Kim vs Oliver Twist: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Orphans in fiction, Orphans, Fiction
Kim
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Kim is Rudyard Kipling's story of an orphan born in colonial India and torn between love for his native India and the demands of Imperial loyalty to his Irish-English heritage and to the British Secret Service. Long…
Oliver Twist
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Thanks to its colorful cast of characters and gritty portrayal of street life in Victorian London, Dickens’ Oliver Twist has captured readers’ hearts for more than 150 years. Today’s children will love it too. Oliver, a…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Oliver Twist is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 7 for Kim.
- Oliver Twist has the widest readership — 436562 ratings behind its score.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Kim | Oliver Twist | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.7 (40787) | 3.9 (436562) |
| Hardcover | 3.4 (60) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (15) | — |
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Reception
| Kim | Oliver Twist | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 40787 | 436562 |
| Editions | 65 | 8 |
| Citations | 20 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 41072 | — |
| Reading it now | 3 | — |
| Written reviews | 2676 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 9103 | 31961 |
| Pages | 420 | 44 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Kim or Oliver Twist?
Oliver Twist has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Oliver Twist 3.9/5, Kim 3.7/5).
Which is shorter to read: Kim or Oliver Twist?
Oliver Twist is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Oliver Twist (44 pages, ≈ 49 min); Kim (420 pages, ≈ 7 h 47 m).
Which is harder to read: Kim or Oliver Twist?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Kim: Challenging; Oliver Twist: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
Kim: 1 film adaptation; Oliver Twist: 5 film adaptations.