Nineteen Eighty-Four vs Old Man and the Sea: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Fiction
Nineteen Eighty-Four
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
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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…
Old Man and the Sea
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Set in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Havana, Hemingway's magnificent fable is the tale of an old man, a young boy and a giant fish. This story of heroic endeavour won Hemingway the Nobel Prize for Literature. It…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Nineteen Eighty-Four highest: Nineteen Eighty-Four 4.2 · Old Man and the Sea 3.8.
- Old Man and the Sea is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 4 for Nineteen Eighty-Four.
- Nineteen Eighty-Four has the widest readership — 5733183 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Nineteen Eighty-Four | Old Man and the Sea | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (5733183) | 3.8 (1369037) |
| Hardcover | 5.0 (1) | 3.7 (1997) |
| Google Books | — | 5.0 (2) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.5 (1179) |
Reception
| Nineteen Eighty-Four | Old Man and the Sea | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 5733183 | 1369037 |
| Editions | 536 | 307 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 3170038 | 749046 |
| Reading it now | — | 25712 |
| Written reviews | 171557 | 55398 |
| Wikipedia attention | 140637 | 40709 |
| Pages | 244 | 87 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Nineteen Eighty-Four or Old Man and the Sea?
Nineteen Eighty-Four has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Nineteen Eighty-Four 4.2/5, Old Man and the Sea 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: Nineteen Eighty-Four or Old Man and the Sea?
Old Man and the Sea is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Old Man and the Sea (87 pages, ≈ 1 h 37 m); Nineteen Eighty-Four (244 pages, ≈ 4 h 31 m).
Which is harder to read: Nineteen Eighty-Four or Old Man and the Sea?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Nineteen Eighty-Four: Challenging; Old Man and the Sea: Moderate.
Have both books been made into films?
Nineteen Eighty-Four: 5 film adaptations; Old Man and the Sea: 4 film adaptations.