How long does it take to read the classics?
Most classic novels take 4 to 13 hours to read at an average pace of 238 words a minute. The Great Gatsby takes about 3 h 15 min, Pride and Prejudice about 8 h 15 min, and War and Peace about 37 h 5 min.
| Book | Words | Pages | Reading time | Reading time | Reading time | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wuthering Heights | 113,300 | 326 | 9 h 27 min | 7 h 56 min | 6 h 18 min | Medium |
| The Odyssey | 114,500 | 356 | 9 h 33 min | 8 h 1 min | 6 h 22 min | Medium |
| Macbeth | 18,500 | 52 | 1 h 32 min | 1 h 18 min | 1 h 2 min | Medium |
| Hamlet, Prince of Denmark | 30,800 | – | 2 h 34 min | 2 h 9 min | 1 h 43 min | Medium |
| Romeo and Juliet | 25,600 | 73 | 2 h 8 min | 1 h 48 min | 1 h 25 min | Medium |
| Frankenstein | 69,800 | 205 | 5 h 49 min | 4 h 53 min | 3 h 53 min | Medium |
| The Great Gatsby | 46,700 | 136 | 3 h 53 min | 3 h 16 min | 2 h 36 min | Medium |
| Pride and Prejudice | 117,600 | 352 | 9 h 48 min | 8 h 14 min | 6 h 32 min | Medium |
| Persuasion | 78,700 | 230 | 6 h 33 min | 5 h 31 min | 4 h 22 min | Medium |
| Peter Pan | 44,800 | 131 | 3 h 44 min | 3 h 8 min | 2 h 29 min | Easy |
| Othello, the Moor of Venice | 27,700 | 79 | 2 h 18 min | 1 h 56 min | 1 h 32 min | Medium |
| Dracula | 150,500 | 446 | 12 h 32 min | 10 h 32 min | 8 h 22 min | Challenging |
| Beauty and the Beast | 4,920 | – | 25 min | 21 min | 16 min | Medium |
| A Christmas Carol | 27,100 | 83 | 2 h 15 min | 1 h 54 min | 1 h 30 min | Medium |
| Crime and Punishment | 190,800 | 570 | 15 h 54 min | 13 h 22 min | 10 h 36 min | Challenging |
| Beowulf: An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem | 38,800 | – | 3 h 14 min | 2 h 43 min | 2 h 9 min | Medium |
| Julius Caesar | 20,700 | 59 | 1 h 43 min | 1 h 27 min | 1 h 9 min | Medium |
| Jane Eyre: An Autobiography | 177,900 | 516 | 14 h 50 min | 12 h 28 min | 9 h 53 min | Challenging |
| 1 Enoch | 34,300 | 138 | 2 h 51 min | 2 h 24 min | 1 h 54 min | Medium |
| Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy | 180,700 | 539 | 15 h 4 min | 12 h 39 min | 10 h 2 min | Challenging |
| Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will | 21,000 | 60 | 1 h 45 min | 1 h 28 min | 1 h 10 min | Medium |
| The Phantom of the Opera | 79,100 | – | 6 h 36 min | 5 h 32 min | 4 h 24 min | Medium |
| The Iliad | 136,300 | 421 | 11 h 21 min | 9 h 33 min | 7 h 34 min | Medium |
| Emma | 149,900 | 442 | 12 h 30 min | 10 h 30 min | 8 h 20 min | Medium |
| The Tragedy of King Lear | 28,000 | – | 2 h 20 min | 1 h 58 min | 1 h 33 min | Medium |
| Meditations | 55,400 | 212 | 4 h 37 min | 3 h 53 min | 3 h 5 min | Medium |
| Much Ado About Nothing | 21,900 | – | 1 h 49 min | 1 h 32 min | 1 h 13 min | Medium |
| The Count of Monte Cristo | 423,300 | – | 35 h 17 min | 29 h 39 min | 23 h 31 min | Challenging |
| The Art of War | 48,800 | – | 4 h 4 min | 3 h 25 min | 2 h 43 min | Medium |
| Oliver Twist | 146,100 | – | 12 h 10 min | 10 h 14 min | 8 h 7 min | Medium |
| Treasure Island | 64,100 | – | 5 h 21 min | 4 h 29 min | 3 h 34 min | Medium |
| Great Expectations | 172,600 | 516 | 14 h 23 min | 12 h 5 min | 9 h 35 min | Challenging |
| Don Quixote | 367,700 | – | 30 h 38 min | 25 h 45 min | 20 h 26 min | Challenging |
| Sense and Sensibility | 110,100 | – | 9 h 10 min | 7 h 43 min | 6 h 7 min | Medium |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | 17,100 | 48 | 1 h 25 min | 1 h 12 min | 57 min | Medium |
| Daisy | 113,200 | – | 9 h 26 min | 7 h 55 min | 6 h 17 min | Medium |
