The Great Gatsby vs The Scarlet Letter: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Married women, Classics, Young Adult, 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 Scarlet Letter
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Nathaniel Hawthorne's powerful tale of forbidden love, shame and revenge comes to life in this manga presentation of the classic story. When Hester Prynne bears an illegitimate child, she is introduced to the ugliness,…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate The Great Gatsby highest: The Great Gatsby 3.9 · The Scarlet Letter 3.4.
- The Scarlet Letter 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 runs the darker storyline; The Scarlet Letter stays the lighter read.
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How to choose
Scores by source
| The Great Gatsby | The Scarlet Letter | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (6120259) | 3.4 (940060) |
| Hardcover | 4.5 (2) | 3.2 (914) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (806) | — |
| LiveLib | 4.0 (5) | — |
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Reception
| The Great Gatsby | The Scarlet Letter | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 6120259 | 940060 |
| Editions | 1179 | 33 |
| Citations | 24 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 2127185 | 504120 |
| Reading it now | 85180 | 22056 |
| Written reviews | 138625 | 24917 |
| Wikipedia attention | 94574 | 25930 |
| Pages | 431 | 220 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: The Great Gatsby or The Scarlet Letter?
The Great Gatsby has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Great Gatsby 3.9/5, The Scarlet Letter 3.4/5).
Which is shorter to read: The Great Gatsby or The Scarlet Letter?
The Scarlet Letter is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: The Scarlet Letter (220 pages, ≈ 4 h 04 m); The Great Gatsby (431 pages, ≈ 7 h 59 m).
Which is harder to read: The Great Gatsby or The Scarlet Letter?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Great Gatsby: Moderate; The Scarlet Letter: Light.
Have both books been made into films?
The Great Gatsby: 5 film adaptations; The Scarlet Letter: 5 film adaptations.