Great Gatsby vs Tender Is the Night: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Wealth, Facsimiles, Manuscripts, Classics, Romance, Fiction
Great Gatsby
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Poignantly and with subtle finesse, Fitzgerald tells the story of the dazzling upstart Jay Gatsby, who celebrates lavish parties on his estate in order to win back his lost love – a story about the power of great…
Tender Is the Night
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A psychiatrist, Dick Diver, treats and eventually marries a wealthy patient, Nicole. Eventually, this marriage destroys him.
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Great Gatsby is the quickest read — about 2 hours vs 7 for Tender Is the Night.
- Tender Is the Night has the widest readership — 153550 ratings behind its score.
- Tender Is the Night runs the darker storyline; Great Gatsby stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Great Gatsby | Tender Is the Night | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 3.8 (153550) |
| Hardcover | 3.7 (4786) | 3.7 (148) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (4689) | 4.0 (163) |
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Reception
| Great Gatsby | Tender Is the Night | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 4786 | 153550 |
| Editions | 14 | 312 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 239033 |
| Reading it now | — | 10782 |
| Written reviews | — | 8884 |
| Wikipedia attention | 77948 | 12232 |
| Pages | 159 | 399 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Great Gatsby or Tender Is the Night?
Great Gatsby has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Great Gatsby 3.9/5, Tender Is the Night 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: Great Gatsby or Tender Is the Night?
Great Gatsby is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Great Gatsby (159 pages, ≈ 2 h 57 m); Tender Is the Night (399 pages, ≈ 7 h 23 m).
Which is harder to read: Great Gatsby or Tender Is the Night?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Great Gatsby: Challenging; Tender Is the Night: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
Great Gatsby: 5 film adaptations; Tender Is the Night: 1 film adaptation.