| As You Like It | 22,500 | 64 | 1 h 52 min | 1 h 34 min | 1 h 15 min | Medium |
| Paradise Lost | 84,000 | – | 7 h | 5 h 53 min | 4 h 40 min | Challenging |
| The Playboy of the Western World | 19,000 | – | 1 h 35 min | 1 h 20 min | 1 h 3 min | Medium |
| The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People | 19,300 | – | 1 h 36 min | 1 h 21 min | 1 h 4 min | Medium |
| Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | 105,000 | – | 8 h 45 min | 7 h 21 min | 5 h 50 min | Medium |
| The Book of Mormon | 228,400 | – | 19 h 2 min | 16 h | 12 h 41 min | Challenging |
| War and Peace | 529,400 | – | 44 h 7 min | 37 h 5 min | 29 h 25 min | Challenging |
| The Scarlet Letter | 77,000 | 234 | 6 h 25 min | 5 h 24 min | 4 h 17 min | Challenging |
| Heart of Darkness | 36,400 | 106 | 3 h 2 min | 2 h 33 min | 2 h 1 min | Medium |
| Anne of Green Gables | 97,900 | 293 | 8 h 10 min | 6 h 51 min | 5 h 26 min | Medium |
| Les Misérables | 508,300 | – | 42 h 21 min | 35 h 36 min | 28 h 14 min | Challenging |
| The Picture of Dorian Gray | 73,400 | 219 | 6 h 7 min | 5 h 8 min | 4 h 5 min | Medium |
| The Call of the Wild | 30,100 | 88 | 2 h 31 min | 2 h 6 min | 1 h 40 min | Medium |
| Metamorphosis | 19,500 | 52 | 1 h 38 min | 1 h 22 min | 1 h 5 min | Challenging |
| A Doll's House: A Play | 24,500 | 74 | 2 h 3 min | 1 h 43 min | 1 h 22 min | Medium |
| The Fall of the House of Usher | 6,230 | – | 31 min | 26 min | 21 min | Challenging |
| A Tale of Two Cities | 126,800 | – | 10 h 34 min | 8 h 53 min | 7 h 3 min | Medium |
| Grapes of Wrath | 53,200 | – | 4 h 26 min | 3 h 43 min | 2 h 57 min | Medium |
| Anna Karenina | 325,000 | – | 27 h 5 min | 22 h 46 min | 18 h 3 min | Challenging |
| The Wind in the Willows | 54,700 | 166 | 4 h 34 min | 3 h 50 min | 3 h 2 min | Medium |
| Mrs. Dalloway | 62,000 | 179 | 5 h 10 min | 4 h 21 min | 3 h 27 min | Medium |
| The Secret Garden | 75,900 | 227 | 6 h 19 min | 5 h 19 min | 4 h 13 min | Medium |
| The Brothers Karamazov | 329,600 | – | 27 h 28 min | 23 h 5 min | 18 h 19 min | Challenging |
| Hyperion | 66,900 | – | 5 h 35 min | 4 h 41 min | 3 h 43 min | Medium |
| Notes from the Underground | 41,000 | – | 3 h 25 min | 2 h 52 min | 2 h 17 min | Medium |
| The Jungle Book | 47,800 | 144 | 3 h 59 min | 3 h 21 min | 2 h 39 min | Easy |
| Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | 25,000 | 75 | 2 h 5 min | 1 h 45 min | 1 h 23 min | Medium |
| David Copperfield | 333,400 | – | 27 h 47 min | 23 h 21 min | 18 h 31 min | Challenging |
| Uncle Tom’s Cabin | 171,000 | – | 14 h 15 min | 11 h 59 min | 9 h 30 min | Challenging |
| The Merchant of Venice | 21,700 | 63 | 1 h 49 min | 1 h 31 min | 1 h 12 min | Medium |
| Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience | 110,100 | 320 | 9 h 10 min | 7 h 43 min | 6 h 7 min | Challenging |
| The King in Yellow | 68,900 | 200 | 5 h 45 min | 4 h 50 min | 3 h 50 min | Medium |
| Black Beauty | 55,700 | 166 | 4 h 39 min | 3 h 54 min | 3 h 6 min | Easy |
| Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | 19,600 | – | 1 h 38 min | 1 h 22 min | 1 h 5 min | Medium |
| The Communist Manifesto | 10,500 | 32 | 52 min | 44 min | 35 min | Challenging |
| The Aeneid | 108,900 | – | 9 h 4 min | 7 h 37 min | 6 h 3 min | Medium |
| Middlemarch | 297,900 | – | 24 h 49 min | 20 h 52 min | 16 h 33 min | Challenging |
| The Legend of Sleepy Hollow | 11,200 | 34 | 56 min | 47 min | 37 min | Challenging |
| Work: A Story of Experience | 114,800 | 332 | 9 h 34 min | 8 h 2 min | 6 h 23 min | Medium |
