La Peste vs World Without End: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Peste bubónica, Epidemics, Plague, Fiction
La Peste
“The unusual events described in this chronicle occurred in 194-at Oran.”
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The Plague (French: La Peste) is a novel by Albert Camus, published in 1947, that tells the story of a plague sweeping the French Algerian city of Oran. It asks a number of questions relating to the nature of destiny…
World Without End
“Gwenda was eight years old, but she was not afraid of the dark.”
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En 1327, quatre enfants sont les témoins d'une poursuite meurtrière dans les bois: un chevalier tue deux soldats au service de la reine, avant d'enfouir dans le sol une lettre mystérieuse, dont le secret pourrait bien…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate World Without End highest: World Without End 4.3 · La Peste 4.0.
- La Peste is the quickest read — about 5 hours vs 23 for World Without End.
- La Peste has the widest readership — 330986 ratings behind its score.
- La Peste runs the darker storyline; World Without End stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| La Peste | World Without End | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (330986) | 4.3 (283676) |
| Hardcover | 3.5 (1) | 4.2 (404) |
| Apple Books | 5.0 (13) | 4.5 (2978) |
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Reception
| La Peste | World Without End | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 330986 | 283676 |
| Editions | 280 | 46 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 360988 | 129539 |
| Reading it now | 27331 | 14428 |
| Written reviews | 21722 | 14922 |
| Wikipedia attention | 33 | 6275 |
| Pages | 294 | 1279 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: La Peste or World Without End?
World Without End has the higher combined reader rating across sources (World Without End 4.3/5, La Peste 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: La Peste or World Without End?
La Peste is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: La Peste (294 pages, ≈ 5 h 27 m); World Without End (1279 pages, ≈ 23 h 41 m).
Which is harder to read: La Peste or World Without End?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — La Peste: Challenging; World Without End: Challenging.