Reading times

How long does it take to read the classics?

Every word count below is counted from the full text, not guessed from a page count. Times assume an average reading speed of 250 words per minute. Pick a book that fits the time you actually have, and read it free.

Books

1.8M

Words counted

25m

Shortest

120h

All of them

Every book, shortest first

Book	Words	Reading time	At 30 min a day	Level
The Yellow WallpaperCharlotte Perkins Gilman	6,147	25m	a single sitting	B2
The King of the Golden RiverJohn Ruskin	8,987	36m	2 days	A2
The Canterville GhostOscar Wilde	11,291	45m	2 days	B1-B2
The Legend of Sleepy HollowWashington Irving	12,225	49m	2 days	B2
The MetamorphosisFranz Kafka	22,008	1h 28m	3 days	B1-B2
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeRobert Louis Stevenson	25,626	1h 43m	4 days	B2
Alice's Adventures in WonderlandLewis Carroll	26,475	1h 46m	4 days	A2-B1
The Little Lame PrinceDinah Craik	27,368	1h 49m	4 days	A2
CarmillaJoseph Sheridan Le Fanu	27,849	1h 51m	4 days	B2
A Christmas CarolCharles Dickens	28,549	1h 54m	4 days	B2
The Call of the WildJack London	31,759	2h 7m	5 days	B1-B2
The Time MachineH. G. Wells	32,470	2h 10m	5 days	B1-B2
Heart of DarknessJoseph Conrad	38,488	2h 34m	6 days	C1
The Adventures of PinocchioCarlo Collodi	39,024	2h 36m	6 days	A2
The Wonderful Wizard of OzL. Frank Baum	39,139	2h 37m	6 days	A2-B1
The Turn of the ScrewHenry James	39,965	2h 40m	6 days	B2-C1
Peter PanJ. M. Barrie	47,087	3h 8m	about a week	B1
The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald	48,346	3h 13m	about a week	B2-C1
The AwakeningKate Chopin	49,821	3h 19m	about a week	B2
The Wind in the WillowsKenneth Grahame	58,720	3h 55m	about a week	B1-B2
The Railway ChildrenE. Nesbit	59,188	3h 57m	about a week	A2-B1
Black BeautyAnna Sewell	59,541	3h 58m	about a week	A2-B1
Around the World in Eighty DaysJules Verne	62,797	4h 11m	about a week	B1
A Little PrincessFrances Hodgson Burnett	66,240	4h 25m	about a week	A2-B1
FrankensteinMary Shelley	69,412	4h 38m	about a week	B2
The Adventures of Tom SawyerMark Twain	70,521	4h 42m	about a week	B1-B2
The Picture of Dorian GrayOscar Wilde	78,652	5h 15m	about a week	B2-C1
The Secret GardenFrances Hodgson Burnett	80,776	5h 23m	about a week	B1
HeidiJohanna Spyri	91,110	6h 4m	about a week	A2-B1
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery	101,996	6h 48m	about 2 weeks	B1-B2
Madame BovaryGustave Flaubert	115,561	7h 42m	about 2 weeks	B2-C1
Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen	121,905	8h 8m	about 2 weeks	B2
Crime and PunishmentFyodor Dostoevsky	196,845	13h 7m	about 4 weeks	C1

Pick by how much time you have

The most common reason a classic goes unfinished is picking one that was never going to fit the time available. Start with the group that matches your week.

One sitting

Under 90 minutes. Start and finish tonight.

The Yellow Wallpaper25m The King of the Golden River36m The Canterville Ghost45m The Legend of Sleepy Hollow49m

An evening or two

Between about 90 minutes and 3 hours.

The Metamorphosis1h 28m The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde1h 43m Alice's Adventures in Wonderland1h 46m The Little Lame Prince1h 49m Carmilla1h 51m A Christmas Carol1h 54m The Call of the Wild2h 7m The Time Machine2h 10m Heart of Darkness2h 34m The Adventures of Pinocchio2h 36m The Wonderful Wizard of Oz2h 37m The Turn of the Screw2h 40m

A normal novel

Roughly 3 to 5 hours, a week at 30 minutes a day.

Peter Pan3h 8m The Great Gatsby3h 13m The Awakening3h 19m The Wind in the Willows3h 55m The Railway Children3h 57m Black Beauty3h 58m Around the World in Eighty Days4h 11m A Little Princess4h 25m Frankenstein4h 38m The Adventures of Tom Sawyer4h 42m The Picture of Dorian Gray5h 15m

A longer novel

5 to 9 hours. Worth a proper run at it.

The Secret Garden5h 23m Heidi6h 4m Anne of Green Gables6h 48m Madame Bovary7h 42m Pride and Prejudice8h 8m

The long ones

Over 9 hours. A month of daily reading.

Crime and Punishment13h 7m

These times assume you read at 250 wpm

Most people don’t. The gap between a slow and a fast reader more than doubles every number on this page. Take the free reading speed test to get your real figure, then see exactly which of these books you could finish in a week, a month or a year.

Test your reading speed

Common questions

How long does it take to read a classic novel?

It depends far more on the book than on the reader. Across the 33 classics on ReadClassicly the shortest, The Yellow Wallpaper, takes about 25 minutes at an average 250 words per minute, while the longest, Crime and Punishment, takes about 13 hours 7 minutes. A typical classic novel runs 3 to 6 hours.

What is the shortest classic book?

Of the classics here, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is the shortest at 6,147 words, about 25 minutes of reading. It is a good first classic if you have never finished one.

How many classic books can I read in a year?

At an average 250 wpm, 30 minutes a day comes to about 2.7 million words a year, more than the 1,795,888 words of every book on this site combined. The reading speed test builds a list that fits your actual speed and the time you have.

How are these reading times calculated?

Every word count is counted from the full text we host, not estimated from a page count, then divided by a reading speed. The headline figure uses 250 words per minute, the average for an adult reading in their first language. Each book page also shows the time at 150 through 400 wpm.

For English learners

Reading a classic to learn English?

ReadClassicly has a free plan for English reading for beginners: graded classic stories with tap-to-define words, audio, and a short quiz after each one. Start at your level and build up to full books like this one. If you are just starting, begin with the short English stories for beginners.

Start the English reading plan Read a short story now