Disgrace vs La père Goriot: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Fathers and daughters in fiction, Fathers and daughters, Fiction
Disgrace
“For a man of his age, fifty-two, divorced, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well.”
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At fifty-two, Professor David Lurie is divorced, filled with desire, but lacking in passion. An affair with one of his students leaves him jobless, shunned by his friends, and ridiculed by his ex-wife. He retreats to…
La père Goriot
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SCOTT (copy 1): The Hédi Bouraoui Collection in Maghrebian and Franco-Ontario Literatures is the gift of University Professor Emeritus Hédi Bouraoui.
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Disgrace has the widest readership — 121276 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Disgrace | La père Goriot | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (121276) | — |
| Hardcover | 3.8 (188) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (120) | — |
Reception
| Disgrace | La père Goriot | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 121276 | 12 |
| Editions | 56 | 439 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 80590 | — |
| Reading it now | 2311 | — |
| Written reviews | 10104 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 4887 | — |
| Pages | 252 | 285 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Disgrace or La père Goriot?
La père Goriot has the higher combined reader rating across sources (La père Goriot 3.9/5, Disgrace 3.9/5).
Which is shorter to read: Disgrace or La père Goriot?
Disgrace is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Disgrace (252 pages, ≈ 4 h 40 m); La père Goriot (285 pages, ≈ 5 h 17 m).
Which is harder to read: Disgrace or La père Goriot?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Disgrace: Moderate; La père Goriot: Demanding.
Have both books been made into films?
Disgrace: 2 film adaptations; La père Goriot: no film adaptation on record.