Little Women vs The Great Gatsby: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Drama, Romance, Fiction
Little Women
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Louisa May Alcotts classic novel, set during the Civil War, has always captivated even the most reluctant readers. Little girls, especially, love following the adventures of the four March sisters--Meg, Beth, Amy, and…
The Great Gatsby
“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.”
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Here is a novel, glamorous, ironical, compassionate – a marvelous fusion into unity of the curious incongruities of the life of the period – which reveals a hero like no other – one who could live at no other time and…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Little Women highest: Little Women 4.2 · The Great Gatsby 3.9.
- Little Women is the quickest read — about 5 hours vs 7 for The Great Gatsby.
- The Great Gatsby has the widest readership — 6120259 ratings behind its score.
- The Great Gatsby reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 24 times.
- The Great Gatsby runs the darker storyline; Little Women stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| Little Women | The Great Gatsby | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (69325) | 3.9 (6120259) |
| Hardcover | 3.9 (1526) | 4.5 (2) |
| Google Books | — | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (6513) | 4.5 (806) |
| LiveLib | 4.0 (2) | 4.0 (5) |
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Reception
| Little Women | The Great Gatsby | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 69325 | 6120259 |
| Editions | 1888 | 1179 |
| Citations | 14 | 24 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 1656806 | 2127185 |
| Reading it now | — | 85180 |
| Written reviews | 69325 | 138625 |
| Wikipedia attention | 50579 | 94574 |
| Pages | 288 | 431 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Little Women or The Great Gatsby?
Little Women has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Little Women 4.2/5, The Great Gatsby 3.9/5).
Which is shorter to read: Little Women or The Great Gatsby?
Little Women is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Little Women (288 pages, ≈ 5 h 20 m); The Great Gatsby (431 pages, ≈ 7 h 59 m).
Which is harder to read: Little Women or The Great Gatsby?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Little Women: Challenging; The Great Gatsby: Moderate.
Have both books been made into films?
Little Women: 5 film adaptations; The Great Gatsby: 5 film adaptations.