The Mayor of Casterbridge vs Within the tides: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: British and irish fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy · 1800 ★★★★☆ 3.9 Challenging

Like many of Hardy’s novels, The Mayor of Casterbridge is set in the fictional county of Wessex in the mid 1800s. It begins with Michael Henchard, a young hay-trusser, drunk on rum, auctioning off his wife and baby…

1 film adaptation

Wessex Fathers and daughters Psychological fiction Long Now Manual for Civilization

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Within the tides Joseph Conrad · 1915 ★★★★☆ 3.6 172 pages · ≈ 3 h 11 m · Challenging

In the private editorial office of the principal newspaper in a great colonial city two men were talking. They were both young. The stouter of the two, fair, and with more of an urban look about him, was the editor and…

Classic Literature

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Side by side

The verdict

Readers rate The Mayor of Casterbridge highest: The Mayor of Casterbridge 3.9 · Within the tides 3.6.
The Mayor of Casterbridge has the widest readership — 67377 ratings behind its score.
Within the tides reaches further in scholarship and criticism — cited 11 times.
The Mayor of Casterbridge runs the darker storyline; Within the tides stays the lighter read.

How to choose

In the mood for something dark? The Mayor of Casterbridge a darker storyline than Within the tides Want something lighter? Within the tides an easier tone than The Mayor of Casterbridge Want the literary heavyweight? Within the tides cited 11 times vs 4 for The Mayor of Casterbridge

Scores by source

	The Mayor of Casterbridge	Within the tides
Goodreads	3.9 (67377)	3.6 (194)
Hardcover	3.6 (88)	4.0 (1)
Apple Books	4.5 (309)	—

Reception

	The Mayor of Casterbridge	Within the tides
Ratings	67377	194
Editions	676	46
Citations	4	11
Film adaptations	1	—
Want to read	45440	243
Reading it now	1933	27
Written reviews	3729	24
Wikipedia attention	5589	—
Pages	—	172

Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: The Mayor of Casterbridge or Within the tides?

The Mayor of Casterbridge has the higher combined reader rating across sources (The Mayor of Casterbridge 3.9/5, Within the tides 3.6/5).

Which is harder to read: The Mayor of Casterbridge or Within the tides?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — The Mayor of Casterbridge: Challenging; Within the tides: Challenging.

Have both books been made into films?

The Mayor of Casterbridge: 4 film adaptations; Within the tides: no film adaptation on record.