Great Expectations vs Nineteen Eighty-Four: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Drama, Fiction
Great Expectations
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Great Expectations is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (the book is a bildungsroman; a coming-of-age story). It is Dickens'…
Nineteen Eighty-Four
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
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Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, often referred to as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by the English novelist George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair). It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Nineteen Eighty-Four highest: Nineteen Eighty-Four 4.2 · Great Expectations 3.8.
- Nineteen Eighty-Four is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 10 for Great Expectations.
- Nineteen Eighty-Four has the widest readership — 5733183 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Great Expectations | Nineteen Eighty-Four | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (892506) | 4.2 (5733183) |
| Hardcover | 3.6 (858) | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (4858) | — |
Reception
| Great Expectations | Nineteen Eighty-Four | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 892506 | 5733183 |
| Editions | 1489 | 536 |
| Citations | 62 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 605 | 3170038 |
| Reading it now | 128 | — |
| Written reviews | 65 | 171557 |
| Wikipedia attention | 43930 | 140637 |
| Pages | 546 | 244 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Great Expectations or Nineteen Eighty-Four?
Nineteen Eighty-Four has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Nineteen Eighty-Four 4.2/5, Great Expectations 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: Great Expectations or Nineteen Eighty-Four?
Nineteen Eighty-Four is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Nineteen Eighty-Four (244 pages, ≈ 4 h 31 m); Great Expectations (546 pages, ≈ 10 h 07 m).
Which is harder to read: Great Expectations or Nineteen Eighty-Four?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Great Expectations: Demanding; Nineteen Eighty-Four: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
Great Expectations: 5 film adaptations; Nineteen Eighty-Four: 5 film adaptations.