| Brothers | 110,800 | – | 9 h 14 min | 7 h 46 min | 6 h 9 min | Medium |
| Pollyanna | 53,300 | 162 | 4 h 26 min | 3 h 44 min | 2 h 58 min | Easy |
| The Hound of the Baskervilles | 53,800 | 164 | 4 h 29 min | 3 h 46 min | 2 h 59 min | Medium |
| Journey to the West | 593,100 | – | 49 h 26 min | 41 h 32 min | 32 h 57 min | Challenging |
| Hedda Gabler | 25,000 | 85 | 2 h 5 min | 1 h 45 min | 1 h 23 min | Medium |
| Through the Looking-Glass | 28,500 | 85 | 2 h 22 min | 2 h | 1 h 35 min | Easy |
| Mansfield Park | 150,100 | 441 | 12 h 30 min | 10 h 30 min | 8 h 20 min | Challenging |
| The Turn of the Screw | 39,700 | 119 | 3 h 19 min | 2 h 47 min | 2 h 12 min | Medium |
| Rip Van Winkle | 6,950 | – | 35 min | 29 min | 23 min | Medium |
| Candide | 32,600 | 99 | 2 h 43 min | 2 h 17 min | 1 h 49 min | Medium |
| Madame Bovary | 109,300 | 321 | 9 h 6 min | 7 h 39 min | 6 h 4 min | Medium |
| We | 60,000 | 178 | 5 h | 4 h 12 min | 3 h 20 min | Easy |
| Bushido, the Soul of Japan | 31,000 | – | 2 h 35 min | 2 h 10 min | 1 h 43 min | Challenging |
| Beyond Good and Evil | 58,700 | – | 4 h 53 min | 4 h 6 min | 3 h 16 min | Challenging |
| Northanger Abbey | 72,000 | 214 | 6 h | 5 h 2 min | 4 h | Medium |
| Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded | 209,800 | – | 17 h 29 min | 14 h 42 min | 11 h 39 min | Challenging |
| Aesop's Fables; A New Translation | 33,200 | – | 2 h 46 min | 2 h 20 min | 1 h 51 min | Medium |
| The Last of the Mohicans | 131,900 | – | 11 h | 9 h 14 min | 7 h 20 min | Challenging |
| Mist (Nivola) | 57,600 | – | 4 h 48 min | 4 h 2 min | 3 h 12 min | Easy |
| Norse Mythology | 108,400 | – | 9 h 2 min | 7 h 35 min | 6 h 1 min | Medium |
| The Idiot | 223,500 | 676 | 18 h 37 min | 15 h 39 min | 12 h 25 min | Challenging |
| Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street | 13,600 | 40 | 1 h 8 min | 57 min | 45 min | Medium |
| Far from the Madding Crowd | 129,300 | – | 10 h 46 min | 9 h 3 min | 7 h 11 min | Medium |
| Arms and the Man | 22,300 | 69 | 1 h 51 min | 1 h 34 min | 1 h 14 min | Medium |
| Antony and Cleopatra | 27,100 | – | 2 h 16 min | 1 h 54 min | 1 h 30 min | Medium |
Times at the chosen pace. Updated 26 Oct 2026.
200,000+ classics in one membership
15-minute summaries today, eBooks and audiobooks as each book opens, and printed books, large print included, at cost.
Try 3 months freeHow long is an average classic novel?
An average classic novel takes about 10 h 5 min to read at 238 words a minute. Most take between 4 and 13 hours, and the middle book of the 100 on this page takes 4 h 15 min.
How many pages can you read in an hour?
At 238 words a minute you read about 43 printed pages an hour, because a page of one of our editions holds about 336 words. Poetry and plays take longer per page, because they are made to be heard.
How can you read faster?
A fast reader reaches 300 words a minute and a slow one 200. For Pride and Prejudice that is 6 h 30 min against 9 h 50 min. Reading a little every day, and starting with a book at an easier level, is how most readers build speed.
Which are the longest classics?
The longest of these 100 classics is Journey to the West at 41 h 30 min to read, followed by War and Peace (37 h 5 min) and Les Misérables (35 h 35 min).
Which are the shortest classics?
The shortest is Beauty and the Beast at 20 min, then The Fall of the House of Usher (25 min) and Rip Van Winkle (30 min). 55 percent of the 100 take under five hours.
