Cathedral vs The Four Million: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: American Short stories, Manners and customs, Short Stories, Fiction
Cathedral
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Twelve stories deal with loneliness, loss, the tragic banality of everyday life, and redemption.
The Four Million
“TOBIN and me, the two of us, went down to Coney one day, for there was four dollars between us, and Tobin had need of distractions.”
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The Four Million is the second published collection of short stories by O. Henry originally released in 1906. There are twenty five stories of various lengths including several of his best known works such as "The Gift…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Four Million has the widest readership — 927 ratings behind its score.
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Scores by source
| Cathedral | The Four Million | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 4.0 (927) |
| Hardcover | 4.2 (74) | 4.0 (3) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (44) | 4.5 (27) |
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Reception
| Cathedral | The Four Million | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 74 | 927 |
| Editions | 38 | 61 |
| Citations | — | 11 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 1185 |
| Reading it now | — | 331 |
| Written reviews | — | 111 |
| Wikipedia attention | 217 | 445 |
| Pages | 238 | 225 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Cathedral or The Four Million?
Cathedral has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Cathedral 4.2/5, The Four Million 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: Cathedral or The Four Million?
The Four Million is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Four Million (225 pages, ≈ 4 h 10 m); Cathedral (238 pages, ≈ 4 h 24 m).
Which is harder to read: Cathedral or The Four Million?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Cathedral: Moderate; The Four Million: Challenging.