Lord Jim vs The mirror of the sea: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Seafaring life, Travel, Biography & Memoir, Fiction
Lord Jim
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This compact novel, completed in 1900, as with so many of the great novels of the time, is at its baseline a book of the sea. An English boy in a simple town has dreams bigger than the outdoors and embarks at an early…
The mirror of the sea
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The Mirror of the Sea is a collection of autobiographical essays first published in various magazines 1904-6 (Summary by Wikipedia). Conrad early in his life earned his bread as a Master Mariner in sailing ships. In his…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate The mirror of the sea highest: The mirror of the sea 3.8 · Lord Jim 3.6.
- The mirror of the sea is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 6 for Lord Jim.
- Lord Jim has the widest readership — 33698 ratings behind its score.
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Scores by source
| Lord Jim | The mirror of the sea | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.6 (33698) | 3.9 (105) |
| Hardcover | 3.5 (51) | 3.0 (2) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (89) | 4.0 (7) |
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Reception
| Lord Jim | The mirror of the sea | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 33698 | 105 |
| Editions | 345 | 61 |
| Citations | 6 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 34552 | 1470 |
| Reading it now | 2453 | — |
| Written reviews | 2031 | 105 |
| Wikipedia attention | 7447 | — |
| Pages | 332 | 175 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Lord Jim or The mirror of the sea?
The mirror of the sea has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The mirror of the sea 3.8/5, Lord Jim 3.6/5).
Which is shorter to read: Lord Jim or The mirror of the sea?
The mirror of the sea is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The mirror of the sea (175 pages, ≈ 3 h 14 m); Lord Jim (332 pages, ≈ 6 h 09 m).
Which is harder to read: Lord Jim or The mirror of the sea?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Lord Jim: Challenging; The mirror of the sea: Challenging.
Have both books been made into films?
Lord Jim: 5 film adaptations; The mirror of the sea: no film adaptation on record.