through Whispersync/immersion reading.

      Fabulous one-liners interspersed in dialogue throughout the book.


      "Like all people who try to exhaust a subject, he exhausted his listeners. "
      "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing."
      "To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable"

      Simon Prebbles narrated/performed the book superbly. 5 star performance.
    • 4/5
      Not as good as I expected. Some of the dialogue is stilted, with characters giving long, impassioned speaches to each other in order for us to understand their thoughts and opinions. When the dialogue is short and snappy it's wonderful to read, but when it consists of one of the characters throwing their world view at us, it becomes a little depressing. The chapter supposalby detaining Dorian growing old but which actually deals with anything but that is also depressing. Though when the book is good, it is very good. Dorian's reaction to the death of a woman he rejected early in the book, his slow descent and it's inevitable conclusion were lovely. Seeing him sin and watching as he dealt with his sin, corrupting others and throwing of the blame, was very nice. Still, could have done with fewer speches and more action.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this book and it's crazy plot. I also felt like it was a warning not to live too much about the physical things in life. I think for a lot of people image, clothing, and physical appearance sometimes becomes a part of their identity in a way that's not healthy and not productive. This book definitely has a moral tone as well that while I understood, did not always appreciate. I'm sure that if Wilde had been alive today he would have been able to write about homosexuality in a more visible way. Though, we might not have his wonderful work in the way we do now.

      I also really liked the language, of course, Wilde is a master and I appreciated the insanity of the entire situation. Dorian Gray reminded me the reason we read classic literature.

