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The Picture of Dorian Gray
- Narrated by: Russell Tovey
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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Publisher's Summary
Exclusively from Audible
The Picture of Dorian Gray was first published in 1890 in the July edition of the Lippincott Magazine. Now, this special anniversary edition marks 50 years since the 1967 Sexual Offences Act was passed in England. 25p from every copy downloaded over the next 12 months will be donated to Stonewall, Britain’s leading LGBT charity, to help the organisation further its work in securing full equality for lesbian, gay, bi and trans people everywhere.
A damning portrayal of Victorian society, Wilde used his narrative to chastise his contemporaries for their superfluous and hypocritical values. Having also interspersed homoerotic scenes within the story, The Picture of Dorian Gray was unsurprisingly condemned for its 'indecency', forcing Wilde to publish a second, censored edition in 1891. Wilde defended his vision to the last, whilst simultaneously challenging assumptions about his private life and sexuality. He credited his inspiration for the text to the classic Faustian suggestion that given the chance, a man would undoubtedly sell his soul in exchange for eternal youth.
When the protagonist, Dorian Gray, meets with the audacious Lord Henry Wotton, he is encouraged to indulge in his most vain and hedonistic of ambitions, thereby testing the boundaries of the law and living a life of unpunished anarchy. As handsome as he is charming, Dorian beguiles those around him, in particular, the artist Basil Hallward. Hopelessly enamoured by the young socialite, Basil sets out to capture his likeness in a full-length portrait. It is the finished product which ultimately engenders Dorian the ultimate weapon; control over the passing of time.
Modern audiences now recognise The Picture of Dorian Gray as an enticing gothic masterpiece and highly astute cautionary tale. Experience the unique and fractured world created by Oscar Wilde in this new audiobook adaptation, made in collaboration with Stonewall and narrated by award-winning actor, Russell Tovey.
Narrator Biography
Russell Tovey is a TV, film and stage actor, known for The History Boys, Grabbers, Angels in America, The Night Manager, Pride, Quantico and The Pass. He has narrated many audiobooks throughout his career including, Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, Anna Sewell's Black Beauty and Mark Michalowski's Being Human.
In collaboration with Stonewall, who are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK, Tovey brings us this new adaption of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. Having starred in The Old Vic's production of Queers and The National Theatre's Angels in America, Russell is a keen advocate of LGBT rights and, bringing years of stage training experience, the perfect narrator for this epic tale of masculine beauty.
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What listeners love about The Picture of Dorian Gray
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Harmonyca101
- 2019-06-08
Very enjoyable 👍
Loved it, the narrator was excellent in acting out all the characters. very philosophical and I found myself rewinding quite often, just to pause and think.
very enjoyable..
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Christina
- 2021-10-17
Wow. Great book.
I have hit the age where i feel i need to read some of the classics.
So i started to read this book but i am a slow reader.
So i thought id try the audio version.
It was wonderful, the narrator really made me feel like i was hearing it the way it was meant to be read.
What a great story!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Joe
- 2019-12-28
Russell Tovey vocal mesmerizer
I've had the pleasure to listen to one of the best suited voice actors do an amazing performance of Dorian Gray. I was enthralled with toveys ups and downs, his t's and his q's. Every character had a unique voice which I had to listen to very closely to tell it was still trovey.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2019-10-28
The masterpiece from nowhere
It is unusual to see such a beauty story for nowadays. However, the times are not changed. Passions are still in place of our hearts.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Hanna Kounov
- 2023-07-16
Classic
The incredible narration wrote the story to life. Hearing the well-known tale, so well told made it splendid
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- A
- 2023-06-30
Incredible narration!
Great story. Obviously a classic. But the delivery really brings it to life. Glad I found this version to hear this tale for the first time.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mona_Lisa
- 2023-06-24
Drama and deceit in richly woven prose.
I thoroughly enjoyed this masterfully written novel - told in the Victorian era and yet the characters feel so vivid and relevant now. When I read it in high school many decades ago, I missed the subtext and innuendo. Reading it now brought so much more depth and humanity to the richly woven prose. It is an eternal story that reveals the complex souls within. Sensational. ! Beautiful narration too. And worth reading again …and again!!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- The Bear Essentials
- 2023-06-16
Absolute genius. Incredible narration too.
This is my favourite book of all time.
Wilde’s wit and epigrams are mind blowing.
The narration is one of the best I’ve ever heard too, and I have listened to over 100 audiobooks thus far.
Simply amazing.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kim
- 2023-04-06
Excellent narration of a Classic
The performance was as great as it can get for an audiobook I should think.
