A Time to Kill vs War and Peace: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Fiction
A Time to Kill
“Billy Ray Cobb was the younger and smaller of the two rednecks.”
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A Time to Kill is a 1989 legal thriller and debut novel by American author John Grisham. The novel was rejected by many publishers before Wynwood Press eventually gave it a 5,000-copy printing. When Doubleday published…
War and Peace
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War and Peace delineates in graphic detail events surrounding the French invasion of Russia, and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society, as seen through the eyes of five Russian aristocratic families. The…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- A Time to Kill is the quickest read — about 13 hours vs 18 for War and Peace.
- A Time to Kill has the widest readership — 833392 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| A Time to Kill | War and Peace | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.1 (833392) | 4.2 (376487) |
| Hardcover | 5.0 (1) | 4.1 (477) |
| Google Books | — | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (1667) | 4.0 (518) |
Reception
| A Time to Kill | War and Peace | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 833392 | 376487 |
| Editions | 79 | 644 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 240240 | 689 |
| Reading it now | 11180 | 3118 |
| Written reviews | 8286 | 54 |
| Wikipedia attention | 8768 | 52837 |
| Pages | 718 | 976 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: A Time to Kill or War and Peace?
War and Peace has the higher combined reader rating across sources (War and Peace 4.2/5, A Time to Kill 4.1/5).
Which is shorter to read: A Time to Kill or War and Peace?
A Time to Kill is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: A Time to Kill (718 pages, ≈ 13 h 18 m); War and Peace (976 pages, ≈ 18 h 04 m).
Which is harder to read: A Time to Kill or War and Peace?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — A Time to Kill: Moderate; War and Peace: Demanding.
Have both books been made into films?
A Time to Kill: 3 film adaptations; War and Peace: 5 film adaptations.