Gravity's Rainbow vs Other Kingdoms: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Americans, History, Fiction
Gravity's Rainbow
More
Winner of the National Book Award"The most profound and accomplished American novel since the end of World War II." —The New Republic“A screaming comes across the sky. . .” A few months after the Germans’ secret V-2…
Other Kingdoms
More
In 1918, wounded WWI American soldier Alex White has a frightening encounter in the forest near the pastoral English village of Gatford. His encounter leads him into the arms of Magda Variel, an alluring red-haired…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Gravity's Rainbow highest: Gravity's Rainbow 4.0 · Other Kingdoms 3.4.
- Other Kingdoms is the quickest read — about 5 hours vs 21 for Gravity's Rainbow.
- Gravity's Rainbow has the widest readership — 49955 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Gravity's Rainbow | Other Kingdoms | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (49955) | — |
| Hardcover | 3.0 (1) | 1.8 (6) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (175) | — |
Reception
| Gravity's Rainbow | Other Kingdoms | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 49955 | 6 |
| Editions | 44 | 1 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 137 | — |
| Reading it now | 2 | — |
| Written reviews | 3 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 31785 | — |
| Pages | 1160 | 316 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Gravity's Rainbow or Other Kingdoms?
Gravity's Rainbow has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Gravity's Rainbow 4.0/5, Other Kingdoms 3.4/5).
Which is shorter to read: Gravity's Rainbow or Other Kingdoms?
Other Kingdoms is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Other Kingdoms (316 pages, ≈ 5 h 51 m); Gravity's Rainbow (1160 pages, ≈ 21 h 29 m).
Which is harder to read: Gravity's Rainbow or Other Kingdoms?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Gravity's Rainbow: Challenging; Other Kingdoms: Moderate.