Barchester Towers vs Doctor Thorne: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Barsetshire, Clergy in fiction, England in fiction, Clergy, Social life and customs, Classic Literature
Barchester Towers
The Chronicles of Barsetshire, Book 2: Barchester Towers Written as a sequel to "The Warden", this is the second book of the Barsetshire novels. Described as humorous, this wonderful novel that interweaves power,…
vs
Doctor Thorne
The Chronicles of Barsetshire, Book 3: Dr. Thorne Mary Thorne, orphaned (and illegitimate) niece of Dr. Thorne, has long been a favorite at Greshamsbury House--until Lady Arabella Gresham learns that her only son…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Doctor Thorne has the widest readership — 8693 ratings behind its score.
- Barchester Towers reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 37 times.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Barchester Towers | Doctor Thorne | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.1 (1469) | 4.2 (8693) |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (28) | 3.9 (9) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (71) | 4.5 (122) |
Reception
| Barchester Towers | Doctor Thorne | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 1469 | 8693 |
| Editions | 467 | 130 |
| Citations | 37 | 16 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 17609 | 9739 |
| Reading it now | — | 832 |
| Written reviews | 1469 | 1052 |
| Wikipedia attention | 1884 | 1283 |
| Pages | 567 | 544 |