Dirty White Boys vs Papillon: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Escapes, Prisoners
Dirty White Boys
Three convicts escape from a maximum-security penitentiary. With guile, fury, and surprisingly fine manners, they slash and shoot their way through Oklahoma and North Texas in a frenzy of violence, madness, and murder.…
vs
Papillon
“IT WAS A KNOCKOUT BLOW-a punch so overwhelming that I didn't get back on my feet for fourteen years.”
Describes the life of a man sent to prison on a miserable island, Cayena, where escape is impossible. It is a terrible life for him but he finally escapes after much suffering.
1 film adaptation
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Dirty White Boys is the quickest read — about 8 hours vs 10 for Papillon.
- Papillon has the widest readership — 77315 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Dirty White Boys | Papillon | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.1 (6068) | 4.2 (77315) |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (12) | 4.2 (100) |
| Google Books | — | 5.0 (2) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (144) | 4.5 (116) |
Reception
| Dirty White Boys | Papillon | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 6068 | 77315 |
| Editions | 10 | 87 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 2703 | 73578 |
| Reading it now | 253 | — |
| Written reviews | 344 | 3425 |
| Wikipedia attention | 478 | 24205 |
| Pages | 436 | 562 |