Billy Budd vs Heart of Darkness: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Sailors, Sea Stories, Fiction
Billy Budd
“In the time before steamships, or then more frequently than now, a stroller along the docks of any considerable seaport would occasionally have his attention arrested by a group of bronzed mariners, man-of-war's men or merchant sailors in holiday attire, ashore on liberty.”
More
TRIALS OF THE HANDSOME SAILOR Aboard the warship Bellipotent, the young orphan Billy Budd was called the Handsome Sailor. Billy was tall, athletic, noble looking; he was friendly, innocent, helpful and ever-cheerful. He…
Heart of Darkness
More
Heart of Darkness (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad, about a voyage up the Congo River into the Congo Free State, in the heart of Africa, by the story's narrator Charles Marlow. Marlow tells…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Heart of Darkness highest: Heart of Darkness 3.4 · Billy Budd 3.2.
- Heart of Darkness has the widest readership — 573782 ratings behind its score.
- Heart of Darkness reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 52 times.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Billy Budd | Heart of Darkness | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.2 (20170) | 3.4 (573782) |
| Hardcover | 3.2 (42) | 2.0 (1) |
| Google Books | 1.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (25) | 4.0 (2209) |
Reception
| Billy Budd | Heart of Darkness | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 20170 | 573782 |
| Editions | 90 | 553 |
| Citations | 10 | 52 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 12067 | 340601 |
| Reading it now | 706 | 22862 |
| Written reviews | 1640 | 26235 |
| Wikipedia attention | 10221 | 52853 |
| Pages | 208 | 130 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Billy Budd or Heart of Darkness?
Heart of Darkness has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Heart of Darkness 3.4/5, Billy Budd 3.2/5).
Which is shorter to read: Billy Budd or Heart of Darkness?
Heart of Darkness is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Heart of Darkness (130 pages, ≈ 2 h 24 m); Billy Budd (208 pages, ≈ 3 h 51 m).
Which is harder to read: Billy Budd or Heart of Darkness?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Billy Budd: Challenging; Heart of Darkness: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
Billy Budd: 4 film adaptations; Heart of Darkness: 5 film adaptations.