The Great Gatsby vs The Picture of Dorian Gray: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Classics, Drama, Fiction
The Great Gatsby
“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.”
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Here is a novel, glamorous, ironical, compassionate – a marvelous fusion into unity of the curious incongruities of the life of the period – which reveals a hero like no other – one who could live at no other time and…
The Picture of Dorian Gray
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The Picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. The…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate The Picture of Dorian Gray highest: The Picture of Dorian Gray 4.1 · The Great Gatsby 3.9.
- The Picture of Dorian Gray is the quickest read — about 5 hours vs 7 for The Great Gatsby.
- The Great Gatsby has the widest readership — 6120259 ratings behind its score.
- The Great Gatsby runs the darker storyline; The Picture of Dorian Gray stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| The Great Gatsby | The Picture of Dorian Gray | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (6120259) | 4.1 (1989262) |
| Hardcover | 4.5 (2) | 4.0 (2705) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | 4.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (806) | 4.5 (3399) |
| LiveLib | 4.0 (5) | — |
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Reception
| The Great Gatsby | The Picture of Dorian Gray | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 6120259 | 1989262 |
| Editions | 1179 | 3012 |
| Citations | 24 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 2127185 | 1774335 |
| Reading it now | 85180 | 128865 |
| Written reviews | 138625 | 107713 |
| Wikipedia attention | 94574 | 66661 |
| Pages | 431 | 312 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Great Gatsby or The Picture of Dorian Gray?
The Picture of Dorian Gray has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Picture of Dorian Gray 4.1/5, The Great Gatsby 3.9/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Great Gatsby or The Picture of Dorian Gray?
The Picture of Dorian Gray is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Picture of Dorian Gray (312 pages, ≈ 5 h 47 m); The Great Gatsby (431 pages, ≈ 7 h 59 m).
Which is harder to read: The Great Gatsby or The Picture of Dorian Gray?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Great Gatsby: Moderate; The Picture of Dorian Gray: Demanding.
Have both books been made into films?
The Great Gatsby: 5 film adaptations; The Picture of Dorian Gray: 5 film adaptations.