Cathedral vs The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories: 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 Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories
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A collection of short stories previously published in Hemingway’s earlier collections. These are generally considered the best of the early short stories. Ranging from semi-autobiographical tales from his childhood in…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Cathedral highest: Cathedral 4.2 · The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories 3.8.
- The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories has the widest readership — 49715 ratings behind its score.
- The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories runs the darker storyline; Cathedral stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Cathedral | The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 3.8 (49715) |
| Hardcover | 4.2 (74) | 3.3 (59) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (44) | 4.0 (66) |
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Reception
| Cathedral | The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 74 | 49715 |
| Editions | 38 | 59 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | — | 39643 |
| Reading it now | — | 2310 |
| Written reviews | — | 2934 |
| Wikipedia attention | 217 | — |
| Pages | 238 | 156 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Cathedral or The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories?
Cathedral has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Cathedral 4.2/5, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: Cathedral or The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories?
The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories (156 pages, ≈ 2 h 53 m); Cathedral (238 pages, ≈ 4 h 24 m).
Which is harder to read: Cathedral or The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Cathedral: Moderate; The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories: Challenging.