Les Misérables vs Nineteen Eighty-Four: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Fiction
Les Misérables
In this story of the trials of the peasant Jean Valjean--a man unjustly imprisoned, baffled by destiny, and hounded by his nemesis, the magnificently realized, ambiguously malevolent police detective Javert--Hugo…
1 film adaptation
vs
Nineteen Eighty-Four
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
Nineteen Eighty-Four: A Novel, often referred to as 1984, is a dystopian social science fiction novel by the English novelist George Orwell (the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair). It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker…
1 film adaptationBanned book
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Nineteen Eighty-Four is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 8 for Les Misérables.
- Nineteen Eighty-Four has the widest readership — 5733183 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Les Misérables | Nineteen Eighty-Four | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (860724) | 4.2 (5733183) |
| Hardcover | 4.2 (735) | 5.0 (1) |
| Google Books | 4.5 (5) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (125) | — |
Reception
| Les Misérables | Nineteen Eighty-Four | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 860724 | 5733183 |
| Editions | 526 | 536 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 1080411 | 3170038 |
| Reading it now | 77 | — |
| Written reviews | 26998 | 171557 |
| Wikipedia attention | 62074 | 140637 |
| Pages | 464 | 244 |