1984 vs The Great Gatsby: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Fiction

1984 George Orwell · 2003 ★★★★☆ 4.3 80 pages · ≈ 1 h 29 m · Moderate

“It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

Winston Smith lives in a society where the government controls people every second of the day. He fights this world with love. But it's dangerous: love for another person can be punished by death - and Big Brother is…

Banned book

High interest-low vocabulary books Lectures et morceaux choisis Textbooks for foreign speakers Totalitarianism

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The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald · 1920 ★★★★☆ 3.9 431 pages · ≈ 7 h 59 m · Moderate

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.”

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…

1 film adaptation

Mistresses American Manuscripts Traffic accidents First loves

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Side by side

The verdict

Readers rate 1984 highest: 1984 4.3 · The Great Gatsby 3.9.
1984 is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 7 for The Great Gatsby.
The Great Gatsby has the widest readership — 6120259 ratings behind its score.
1984 runs the darker storyline; The Great Gatsby stays the lighter read.

1984: Check price →The Great Gatsby: Check price →

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How to choose

Want a one-evening read? 1984 ≈ 1h vs 7h for The Great Gatsby Want the crowd-tested pick? The Great Gatsby 6120259 ratings vs 10188 for 1984 Just want the better-reviewed one? 1984 4.3 vs 3.9 from readers In the mood for something dark? 1984 a darker storyline than The Great Gatsby Want something lighter? The Great Gatsby an easier tone than 1984

Scores by source

	1984	The Great Gatsby
Goodreads	4.3 (10188)	3.9 (6120259)
Hardcover	4.3 (8088)	4.5 (2)
Google Books	—	5.0 (1)
Apple Books	4.5 (404)	4.5 (806)
LiveLib	—	4.0 (5)
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Reception

	1984	The Great Gatsby
Ratings	10188	6120259
Editions	4	1179
Citations	—	24
Film adaptations	1	1
Want to read	2857	2127185
Reading it now	216	85180
Written reviews	70	138625
Wikipedia attention	8649	94574
Pages	80	431
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Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: 1984 or The Great Gatsby?

1984 has the higher combined reader rating across sources (1984 4.3/5, The Great Gatsby 3.9/5).

Which is shorter to read: 1984 or The Great Gatsby?

1984 is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: 1984 (80 pages, ≈ 1 h 29 m); The Great Gatsby (431 pages, ≈ 7 h 59 m).

Which is harder to read: 1984 or The Great Gatsby?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — 1984: Moderate; The Great Gatsby: Moderate.

Have both books been made into films?

1984: no film adaptation on record; The Great Gatsby: 5 film adaptations.