Othello vs The Great Gatsby: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Drama, Fiction
Othello
“Roderigo and lago rouse Brabantio from his bed to tell him of Desdemona's rebellion.”
Shakespeare's tragedy of jealousy and suspicion presented scene by scene in comic book format.
1 film adaptation
vs
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.”
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…
1 film adaptation
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Othello is the quickest read — about 2 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; Othello stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Othello | The Great Gatsby | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.7 (101) | 3.9 (6120259) |
| Hardcover | 3.8 (498) | 4.5 (2) |
| Google Books | — | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (89) | 4.5 (806) |
| LiveLib | — | 4.0 (5) |
Reception
| Othello | The Great Gatsby | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 498 | 6120259 |
| Editions | 807 | 1179 |
| Citations | 17 | 24 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 42 | 2127185 |
| Reading it now | 12 | 85180 |
| Written reviews | 2 | 138625 |
| Wikipedia attention | 46432 | 94574 |
| Pages | 151 | 431 |