Shooting an Elephant and other essays vs The Left Hand of Darkness: Which Should You Read?
Shooting an Elephant and other essays
'Shooting an Elephant' is Orwell's searing and painfully honest account of his experience as a police officer in imperial Burma; killing an escaped elephant in front of a crowd 'solely to avoid looking a fool'. The…
vs
The Left Hand of Darkness
[Comment by Kim Stanley Robinson, on The Guardian's website][1]: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin (1969) One of my favorite novels is The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K Le Guin. For more than 40 years…
The verdict
- Readers rate The Left Hand of Darkness highest: The Left Hand of Darkness 4.4 · Shooting an Elephant and other essays 4.0.
- Shooting an Elephant and other essays is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 6 for The Left Hand of Darkness.
- Shooting an Elephant and other essays has the widest readership — 12697 ratings behind its score.
- The Left Hand of Darkness runs the darker storyline; Shooting an Elephant and other essays stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Want a one-evening read?
Shooting an Elephant and other essays
≈ 3h vs 6h for The Left Hand of Darkness
Just want the better-reviewed one?
The Left Hand of Darkness
4.4 vs 4.0 from readers
New to the genre?
Shooting an Elephant and other essays
Moderate vs Challenging for The Left Hand of Darkness
In the mood for something dark?
The Left Hand of Darkness
a darker storyline than Shooting an Elephant and other essays
Want something lighter?
Shooting an Elephant and other essays
an easier tone than The Left Hand of Darkness
Scores by source
| Shooting an Elephant and other essays | The Left Hand of Darkness | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.0 (12697) | 4.3 (262) |
| Hardcover | 4.2 (19) | 3.0 (2) |
| Apple Books | — | 4.5 (576) |
Reception
| Shooting an Elephant and other essays | The Left Hand of Darkness | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 12697 | 576 |
| Editions | 10 | 91 |
| Film adaptations | — | 1 |
| Want to read | 16529 | 502 |
| Reading it now | 358 | 15 |
| Written reviews | 843 | 27 |
| Wikipedia attention | — | 34258 |
| Pages | 206 | 329 |