Nineteen Eighty-Four vs The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Science Fiction, 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…
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
“Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable.”
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Mr. Gabriel Utterson is a serious, austere lawyer living a humdrum life in Victorian London. Yet there is a strange clause in his friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll's will: should he disappear for more than 3 months, everything…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Nineteen Eighty-Four highest: Nineteen Eighty-Four 4.2 · The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 3.8.
- Nineteen Eighty-Four has the widest readership — 5733183 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Nineteen Eighty-Four | The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (5733183) | 3.8 (694073) |
| Hardcover | 5.0 (1) | 4.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.0 (5377) |
Reception
| Nineteen Eighty-Four | The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 5733183 | 694073 |
| Editions | 536 | 373 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 3170038 | 481604 |
| Reading it now | — | 16296 |
| Written reviews | 171557 | 31649 |
| Wikipedia attention | 140637 | 46154 |
| Pages | 244 | 152 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Nineteen Eighty-Four or The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?
Nineteen Eighty-Four has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Nineteen Eighty-Four 4.2/5, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: Nineteen Eighty-Four or The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (152 pages, ≈ 2 h 49 m); Nineteen Eighty-Four (244 pages, ≈ 4 h 31 m).
Which is harder to read: Nineteen Eighty-Four or The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Nineteen Eighty-Four: Challenging; The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Moderate.
Have both books been made into films?
Nineteen Eighty-Four: 5 film adaptations; The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: 5 film adaptations.