Papillon vs The Rough Riders: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Personal narratives, Biography & Memoir
Papillon
“IT WAS A KNOCKOUT BLOW-a punch so overwhelming that I didn't get back on my feet for fourteen years.”
Describes the life of a man sent to prison on a miserable island, Cayena, where escape is impossible. It is a terrible life for him but he finally escapes after much suffering.
1 film adaptation
vs
The Rough Riders
"The Rough Riders (1899) is the story of the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, the regiment Roosevelt led to enduring fame in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Roosevelt recounts how the regiment was raised from an…
The verdict
- Readers rate Papillon highest: Papillon 4.2 · The Rough Riders 3.8.
- The Rough Riders is the quickest read — about 2 hours vs 10 for Papillon.
- Papillon has the widest readership — 77315 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Papillon | The Rough Riders | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (77315) | 3.8 (3678) |
| Hardcover | 4.2 (100) | 3.0 (1) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (2) | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (116) | 4.0 (83) |
Reception
| Papillon | The Rough Riders | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 77315 | 3678 |
| Editions | 87 | 116 |
| Citations | — | 33 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 73578 | 8681 |
| Reading it now | — | 717 |
| Written reviews | 3425 | 265 |
| Wikipedia attention | 24205 | 255 |
| Pages | 562 | 128 |