This classic is still as thought provoking and intriguing as ever. To think a book can remain relevant for so long speaks volumes of its subject matter and to the talents of author.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Carolyne Rowland
- 2023-03-07
Breathtaking !!
This book has been on my TBR for a long time, but I hadn’t yet acquired a copy. I thought I’d listen here first to see if I liked it enough to justify the purchase. I am pleased to say that this novel has now made it to my list of favorites. I cannot wait to read it again to uncover even more of its subtleties.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Shantastic
- 2019-10-02
A twisted tale of vanity and poisonous people
I read Dorian Gray many years ago but appreciated it more this time. It is a twisted story of rude and pompous intelligentsia and the way vanity can take over a life and destroy the lives around it. Wilde is able to create a character (not Dorian) that is so disgustingly venomous, pompous, and influential that you grow to hate every word...and I love it. This book is very dialogue heavy and you need to pay attention to the conversations closely if you want to get the most out of the book. I found myself rewinding several times to make sure I caught every beautifully written word.
But, that is also the one weakness of the book. The dialogue can be so long winded that it can lull you into a kind of trance where you are understanding the words but wish the conversation would come to a close. There is kind of, "That's enough, already," feeling at times.
Regarding the performance, I don't think Tovey could have done a better job. The way he takes on the role of Dorian, Halward, and Lord Henry...differentiating them perfectly...is engulfing. His performance is so good that I found myself creating thick physical descriptions of the characters based on his voice acting. He is great.
This is not a long book...although long-winded in places. If you like Wilde or classics of this era in general, this is great listen.
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44 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- shubhangi s. pai
- 2017-11-17
Russell Tovey is a delight to listen to.
If ever a classic could be read by Russell Tovey I would listen intently. His voice makes the words come off the page and the story cone to life. Oscar Wilde never sounded so good.
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32 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2018-09-19
Wonderfully Narrated
Russell Tobey narrated beautifully. I will definitely find another narration of his to listen to next!
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19 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Rocky Sunico
- 2018-12-14
Great Performance
What I Liked: This book has some amazing lines that are so artfully put together that they could be prose. I initially considered quoting some choice lines but there were just too many to remember all at once. Naturally a lot of these lines aligned with the different philosophies the various characters claimed to be their driving motivations or their key principles in life. And as all sides are so beautifully represented, it's really up to the reader to decide where to go with all this.
The performance by Russell Tovey was more delightful that I expected as he did a great job of trying to give distinct manners of speech to each of the characters. One of the more distinct voices naturally had to belong to Lord Henry and his involvement in any scene proved to be something to look forward to. I didn't realize he was this creative with voices such that I never had a problem distinguishing the characters from one another.
What Could Have Been Better: As much as most of us remember Dorian Gray for his immortality, its presentation in this book was actually a lot more subtle than I had expected. There was the exclamation about wanting to live forever but it almost felt like a joke or something silly you'd say between friends. It wasn't until much later when Dorian was telling Basil his story that things really hit home.
Dorian is actually a somewhat boring character once he goes on his journey of indulgent sensualism, We don't necessarily go into detail in terms of what he does but more how people react to his lifestyle at different points of his life. So we just have a lot of people mentioning how bad he has become but we don't necessarily know this apart from maybe the direct antagonist represented by James Vane much later in the story. But even then it's not quite a condemnation of his actions but more an act of revenge for one person who was more of an incidental victim of his new outlook on life.
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mark
- 2019-05-23
Great Narration
There were many narrators to choose from for this classic story. I sampled all the versions. This narrator read in a tempo just a bit slower than the others. His expressive and languid style provided a great listening experience.
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12 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- PilatesGirl
- 2019-04-15
Classic Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde performed his usual verbal gymnastics to great effect in this oldie but goodie creep fest of a story about a world that long ago ceased to exist. His clever use of language is, of course, the highlight of the book and makes the macabre ending all the more interesting.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Dakota Dugger
- 2020-10-10
Lord Henry is the WORST
great story... though Dorian got less likeable by the chapter thanks to Lord Henry. Glad I finally read it.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Glenn Newell
- 2019-12-08
Dorian Gray
The narration was wonderful. Each charctwr had their own personality.
This has been a favorite story of mine ever since I was a teenager. I was concerned the story and personality of Dorian Gray wouldn't translate well in narrative, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Anyone who loves this classic will enjoy listening to it!
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Erika-Louise Moat
- 2019-11-02
required heading
This may be my favorite book of all time. The examination of one's self leaves you constantly pondering your own life afterwords.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ben H.
- 2020-10-04
Wonderful reflection on youth and "sin"
Such a wonderful story depicting the human value of consequence. What a life lived apart from them would ultimately be. And what foolish desires our youth and vanity can propel us to.
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3 people found this helpful