Dombey and Son vs The Newcomes: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Family, British and irish fiction, Families, Social life and customs, Fiction
Dombey and Son
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Dombey and Son is both a firm and a family and the ambiguous connection between public and private life lies at the heart of Dickens' novel. Paul Dombey is a man who runs his domestic affairs as he runs his business:…
The Newcomes
“A CROW, who had flown away with a cheese from a diary window, sate perched on a tree looking down at a great big frog in a pool underneath him.”
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The Newcomes is Thackeray's most essentially 'Victorian' novel, generous in its proportions, sharp in its criticism of the moral convolutions of the age, and encyclopaedic in its reference. Set in the 1830s and 1840s, a…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Dombey and Son highest: Dombey and Son 4.0 · The Newcomes 3.7.
- Dombey and Son is the quickest read — about 10 hours vs 14 for The Newcomes.
- Dombey and Son has the widest readership — 17000 ratings behind its score.
- Dombey and Son reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 36 times.
Scores by source
| Dombey and Son | The Newcomes | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (17000) | 3.7 (275) |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (18) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (14) | — |
Reception
| Dombey and Son | The Newcomes | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 17000 | 275 |
| Editions | 326 | 76 |
| Citations | 36 | 22 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 19493 | 1026 |
| Reading it now | 1020 | — |
| Written reviews | 1182 | 29 |
| Wikipedia attention | 2555 | 382 |
| Pages | 578 | 801 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Dombey and Son or The Newcomes?
Dombey and Son has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Dombey and Son 4.0/5, The Newcomes 3.7/5).
Which is shorter to read: Dombey and Son or The Newcomes?
Dombey and Son is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Dombey and Son (578 pages, ≈ 10 h 42 m); The Newcomes (801 pages, ≈ 14 h 50 m).
Which is harder to read: Dombey and Son or The Newcomes?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Dombey and Son: Demanding; The Newcomes: Demanding.
Have both books been made into films?
Dombey and Son: 2 film adaptations; The Newcomes: no film adaptation on record.