Coniston vs The Quiet American: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Politics and government, British and irish fiction, Fiction
Coniston
“FIRST I am to write a love-story of long ago, of a time some little while after General Jackson had got into the White House and had shown the world what a real democracy was.”
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This book is about a love-story of long ago, of a time some little while after General Jackson had got into the White House and had shown the world what a real democracy was. The Era of the first six presidents had…
The Quiet American
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One of Graham Greene's best works. The story is set at the time of the French war against the Viet Cong and tells the story of liberal British journalist Thomas Fowler, his mistress Phuong, and their relationship with…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate The Quiet American highest: The Quiet American 4.2 · Coniston 3.7.
- The Quiet American is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 10 for Coniston.
- The Quiet American has the widest readership — 132 ratings behind its score.
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Scores by source
| Coniston | The Quiet American | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.6 (27) | — |
| Hardcover | — | 4.0 (132) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.5 (130) |
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Reception
| Coniston | The Quiet American | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 27 | 132 |
| Editions | 102 | 117 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 72 | — |
| Reading it now | 9 | — |
| Written reviews | 8 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 108 | 8750 |
| Pages | 566 | 202 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Coniston or The Quiet American?
The Quiet American has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Quiet American 4.2/5, Coniston 3.7/5).
Which is shorter to read: Coniston or The Quiet American?
The Quiet American is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Quiet American (202 pages, ≈ 3 h 44 m); Coniston (566 pages, ≈ 10 h 29 m).
Which is harder to read: Coniston or The Quiet American?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Coniston: Challenging; The Quiet American: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
Coniston: no film adaptation on record; The Quiet American: 5 film adaptations.