Bel-Ami vs Notre Dame de Paris: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: French fiction, French literature, Continental european fiction, History, Fiction
Bel-Ami
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.I Quand la caissiere lui eut rendu la monnaie de sa piece de cent sous, Georges Duroy sortit du restaurant. Comme il portait beau, par nature et par pose d'ancien sous-officier, il cambra sa taille, frisa sa moustache…
Notre Dame de Paris
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In fifteenth-century Paris, a disfigured man named Quasimodo, who was abandoned as an infant in the cathedral of Notre-Dame and now lives in its bell tower, must come to the aid of a beautiful gypsy girl named Esmeralda…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Notre Dame de Paris has the widest readership — 224399 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Bel-Ami | Notre Dame de Paris | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (51381) | 4.0 (224399) |
| Hardcover | 3.0 (1) | — |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (5) | — |
Reception
| Bel-Ami | Notre Dame de Paris | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 51381 | 224399 |
| Editions | 138 | 265 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 42238 | 272359 |
| Reading it now | 2143 | — |
| Written reviews | 2924 | 10083 |
| Wikipedia attention | 2974 | 53026 |
| Pages | 417 | 409 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Bel-Ami or Notre Dame de Paris?
Notre Dame de Paris has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Notre Dame de Paris 4.0/5, Bel-Ami 3.9/5).
Which is shorter to read: Bel-Ami or Notre Dame de Paris?
Notre Dame de Paris is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Notre Dame de Paris (409 pages, ≈ 7 h 34 m); Bel-Ami (417 pages, ≈ 7 h 43 m).
Which is harder to read: Bel-Ami or Notre Dame de Paris?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Bel-Ami: Demanding; Notre Dame de Paris: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
Bel-Ami: 5 film adaptations; Notre Dame de Paris: no film adaptation on record.