Plain tales from the hills vs Under the deodars: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: India, British and irish fiction, Classic Literature, Short Stories, Fiction
Plain tales from the hills
“SHE was the daughter of Sonoo, a Hill-man of the Himalayas, and Jadeh his wife.”
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Originally written for the Lahore Civil and Military Gazette, the stories were intended for a provincial readership familiar with the pleasures and miseries of colonial life. For the subsequent English edition, Kipling…
Under the deodars
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Eight short stories of Rudyard Kipling: The Education of Otis Yeere At the Pit's Mouth A Wayside Comedy The Hill of Illusion A Second-rate Woman Only a Subaltern In the Matter of a Private The Enlightenments of Pagett.…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Plain tales from the hills has the widest readership — 1843 ratings behind its score.
- Plain tales from the hills reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 52 times.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Plain tales from the hills | Under the deodars | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.7 (1843) | 3.4 (99) |
| Hardcover | 2.8 (4) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (8) | — |
Reception
| Plain tales from the hills | Under the deodars | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 1843 | 99 |
| Editions | 303 | 83 |
| Citations | 52 | 2 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | — |
| Want to read | 1631 | 163 |
| Reading it now | 243 | 19 |
| Written reviews | 202 | 18 |
| Wikipedia attention | 488 | — |
| Pages | 194 | 118 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Plain tales from the hills or Under the deodars?
Plain tales from the hills has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Plain tales from the hills 3.7/5, Under the deodars 3.5/5).
Which is shorter to read: Plain tales from the hills or Under the deodars?
Under the deodars is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Under the deodars (118 pages, ≈ 2 h 11 m); Plain tales from the hills (194 pages, ≈ 3 h 36 m).
Which is harder to read: Plain tales from the hills or Under the deodars?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Plain tales from the hills: Demanding; Under the deodars: Demanding.