A Canticle for Leibowitz vs The Dispossessed: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Hugo Award Winner, Science Fiction, Fiction
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Highly unusual After the Holocaust novel. In the far future, 20th century texts are preserved in a monastery, as "sacred books". The monks preserve for centuries what little science there is, and have saved the…
vs
The Dispossessed
Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the…
The verdict
- Readers rate The Dispossessed highest: The Dispossessed 4.3 · A Canticle for Leibowitz 4.0.
- A Canticle for Leibowitz has the widest readership — 123534 ratings behind its score.
- A Canticle for Leibowitz runs the darker storyline; The Dispossessed stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| A Canticle for Leibowitz | The Dispossessed | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (123534) | 4.3 (15473) |
| Hardcover | 5.0 (1) | 4.2 (881) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (21) | — |
Reception
| A Canticle for Leibowitz | The Dispossessed | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 123534 | 15473 |
| Editions | 72 | 75 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 123280 | 242459 |
| Reading it now | 3880 | — |
| Written reviews | 8199 | 15473 |
| Wikipedia attention | 22572 | 22377 |
| Pages | 320 | 352 |