Atonement vs The Remains of the Day: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Historical Fiction, History, Fiction
Atonement
“The play, for which Briony had designed the posters, programmes and tickets, constructed the sales booth out of a folding screen tipped on its side, and lined the collection box in red crepe paper, was written by her in a two-day tempest of composition, causing her to miss a breakfast and a lunch.”
Atonement is a 2001 British metafiction novel written by Ian McEwan. Set in three time periods, 1935 England, Second World War England and France, and present-day England, it covers an upper-class girl's half-innocent…
1 film adaptation
vs
The Remains of the Day
In the summer of 1956, Stevens, the ageing butler of Darlington Hall, embarks on a leisurely holiday that will take him deep into the countryside and into his past . . .A contemporary classic, The Remains of the Day is…
1 film adaptation
The verdict
- Readers rate The Remains of the Day highest: The Remains of the Day 4.3 · Atonement 4.0.
- The Remains of the Day is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 8 for Atonement.
- Atonement has the widest readership — 577024 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Atonement | The Remains of the Day | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (577024) | — |
| Hardcover | 3.9 (501) | 4.2 (777) |
| Google Books | 4.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (404) | 4.5 (814) |
Reception
| Atonement | The Remains of the Day | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 577024 | 814 |
| Editions | 76 | 87 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 477717 | — |
| Reading it now | 15222 | — |
| Written reviews | 28738 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 18694 | 29835 |
| Pages | 435 | 257 |