Argonauts of the western Pacific vs Tristes Tropiques: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Ethnologie, Anthropology
Argonauts of the western Pacific
“THE coastal populations of the South Sea Islands, with very few exceptions, are, or were before their extinction, expert navigators and traders.”
"Bronislaw Malinowski's pathbreaking Argonauts of the Western Pacific is at once a detailed account of exchange in the Melanesian islands and a manifesto of a modernist anthropology. Malinowski argued that the goal of…
vs
Tristes Tropiques
Tristes Tropiques was an immensely popular bestseller when it was first published in France in 1955. Claude Levi-Strauss's groundbreaking study of the societies of a number of Amazonian peoples is a cornerstone of…
The verdict
- Readers rate Tristes Tropiques highest: Tristes Tropiques 4.1 · Argonauts of the western Pacific 3.8.
- Tristes Tropiques is the quickest read — about 7 hours vs 11 for Argonauts of the western Pacific.
- Tristes Tropiques has the widest readership — 4318 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Argonauts of the western Pacific | Tristes Tropiques | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.8 (1483) | 4.1 (4318) |
| Hardcover | 4.0 (2) | 4.0 (11) |
Reception
| Argonauts of the western Pacific | Tristes Tropiques | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 1483 | 4318 |
| Editions | 61 | 84 |
| Citations | 2163 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 3274 | 16838 |
| Reading it now | 153 | 834 |
| Written reviews | 59 | 340 |
| Wikipedia attention | 787 | 1611 |
| Pages | 626 | 404 |