John Barleycorn vs The Road: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: American Authors, Authors, London, American literature, Classic Literature, Biography & Memoir
John Barleycorn
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It all came to me one election day. It was on a warm California afternoon, and I had ridden down into the Valley of the Moon from the ranch to the little village to vote Yes and No to a host of proposed amendments to…
The Road
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"The Road" is an autobiographical memoir presenting stories from the time that Jack London spent as a hobo in the late 19th century.
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Road has the widest readership — 4470 ratings behind its score.
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Scores by source
| John Barleycorn | The Road | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (4107) | 3.9 (4470) |
| Hardcover | 2.8 (4) | 3.3 (14) |
| Google Books | 3.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (67) | 4.0 (253) |
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Reception
| John Barleycorn | The Road | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 4107 | 4470 |
| Editions | 161 | 59 |
| Citations | 2 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 3912 | 4006 |
| Reading it now | 282 | 572 |
| Written reviews | 338 | 378 |
| Wikipedia attention | 1063 | 39682 |
| Pages | 162 | 129 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: John Barleycorn or The Road?
John Barleycorn has the higher combined reader rating across sources (John Barleycorn 4.0/5, The Road 3.9/5).
Which is shorter to read: John Barleycorn or The Road?
The Road is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Road (129 pages, ≈ 2 h 23 m); John Barleycorn (162 pages, ≈ 3 h 00 m).
Which is harder to read: John Barleycorn or The Road?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — John Barleycorn: Challenging; The Road: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
John Barleycorn: no film adaptation on record; The Road: 5 film adaptations.