The Picture of Dorian Gray

When the artist Basil Hallward paints the portrait of a beautiful young man named Dorian Gray, and the languid Lord Henry Wotton murmurs his philosophy of pleasure into the sitter's ear, Dorian makes a reckless wish: that the picture might age in his place. It does. While Dorian stays flawless through years of deepening corruption, the canvas locked in his attic keeps the ledger, every cruelty, every scandal, every sin recorded in paint on a face only he ever sees.

Wilde's only novel is Gothic horror conducted entirely in epigrams: page for page it may be the most quotable book in English, with Lord Henry tossing off paradoxes that have been detached and repeated for over a century. That makes it glorious to hear performed, the wit lands as spoken wit, the way Wilde built it. Beneath the glitter is a genuinely unnerving moral fable about the cost of a life without consequences, driving toward one of the most satisfying endings in the Gothic canon.

At roughly 77,600 words, The Picture of Dorian Gray runs about 8½ hours at 1x narration speed. That figure is an estimate based on a typical narration pace. The exact length depends on the voice and the playback speed you choose.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is in the public domain, so the complete text is free on Project Gutenberg and LoudReader has the entire Project Gutenberg catalog built in. To listen:

1. Download LoudReader for Mac or iPhone (free, no account).
2. Search for “The Picture of Dorian Gray” in the built-in catalog and add it to your library.
3. Press play. A natural offline voice reads the book while each word highlights on screen, and your place is saved between sessions.

LoudReader reads with natural offline voices, so the whole book works on a plane or underground. It is fully on-device and private, your library never leaves your device. Listening is unlimited on the free tier.