Mémoires vs My Secret Life: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Sex customs, Biography & Memoir
Mémoires
"The name of Giacomo Casanova, Chevalier de Seingalt (1725-98), is now synonymous with amorous exploits, and there are plenty of these, vividly narrated, in his memoirs. But Casanova was not just an energetic lover. In…
vs
My Secret Life
“My earliest recollections of things sexual are of what I think must have occurred some time between my age of five and eight years.”
A rare look at the hidden side of Victorian lifeFrom his precocious childhood to the end of what he calls his "amatory career," an adventurous Victorian known only as "Walter" records a breathtaking carnal epic through…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Mémoires is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 4 for My Secret Life.
- Mémoires has the widest readership — 1976 ratings behind its score.
Scores by source
| Mémoires | My Secret Life | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (1976) | 3.1 (1) |
Reception
| Mémoires | My Secret Life | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 1976 | 5 |
| Editions | 104 | 64 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 6641 | 10 |
| Reading it now | 327 | — |
| Written reviews | 186 | 1 |
| Wikipedia attention | 502 | 2408 |
| Pages | 10 | 224 |