John Barleycorn vs The Song of the Lark: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Opera, Singers, American literature, Classic Literature, Fiction
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 Song of the Lark
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Determined to leave behind the dull values of her small hometown, an opera singer devotes increasing amounts of energy to developing her art.
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Song of the Lark has the widest readership — 12259 ratings behind its score.
- The Song of the Lark reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 4 times.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| John Barleycorn | The Song of the Lark | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (4107) | 3.9 (12259) |
| Hardcover | 2.8 (4) | 3.7 (13) |
| Google Books | 3.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (67) | 4.0 (94) |
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Reception
| John Barleycorn | The Song of the Lark | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 4107 | 12259 |
| Editions | 161 | 409 |
| Citations | 2 | 4 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 3912 | 15555 |
| Reading it now | 282 | 1314 |
| Written reviews | 338 | 1527 |
| Wikipedia attention | 1063 | 1415 |
| Pages | 162 | 216 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: John Barleycorn or The Song of the Lark?
John Barleycorn has the higher combined reader rating across sources (John Barleycorn 4.0/5, The Song of the Lark 3.9/5).
Which is shorter to read: John Barleycorn or The Song of the Lark?
John Barleycorn is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: John Barleycorn (162 pages, ≈ 3 h 00 m); The Song of the Lark (216 pages, ≈ 4 h 00 m).
Which is harder to read: John Barleycorn or The Song of the Lark?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — John Barleycorn: Challenging; The Song of the Lark: Moderate.