Which Picture of Dorian Gray recording should you buy?
Audible UK has far more editions of Dorian Gray than this table holds. Among those we read: complete readings running 7 hrs 22 mins to 9 hrs 56 mins, abridgements by well-known names, an edition of a different text, one that calls itself adapted, and a simplified version for learners.
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Short answer
Russell Tovey: complete and solo. Edward Petherbridge, Ben Barnes (the Penguin Classics edition), Simon Vance, Greg Wise and the other complete readings in the table run 7 hrs 22 mins to 9 hrs 56 mins; choose on voice. The famous names are the ones to check. Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen and Rupert Graves all read abridgements. Edoardo Ballerini reads The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray, edited by Nicholas Frankel, which is a different text from the standard novel; choose it if that is what you want. Patrick Shannon's edition is subtitled "Adapted for Modern Readers" while its listing says unabridged. And Iman's is part of a series called "Bring the Classics to Life", short and marked abridged.
The recordings, compared
| Narrator | Length | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Russell Tovey Our pick | 8 hrs 35 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Edward Petherbridge | 8 hrs 5 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Ben Barnes | 8 hrs 25 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo, the Penguin Classics edition. |
| Gerry O'Brien | 8 hrs 22 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. Listed as "Full Version, Annotated". |
| Michael Page | 7 hrs 57 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. Listed as the AmazonClassics Edition. |
| James Midwood | 7 hrs 35 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Simon Vance | 7 hrs 44 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Tony Walker | 8 hrs 8 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Greg Wise | 9 hrs 15 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Sam Theis | 7 hrs 22 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| David Brown | 9 hrs 56 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Edoardo Ballerini | 7 hrs 10 mins | Unabridged, different text | Not the standard novel: "The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray", edited by Nicholas Frankel, a different text. Marked unabridged. |
| Stephen Fry | 5 hrs 16 mins | Abridged | ABRIDGED, at 71% of the shortest complete reading here. |
| Michael Sheen | 3 hrs 18 mins | Abridged | Abridged. |
| Rupert Graves | 2 hrs 54 mins | Abridged | Abridged. |
| Patrick Shannon | 5 hrs 24 mins | Unabridged, but described as adapted | By its own subtitle, "Adapted for Modern Readers", this is not Wilde's text as written, although the listing says unabridged. |
| Iman | 1 hr | Simplified adaptation | Part of a series called "Bring the Classics to Life", and marked abridged. Its description says it has been "carefully abridged and adapted into 10 short, easy-to-understand chapters". A short retelling, not the book cut down. |