The Beautiful and Damned vs The Great Gatsby: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: American Manuscripts, Rich people, Married people, Classics, Fiction
The Beautiful and Damned
“The victor belongs to the spoils.--Anthony Patch”
First published in 1922, The Beautiful and Damned followed Fitzgerald's impeccable debut, This Side of Paradise, thus securing his place in the tradition of great American novelists. Embellished with the author's…
1 film adaptation
vs
The Great Gatsby
“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.”
Here is a novel, glamorous, ironical, compassionate – a marvelous fusion into unity of the curious incongruities of the life of the period – which reveals a hero like no other – one who could live at no other time and…
1 film adaptation
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Beautiful and Damned is the quickest read — about 4 hours vs 7 for The Great Gatsby.
- The Great Gatsby has the widest readership — 6120259 ratings behind its score.
- The Great Gatsby reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 24 times.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Beautiful and Damned | The Great Gatsby | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.7 (67052) | 3.9 (6120259) |
| Hardcover | 3.4 (82) | 4.5 (2) |
| Google Books | — | 5.0 (1) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (118) | 4.5 (806) |
| LiveLib | — | 4.0 (5) |
Reception
| The Beautiful and Damned | The Great Gatsby | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 67052 | 6120259 |
| Editions | 495 | 1179 |
| Citations | 19 | 24 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 2186 | 2127185 |
| Reading it now | 84 | 85180 |
| Written reviews | 32 | 138625 |
| Wikipedia attention | 5590 | 94574 |
| Pages | 263 | 431 |