The Picture of Dorian Gray

Written by Oscar Wilde and Jill Nevile

Narrated by Multiple Narrators

'When we are happy, we are always good,' says Lord Henry, 'but when we are good, we are not always happy.' Lord Henry's lazy, clever words lead the young Dorian Gray into a world where it is better to be beautiful than to be good; a world where anything can be forgiven - even murder - if it can make people laugh at a dinner party.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Release date: Nov 8, 2007
• ISBN: 9780194215671

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was a Dublin-born poet and playwright who studied at the Portora Royal School, before attending Trinity College and Magdalen College, Oxford. The son of two writers, Wilde grew up in an intellectual environment. As a young man, his poetry appeared in various periodicals including Dublin University Magazine. In 1881, he published his first book Poems, an expansive collection of his earlier works. His only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, was released in 1890 followed by the acclaimed plays Lady Windermere’s Fan (1893) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).

Reviews for The Picture of Dorian Gray

[durgaprsd04-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great work of literature. Truly remarkable an idea.I liked this book

[nu5bibliophile · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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!

[dancingwaves · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a fascinating book. No wonder it's a classic!

[grlintrrptdrdng · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Overall I enjoyed The Picture of Dorian Gray, it's witty, funny at times and captures the obsession over youth well. At times though the wit became too much and would cause me to lose focus because it was going on for 3 of 4 pages about one not even really related to the story subject. Chapter 11, where it tells what Dorian is up to for the rest of his 20s and early 30, wtf was that? Complete mess. I just started to skim after a few pages of that chapter. I really did like the plot though, from the picture changing and Dorian justifying everything then eventually not caring because he still looked fresh. I really wanted the sailor to kill him though.

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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!

[ca8bookwyrm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[thathikermeg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[ukforever · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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."

[dbsovereign · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Don't look at yourself too closely in the mirror or you might spot some wrinkles starting to crack through. Wilde's foray into horror is stupendous!

[chewdigest · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it and it was so different from the movie! It had such a strong message that was lost when made into film.

[catellington · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"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.

[curlupandread · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was really surprised by this book. It was better than I thought it would be I really enjoyed it.

[angelag86 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[fatmashahin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[dmyates-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Although I'm not a fan of Oscar Wilde, I decided to make it through this book. Wilde has a way with words and descriptions of anything like no other author. He slowly built Dorian Gray into what he wanted the reader to see. It made me wonder whether Dorian was like this all along or was it the fault of his friend Henry. I trudged through pages of what I felt was too much detail, but in the end the book was worth reading.

[andrea1303 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[armyangel1986 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[carpe_librum · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As a lover of literature, it's hard not to notice the many great quotes from Oscar Wilde. Here's a few to refresh your memory:?Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.? ?The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.? ?You can never be overdressed or overeducated.?Despite my admiration of his intellect, I've never actually read any of Oscar Wilde's work, and thought it best to remedy that this year. So it was that I picked up the beautifully designed Penguin edition of The Picture Of Dorian Gray, the only novel ever written by Oscar Wilde.I'll admit I was a little apprehensive in the beginning, (what if Wilde is too high-brow for me?) but that was soon put to rest as early as Page 3 when Lord Henry says:"But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face. The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid. Look at the successful men in any of the learned professions. How perfectly hideous they are!"I knew then I was safe in expert hands, and continued willingly discovering this once offensive text. We all know the premise (so I won't waste time recounting it) but what I was surprised to learn was that the sins Dorian Gray gets up to are never really expanded upon. His cruel treatment of lovers is there for all to see, but his sexual exploits are only ever alluded to, never described in full. What a pity.There are countless homoerotic scenes - particularly between Lord Henry and Dorian Gray - but there is never any evidence to suggest they were ever together or even whether they loved each other. Lord Henry clearly loves Dorian for his youth and beauty, and in my opinion Dorian admires Lord Henry's ideals and freedoms, but that's as much as we ever really know for sure about them.I was looking forward to reading a gothic horror story of sorts, taking me through the slow degradation of Dorian's soul - reflected in the portrait - however The Picture of Dorian Gray often read like an essay; the character of Lord Henry a mouthpiece for Wilde's own thoughts on society, religion, youth and beauty.In summary, I enjoyed the writing immensely, the plot less so and I'm left to wonder what Oscar Wilde would write about if he had the freedom to write for us today. He was shocking in his time, would he shock us still now? I think he would.

[technodiabla · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I can see why this book became/is a classic, but I can't say I really enjoyed reading it. The premise is interesting but completely predictable-- though perhaps just because it has become part of the fabric of our literary culture. I found the relationships between the men to be, uh, well, gay. I know the period and culture were very different but I can't image men speaking to each other like Basil spoke to and about Dorian. I guess my biggest complaint is that there are several long tedious passages, with one extraneous analogy or example after another (the same is true of his Children's stories). It's a great allegory and would probably be more interesting to study than to read for pleasure.

[maxernst11 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Prachtige sfeerschepping, sterk thrillerachtig, vol spitse oneliners en cynische filosofietjes.

[ffortuna_6 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

There's a lot going on here for such a slender book, but I should expect nothing less from Oscar Wilde. It reads a little clunky at the beginning, it's just wit-wit-wit and since it's almost all coming from one character in large paragraphs, it doesn't move as smoothly as one of Wilde's plays. Those sections set the tone for the rest of the book, though. Without them, you wouldn't understand Lord Henry, and without that knowledge the book would be very hard to parse indeed. Although it's a character study of Dorian Gray, or a character drama or something like that, Lord Henry is the inciting incident, the fulcrum of the action, and the most complex character. People are constantly insisting "Oh, you don't believe that awful thing you just said," and he doesn't, but that makes him all the worse. Dorian tells him late in the book, "You would sacrifice anybody, Harry, for the sake of an epigram," and that's the horrible truth of him. I wish we'd had some insight into his opinion of his artwork, aka Dorian Gray's twisted nature, after it was finished, but I suppose we don't really need it, and that might have explained things away too much.Dorian is interesting too, though. The gradual development of his character is really masterful, done partly in implications and partly with stated facts. His self-delusion -- acting as if he's the one who's been wronged when a girl commits suicide because of him, and only deepening in the climax -- is perfectly believable. This is a book that would stand repeated readings and analysis to tease out the different threads and their implications, and I won't try to do that here. I must say, though, I'm quite blown away by how the "picture of Dorian Gray" idea seems like such an archetype now, when it's only famous because of this book. I mean to say, the idea of a man staying young while his picture grows old seems like such a mythical, omnipresent idea, like the idea of a vampire or a werewolf, but it wasn't before this. Having now read the book, I'd say the impact is well-deserved, and reading the book is valuable because of how many themes it involves that other books may not be willing to address. A lot of books shy away from depicting realistic selfishness, but this one doesn't.

[nospi-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[catym_14 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[albinorhino_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[thereadingmermaid · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[loriephillips · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[jamesmscott-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Audacious book for its era. The melodramatic delivery starts to ruffle.

[joe73-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great story about some despicable and jaded people.