Heretics vs Shooting an Elephant and other essays: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: English essays, Essays, Nonfiction
Heretics
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Gilbert Keith Chesterton was born in London, England on the 29th of May, 1874. Though he considered himself a mere rollicking journalist, he was actually a prolific and gifted writer in virtually every area of…
Shooting an Elephant and other essays
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'Shooting an Elephant' is Orwell's searing and painfully honest account of his experience as a police officer in imperial Burma; killing an escaped elephant in front of a crowd 'solely to avoid looking a fool'. The…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Shooting an Elephant and other essays has the widest readership — 12697 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Heretics | Shooting an Elephant and other essays | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (5919) | 4.0 (12697) |
| Hardcover | — | 4.2 (19) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (16) | — |
Reception
| Heretics | Shooting an Elephant and other essays | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 5919 | 12697 |
| Editions | 551 | 10 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 10594 | 16529 |
| Reading it now | 1509 | 358 |
| Written reviews | 619 | 843 |
| Wikipedia attention | 15413 | — |
| Pages | 164 | 206 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Heretics or Shooting an Elephant and other essays?
Heretics has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Heretics 4.2/5, Shooting an Elephant and other essays 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: Heretics or Shooting an Elephant and other essays?
Heretics is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Heretics (164 pages, ≈ 3 h 02 m); Shooting an Elephant and other essays (206 pages, ≈ 3 h 49 m).
Which is harder to read: Heretics or Shooting an Elephant and other essays?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Heretics: Demanding; Shooting an Elephant and other essays: Moderate.