Confessiones vs The Book of the Dead: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Religion & Spirituality, Religion, Philosophy, History, Fiction

Confessiones Augustine of Hippo · 1482 ★★★★☆ 4.0 383 pages · ≈ 7 h 06 m · Demanding

“i (1) 'You are great, Lord, and highly to be praised (Ps. 47: 2): great is your power and your wisdom is immeasurable' (Ps. 146:5).”

Garry Wills’s complete translation of Saint Augustine’s spiritual masterpiece—available now for the first time Garry Wills is an exceptionally gifted translator and one of our best writers on religion today. His…

Christian saints Collected works Spiritual life Christianity

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The Book of the Dead E. A. Wallis Budge · 1894 ★★★★☆ 3.9 43 pages · ≈ 48 min · Demanding

The Book of the Dead is the title now commonly given to the great collection of funerary texts which the ancient Egyptian scribes composed for the benefit of the dead. These consist of spells and incantations, hymns and…

Cults Death Nonfiction Classic Literature

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Side by side

The verdict

Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
The Book of the Dead is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 7 for Confessiones.
Confessiones has the widest readership — 77983 ratings behind its score.

How to choose

Want a one-evening read? The Book of the Dead ≈ 1h vs 7h for Confessiones Want the crowd-tested pick? Confessiones 77983 ratings vs 6405 for The Book of the Dead

Scores by source

	Confessiones	The Book of the Dead
Goodreads	4.0 (77983)	3.9 (6405)
Apple Books	—	4.0 (8)

Reception

	Confessiones	The Book of the Dead
Ratings	77983	6405
Editions	450	85
Citations	—	73
Film adaptations	1	1
Want to read	113595	19250
Reading it now	17969	2407
Written reviews	5285	426
Wikipedia attention	11386	22983
Pages	383	43

Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: Confessiones or The Book of the Dead?

Confessiones has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Confessiones 4.0/5, The Book of the Dead 3.9/5).

Which is shorter to read: Confessiones or The Book of the Dead?

The Book of the Dead is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Book of the Dead (43 pages, ≈ 48 min); Confessiones (383 pages, ≈ 7 h 06 m).

Which is harder to read: Confessiones or The Book of the Dead?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Confessiones: Demanding; The Book of the Dead: Demanding.