Roots vs Soul on ice: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Blacks, African Americans, Biography & Memoir
Roots
“Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a manchild was born to Omoro and Binta Kinte.”
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Roots is a novel written by Alex Haley and published in 1976. It portrays the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century African, captured as an adolescent and sold into slavery in the United States, and follows his life and…
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Soul on ice
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A collection of essays and open letters written while a prisoner at California's Folsom State prison.
Banned book
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Roots highest: Roots 4.4 · Soul on ice 4.0.
- Soul on ice is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 8 for Roots.
- Roots has the widest readership — 166305 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Roots | Soul on ice | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.5 (166305) | 4.0 (14830) |
| Hardcover | 4.2 (71) | 3.8 (8) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (117) | — |
Reception
| Roots | Soul on ice | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 166305 | 14830 |
| Editions | 63 | 39 |
| Citations | — | 423 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 115536 | — |
| Reading it now | 3274 | — |
| Written reviews | 4826 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 30030 | 1499 |
| Pages | 476 | 210 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Roots or Soul on ice?
Roots has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Roots 4.4/5, Soul on ice 4.0/5).
Which is shorter to read: Roots or Soul on ice?
Soul on ice is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Soul on ice (210 pages, ≈ 3 h 53 m); Roots (476 pages, ≈ 8 h 49 m).
Which is harder to read: Roots or Soul on ice?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Roots: Demanding; Soul on ice: Challenging.