A fine dark line vs Old Man and the Sea: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Older men, Male friendship, Friendship, Fiction
A fine dark line
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It is the summer of 1958 in Dewmont, Texas, a town the great American postwar boom passed by. The kids listen idly to rockabilly on the radio and waste their weekends at the Dairy Queen. And an undetected menace simmers…
Old Man and the Sea
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Set in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Havana, Hemingway's magnificent fable is the tale of an old man, a young boy and a giant fish. This story of heroic endeavour won Hemingway the Nobel Prize for Literature. It…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate A fine dark line highest: A fine dark line 4.1 · Old Man and the Sea 3.8.
- Old Man and the Sea is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 5 for A fine dark line.
- Old Man and the Sea has the widest readership — 1369037 ratings behind its score.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| A fine dark line | Old Man and the Sea | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.1 (4741) | 3.8 (1369037) |
| Hardcover | 3.9 (7) | 3.7 (1997) |
| Google Books | — | 5.0 (2) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.5 (1179) |
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Reception
| A fine dark line | Old Man and the Sea | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 4741 | 1369037 |
| Editions | 5 | 307 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 749046 |
| Reading it now | — | 25712 |
| Written reviews | — | 55398 |
| Wikipedia attention | 96 | 40709 |
| Pages | 307 | 87 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: A fine dark line or Old Man and the Sea?
A fine dark line has the higher combined reader rating across sources (A fine dark line 4.1/5, Old Man and the Sea 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: A fine dark line or Old Man and the Sea?
Old Man and the Sea is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Old Man and the Sea (87 pages, ≈ 1 h 37 m); A fine dark line (307 pages, ≈ 5 h 41 m).
Which is harder to read: A fine dark line or Old Man and the Sea?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — A fine dark line: Moderate; Old Man and the Sea: Moderate.
Have both books been made into films?
A fine dark line: no film adaptation on record; Old Man and the Sea: 4 film adaptations.