Empire of the Sun vs Rinconete y Cortadillo: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Garçons, Boys, Fiction
Empire of the Sun
“WARS CAME EARLY to Shanghai, overtaking each other like the tides that raced up the Yangtze and returned to this gaudy city all the coffins cast adrift from the funeral piers of the Chinese Bund.”
A fictionalized account of the author's experiences as a boy in Shanghai, China, during the Second World War, and in Lunghua C.A.C. (Civilian Assembly Centre), where he was interned from 1942 to 1945.
1 film adaptation
vs
Rinconete y Cortadillo
“Rinconete y Cortadillo” forma parte de las Novelas Ejemplares escritas por Miguel de Cervantes en 1613. Ésta es sin duda una de las más destacadas de la serie, siendo una excelente novela picaresca. Rincón y Cortado,…
The verdict
- Readers rate Empire of the Sun highest: Empire of the Sun 4.0 · Rinconete y Cortadillo 3.1.
- Rinconete y Cortadillo is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 6 for Empire of the Sun.
- Empire of the Sun has the widest readership — 23272 ratings behind its score.
- Empire of the Sun runs the darker storyline; Rinconete y Cortadillo stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Want a one-evening read?
Rinconete y Cortadillo
≈ 1h vs 6h for Empire of the Sun
Want the crowd-tested pick?
Empire of the Sun
23272 ratings vs 1729 for Rinconete y Cortadillo
Just want the better-reviewed one?
Empire of the Sun
4.0 vs 3.1 from readers
New to the genre?
Empire of the Sun
Moderate vs Demanding for Rinconete y Cortadillo
In the mood for something dark?
Empire of the Sun
a darker storyline than Rinconete y Cortadillo
Scores by source
| Empire of the Sun | Rinconete y Cortadillo | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (23272) | 3.1 (1729) |
| Hardcover | 3.9 (58) | 2.4 (6) |
| Google Books | 3.0 (3) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (43) | — |
Reception
| Empire of the Sun | Rinconete y Cortadillo | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 23272 | 1729 |
| Editions | 28 | 33 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 28768 | 620 |
| Reading it now | 829 | 35 |
| Written reviews | 1441 | 148 |
| Wikipedia attention | 5801 | 342 |
| Pages | 352 | 76 |