Les belles images vs À rebours: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: French fiction, Continental european fiction, Fiction
Les belles images
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"Non ; elle a crié tout haut. Pas Catherine. Je ne permettrai pas qu'on lui fasse ce qu'on m'a fait. Qu'a-t-on fait de moi ? Cette femme qui n'aime personne, insensible aux beautés du monde, incapable même de pleurer,…
À rebours
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À rebours (French pronunciation: [a ʁ(ə).buʁ]; translated Against Nature or Against the Grain) is an 1884 novel by the French writer Joris-Karl Huysmans. The narrative centers on a single character: Jean des Esseintes,…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Les belles images is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 5 for À rebours.
- À rebours has the widest readership — 15820 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Les belles images | À rebours | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (4052) | 3.8 (15820) |
| Hardcover | 3.8 (4) | 5.0 (1) |
Reception
| Les belles images | À rebours | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 4052 | 15820 |
| Editions | 41 | 337 |
| Citations | 14 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 4405 | 36162 |
| Reading it now | 190 | — |
| Written reviews | 347 | 1515 |
| Wikipedia attention | 251 | 6192 |
| Pages | 174 | 294 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Les belles images or À rebours?
Les belles images has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Les belles images 3.8/5, À rebours 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: Les belles images or À rebours?
Les belles images is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Les belles images (174 pages, ≈ 3 h 13 m); À rebours (294 pages, ≈ 5 h 27 m).
Which is harder to read: Les belles images or À rebours?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Les belles images: Moderate; À rebours: Challenging.