De profundis vs The Ballad of Reading Gaol: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Imprisonment, Prisons, Prisoners, Poetry, Classic Literature
De profundis
Obra de expiación del escritor irlandés Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). Acusado de pederastia, homosexualidad y al borde del suicidio al ser condenado a dos años de prisión, Wilde encuentra consuelo en la meditación del dolor…
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The Ballad of Reading Gaol
The Ballad of Reading Gaol is a poem by Oscar Wilde, written in exile in Berneval-le-Grand and Naples, after his release from HM Prison Reading on 19 May 1897. Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading after being…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- De profundis has the widest readership — 27202 ratings behind its score.
- The Ballad of Reading Gaol runs the darker storyline; De profundis stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| De profundis | The Ballad of Reading Gaol | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (27202) | 4.3 (7984) |
| Hardcover | 5.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (157) | 4.5 (14) |
Reception
| De profundis | The Ballad of Reading Gaol | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 27202 | 7984 |
| Editions | 74 | 241 |
| Citations | 1 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 38555 | 7377 |
| Reading it now | 2415 | 255 |
| Written reviews | 3360 | 760 |
| Wikipedia attention | 5432 | 3158 |
| Pages | 151 | 49 |