      The new film from a couple of years ago was also good though, I think, it's better in novel form than film form.
    • 4/5
      Very interesting book, especially for the time period it was written in. The writing style seems very different from the other books I've read from the time period. And the premise of the story based on debauchery with no lawful repercussions probably upset quite a few people. I liked the story. My father was actually named after Dorian Grey, so I've been meaning to read this book for a while to see what inspired my grandmother to use the name. Not that my father partakes in debauchery, of course. :) Actually I don't know why my father was given the name. Anyways, this is a classic I am not just glad to check off the list and have in my reading repertoire. I ended up enjoying the book and purposefully sat and cross-stitched instead of my other plans just so I could finish the book on audio.
    • 5/5
      What’s it about?Basil Hallward, a painter, is fascinated by his latest model Dorian Gray. He paints a portray of the young and beautiful man who falls instantly in love with it. Like Narciss he gets obsessed by his appearance: Dorian wishes for the picture to bear all the changes his own body should go through while ageing. His wish is granted.Dorian Gray lives a Dandy’s life with the constant goal to make his life itself a piece of art. His face and body stay untouched by his excessive behaviour, but his portray reflects every single change of his soul. And his debauched and extravagant life-style ruins other people’s lives…How was it?This is a wonderful spooky-psychological novel(la) with a lot of fun bonmots. Dorian Gray’s development is fascinating: I liked the psychological insights and the variety in which you can read the characters’ relationships. The language is a pleasure to read and I enjoyed the reflections about art. THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY is one of the small treasures that unveil new details every time you read it!
    • 5/5
      It is a story that will question one's morality and beliefs. The character's cynical views on things were overwhelming and wordy at times. The author cautiously remind us how we can be influenced and persuaded to be immoral by those we consider friends and yet sometimes those who are honest and good to us are the ones we push away because we are blinded with sin. This story reminds me why it's important we read classics. I can imagine long discussions or an essay being assigned for this story in a college brit lit class. Indisputably, everyone must read this book at least once.
    • 3/5
      Prachtige sfeerschepping, sterk thrillerachtig, vol spitse oneliners en cynische filosofietjes.
    • 3/5
      3* for meI know it's a classicJust not one of my favoritesShelfari says it best"This dandy, who remains forever unchanged—petulant, hedonistic, vain, and amoral—while a painting of him ages and grows increasingly hideous with the years"
    • 4/5
      I was kind of underwhelmed by this one. Some interesting ideas were brought up, but the story itself wasn't as riveting as I thought it would be.
    • 5/5
      Dorian Gray sold his soul for eternal youth and beauty while his painting of him ages and grows increasingly hideous with the years. This was a fascinating read. A timeless masterpiece, the book shows the struggle and torment of good and evil. I loved the character of Lord Henry Wotton. I would have to say that Oscar Wilde was a genius! I will definitely have to read this one again!
    • 4/5
      A great work of literature. Truly remarkable an idea.I liked this book
    • 3/5
      Audacious book for its era. The melodramatic delivery starts to ruffle.
    • 4/5
      I've meant to read this one since I had to analyse the last few pages for the final module of my English Lit A Level. For some reason, I'd never read it entirely before. It wasn't really spoilt by the fact that I already knew the ending intimately, although nothing was exactly a surprise to me, since I'd already thoroughly researched it. It's an interesting idea, and the ending is just perfect. Parts of it were a little boring, given that parts centered around philosophising, and parts centered around long descriptions. It is easy to read, and the descriptions are actually very lovely, but... there's just a bit more of it than I'd like. The actual plot is quite simple, though, really, so I suppose there'd be almost nothing to it without this!
    • 4/5
      I’d be very surprised if anyone reading this blog doesn’t have at least a passing idea what the story is about. (Just in case, though: essentially a young man ends up looking young for all his days, which a portrait painted of him ages in his place.) It’s a story I can’t remember ever not knowing the premise of, though it took me 30-mumble years to actually get around to reading it. For all I thought I knew what the story was about and all, I’m glad I (finally) took the time to read it. There’s more subtlety than I expected, though I should have known better since I have read other works by Wilde. And the ending, though completely plausible within the context, was not quite what I expected. (Again, knowing the era and the author, I should have known better and predicted the ending.)Even though there were sections I had to slog through, it was more often interesting than not, and is undeniably a classic. The sections which bored me were also often sections I found interesting – just not the way they were written. In one part, Wilde describes phases Dorian goes through, and talks about stories that he was interested in. Well, I don’t really care if Dorian was interested by King So-and-so’s corruption, or Queen Such-and-such’s lovers. It’s written as a list, with lots of very long sentences (as was common in the era it was written). I would prefer it to be a grouping of short descriptions of what happened to King So-and-so, or how Duke What’s-his-name died. On the other hand, many books from that era were shorter than the novels now tend to be, so the brevity of some sections makes sense.
    • 3/5
      A fantastic plot buried under too many words (mostly coming from the mouth of Lord Henry). It would have made a gripping and terrifying novella or short story. To alter an accusation from Dorian and turn it back on Wilde, "You would sacrifice any reader, Oscar, for the sake of an epigram."
    • 3/5
      Oscar Wilde takes us back to a time in England where high society was the grain of life, women were nothing but idol play things and men mostly lusted after each other rather than the embrace of a woman. As much as people like to see Dorian Gray as the villain in this novel, I very much feel he is rather the victim. I feel that if it wasn't for his acquaintance turned friend Lord Henry, that this may have very well been a happy tale. It was Lord Henry's influence that turned a painter's admiration into lust, women into meaningless objects and the leader in Gray's downfall. Although some of the story was interesting/entertaining, there was a great portion of it that was not. Wilde's writing is very drull to say the least. However this is coming from an American point of view. I'm sure someone from Brittain who enjoys all the high society chit chat would have found the tale much more captivating. All-in-all I would say this is an okay read given the classic that it is but I wouldn't recommend it unless I knew someone extremely into the classics or British history.
    • 5/5
      Great story about some despicable and jaded people.
    • 4/5
      Surprisingly good read of a classic that I had known little about. The only thing I knew about the story came from the terrible move "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" where Dorian Gray is one of the characters. I had higher hopes for the book and I was happy by the time I finished.

      The language used by Wilde in telling this story is beautiful. I enjoyed his writing style and his ability to create characters that expound on life and its virtues and flaws. To see the personal character of Gray go from purely good to evil is a fascinating experience. To read about the influence of both good and evil characters on his development is also fun.

      Like many classics, I found that the story itself moved along at a very slow pace. It was more about the conversations and thoughts of the characters than moving the plot along. However, I enjoyed the read and recommend it to all fans of literature.
    • 5/5
      Big fan, reread this for a project. Wish Wilde’s publisher hadn’t rushed the added chapters to this version, however.Later edit: Boy, I really didn't feel like writing much when I put that one up. Ok, this is a 4.5 star rating. I adore Wilde's prose, no matter how much my peers might criticize his aesthetic style. I know it's hypocritical to the "message" of the story (subject of the paper mentioned earlier) but I don't really care, it's indulgent and lovely and beautiful. I don't have the skills required to describe it as nicely as he could. Ah, what a guy.
    • 4/5
      I was kind of underwhelmed by this one. Some interesting ideas were brought up, but the story itself wasn't as riveting as I thought it would be.
    • 5/5
      No one but Prebble could interpret so well the languid tones and phlegm of Lord Henry. In the narrator's voice I could visualise the character's affected smile and slow gestures. Dorian also, from a youthful voice at first, becomes more detached, sophisticated, and Lord Henry-like in tones as the book develops. I cannot think of a more appropriate narrator. This is a priceless interpretation of the The Picture of Dorian Gray.