The Great Gatsby vs The Old Curiosity Shop: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Fiction
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.”
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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…
The Old Curiosity Shop
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The sensational bestselling story of Little Nell, the beautiful child thrown into a shadowy, terrifying world, seems to belong less to the history of the Victorian novel than to folklore, fairy tale, or myth. The…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- The Great Gatsby is the quickest read — about 7 hours vs 14 for The Old Curiosity Shop.
- The Great Gatsby has the widest readership — 6120259 ratings behind its score.
- The Old Curiosity Shop runs the darker storyline; The Great Gatsby stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| The Great Gatsby | The Old Curiosity Shop | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (6120259) | 3.8 (24526) |
| Hardcover | 4.5 (2) | 3.8 (32) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (806) | 4.5 (232) |
| LiveLib | 4.0 (5) | — |
Reception
| The Great Gatsby | The Old Curiosity Shop | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 6120259 | 24526 |
| Editions | 1179 | 825 |
| Citations | 24 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 2127185 | 31958 |
| Reading it now | 85180 | 2723 |
| Written reviews | 138625 | 2025 |
| Wikipedia attention | 94574 | 5898 |
| Pages | 431 | 792 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Great Gatsby or The Old Curiosity Shop?
The Great Gatsby has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Great Gatsby 3.9/5, The Old Curiosity Shop 3.8/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Great Gatsby or The Old Curiosity Shop?
The Great Gatsby is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Great Gatsby (431 pages, ≈ 7 h 59 m); The Old Curiosity Shop (792 pages, ≈ 14 h 40 m).
Which is harder to read: The Great Gatsby or The Old Curiosity Shop?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Great Gatsby: Moderate; The Old Curiosity Shop: Demanding.
Have both books been made into films?
The Great Gatsby: 5 film adaptations; The Old Curiosity Shop: 5 film adaptations.