Candida vs The Alchemist, 1612: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: British and irish drama, English drama, Drama
Candida
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The Reverend James Mavor Morell, a respectable socialist clergyman, spends his days giving lectures and sermons while his wife, Candida, sees to his comfortable London home. That home is disrupted by the arrival of the…
The Alchemist, 1612
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Samuel Taylor Coleridge said of Ben Jonson's _The Alchemist_ that it had one out of the three most perfect plots in literature. This play, with its sharp portrayal of human folly, is considered by many to be Jonson's…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Candida highest: Candida 3.7 · The Alchemist, 1612 3.5.
- Candida is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 4 for The Alchemist, 1612.
- Candida has the widest readership — 3318 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Candida | The Alchemist, 1612 | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.7 (3318) | — |
| Hardcover | 2.7 (3) | — |
| Apple Books | — | 3.0 (81) |
Reception
| Candida | The Alchemist, 1612 | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 3318 | 81 |
| Editions | 152 | 200 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 2710 | — |
| Reading it now | 75 | — |
| Written reviews | 173 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 1843 | — |
| Pages | 42 | 254 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Candida or The Alchemist, 1612?
Candida has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Candida 3.7/5, The Alchemist, 1612 3.5/5).
Which is shorter to read: Candida or The Alchemist, 1612?
Candida is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Candida (42 pages, ≈ 47 min); The Alchemist, 1612 (254 pages, ≈ 4 h 42 m).
Which is harder to read: Candida or The Alchemist, 1612?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Candida: Challenging; The Alchemist, 1612: Demanding.