Discipline and Punish vs Purity and danger: Which Should You Read?
Discipline and Punish
“On 2 March 1757 Damiens the regicide condemmed 'to make the amende honorable before the main door of the Church of Paris', where he was to be 'taken and conveyed in a cart, wearing nothing but a a shirt, holding a torch of burning wax weighing two pounds'; then, 'in the said cart, to the place de Greve, where, on a scaffold that will be erected there, the flesh will be torn from his breasts, arms,”
English version of "Surveiller et punir: naissance de la prison"
vs
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Purity and danger is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 6 for Discipline and Punish.
- Purity and danger has the widest readership — 2526 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Discipline and Punish | Purity and danger | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 4.0 (2526) |
| Hardcover | 4.2 (62) | 4.8 (5) |
| Google Books | — | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (24) | — |
Reception
| Discipline and Punish | Purity and danger | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 62 | 2526 |
| Editions | 30 | 37 |
| Citations | — | 5052 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Wikipedia attention | 6210 | 1505 |
| Pages | 333 | 202 |