READING TIME · HERMAN MELVILLE · 1851

How long does it take to read Moby-Dick?

At an average reading speed, about 13 hours 25 minutes. Moby-Dick is 209,527 words long, in 135 chapters and a short epilogue.

WORDS: 209,527
CHAPTERS: 135
READING LEVEL: About grade 10 (Flesch–Kincaid)

Reading time at different speeds

Total reading time for Moby-Dick at three reading speeds
Reader	Speed	Whole book
Unhurried	200 words a minute	17 h 30 min
Average adult reader	260 words a minute	13 h 25 min
Quick reader	320 words a minute	10 h 55 min

To finish it at a steady pace:

20 minutes a day: about 41 days
30 minutes a day: about 27 days
60 minutes a day: about 14 days

How many chapters are in Moby-Dick?

Moby-Dick has 135 chapters. The longest is Chapter 54: The Town-Ho’s Story (8,036 words, 31 min); the shortest is Chapter 122: Midnight Aloft.—Thunder and Lightning (45 words, 1 min). The average chapter takes 6 min. In Parlor the epilogue is at the end of chapter 135, so its words are counted there.

Reading times below are at 260 words a minute.

Words and reading time for each chapter of Moby-Dick
Chapter	Words	Reading time	Practice in Parlor
Chapter 1: Loomings	2,217	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 2: The Carpet-Bag	1,435	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 3: The Spouter-Inn	5,847	22 min	Check it →
Chapter 4: The Counterpane	1,659	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 5: Breakfast	741	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 6: The Street	810	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 7: The Chapel	946	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 8: The Pulpit	947	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 9: The Sermon	3,605	14 min	Check it →
Chapter 10: A Bosom Friend	1,557	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 11: Nightgown	721	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 12: Biographical	880	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 13: Wheelbarrow	1,695	7 min	Check it →
Chapter 14: Nantucket	754	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 15: Chowder	1,182	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 16: The Ship	5,474	21 min	Check it →
Chapter 17: The Ramadan	2,276	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 18: His Mark	1,351	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 19: The Prophet	1,207	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 20: All Astir	919	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 21: Going Aboard	1,069	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 22: Merry Christmas	1,637	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 23: The Lee Shore	361	1 min	Check it →
Chapter 24: The Advocate	1,656	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 25: Postscript	280	1 min	Check it →
Chapter 26: Knights and Squires	1,216	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 27: Knights and Squires	1,666	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 28: Ahab	1,399	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 29: Enter Ahab; to Him, Stubb	1,192	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 30: The Pipe	288	1 min	Check it →
Chapter 31: Queen Mab	882	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 32: Cetology	5,135	20 min	Check it →
Chapter 33: The Specksnyder	963	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 34: The Cabin-Table	2,191	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 35: The Mast-Head	2,536	10 min	Check it →
Chapter 36: The Quarter-Deck	2,794	11 min	Check it →
Chapter 37: Sunset	507	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 38: Dusk	392	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 39: First Night-Watch	265	1 min	Check it →
Chapter 40: Midnight, Forecastle	1,540	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 41: Moby Dick	3,771	15 min	Check it →
Chapter 42: The Whiteness of the Whale	3,618	14 min	Check it →
Chapter 43: Hark!	302	1 min	Check it →
Chapter 44: The Chart	2,026	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 45: The Affidavit	3,541	14 min	Check it →
Chapter 46: Surmises	993	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 47: The Mat-Maker	920	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 48: The First Lowering	3,940	15 min	Check it →
Chapter 49: The Hyena	831	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 50: Ahab’s Boat and Crew. Fedallah	1,002	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 51: The Spirit-Spout	1,501	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 52: The Albatross	713	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 53: The Gam	1,610	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 54: The Town-Ho’s Story	8,036	31 min	Check it →
Chapter 55: Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales	1,879	7 min	Check it →
Chapter 56: Of the Less Erroneous Pictures of Whales, and the True	1,294	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 57: Of Whales in Paint; in Teeth; in Wood; in Sheet-Iron; in	932	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 58: Brit	1,006	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 59: Squid	919	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 60: The Line	1,458	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 61: Stubb Kills a Whale	1,959	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 62: The Dart	566	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 63: The Crotch	472	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 64: Stubb’s Supper	2,979	11 min	Check it →
Chapter 65: The Whale as a Dish	983	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 66: The Shark Massacre	625	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 67: Cutting In	728	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 68: The Blanket	1,194	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 69: The Funeral	430	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 70: The Sphynx	868	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 71: The Jeroboam’s Story	2,247	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 72: The Monkey-Rope	1,634	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 73: Stubb and Flask kill a Right Whale; and Then Have a Talk	2,162	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 74: The Sperm Whale’s Head—Contrasted View	1,629	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 75: The Right Whale’s Head—Contrasted View	1,219	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 76: The Battering-Ram	867	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 77: The Great Heidelburgh Tun	634	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 78: Cistern and Buckets	1,643	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 79: The Prairie	928	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 80: The Nut	899	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 81: The Pequod Meets The Virgin	4,319	17 min	Check it →
Chapter 82: The Honor and Glory of Whaling	1,146	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 83: Jonah Historically Regarded	772	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 84: Pitchpoling	803	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 85: The Fountain	2,065	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 86: The Tail	1,843	7 min	Check it →
Chapter 87: The Grand Armada	4,743	18 min	Check it →
Chapter 88: Schools and Schoolmasters	1,184	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 89: Fast-Fish and Loose-Fish	1,397	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 90: Heads or Tails	1,045	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 91: The Pequod Meets The Rose-Bud	2,488	10 min	Check it →
Chapter 92: Ambergris	966	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 93: The Castaway	1,598	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 94: A Squeeze of the Hand	1,260	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 95: The Cassock	495	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 96: The Try-Works	1,813	7 min	Check it →
Chapter 97: The Lamp	240	1 min	Check it →
Chapter 98: Stowing Down and Clearing Up	1,015	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 99: The Doubloon	2,426	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 100: Leg and Arm	2,702	10 min	Check it →
Chapter 101: The Decanter	1,770	7 min	Check it →
Chapter 102: A Bower in the Arsacides	1,542	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 103: Measurement of The Whale’s Skeleton	915	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 104: The Fossil Whale	1,414	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 105: Does the Whale’s Magnitude Diminish?—Will He Perish?	1,547	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 106: Ahab’s Leg	921	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 107: The Carpenter	1,034	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 108: Ahab and the Carpenter	1,566	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 109: Ahab and Starbuck in the Cabin	903	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 110: Queequeg in His Coffin	2,238	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 111: The Pacific	415	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 112: The Blacksmith	924	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 113: The Forge	1,219	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 114: The Gilder	636	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 115: The Pequod Meets The Bachelor	870	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 116: The Dying Whale	512	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 117: The Whale Watch	469	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 118: The Quadrant	888	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 119: The Candles	2,522	10 min	Check it →
Chapter 120: The Deck Towards the End of the First Night Watch	170	1 min	Check it →
Chapter 121: Midnight.—The Forecastle Bulwarks	616	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 122: Midnight Aloft.—Thunder and Lightning	45	1 min	Check it →
Chapter 123: The Musket	1,229	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 124: The Needle	1,198	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 125: The Log and Line	1,096	4 min	Check it →
Chapter 126: The Life-Buoy	1,364	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 127: The Deck	699	3 min	Check it →
Chapter 128: The Pequod Meets The Rachel	1,397	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 129: The Cabin	580	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 130: The Hat	1,690	7 min	Check it →
Chapter 131: The Pequod Meets The Delight	422	2 min	Check it →
Chapter 132: The Symphony	1,609	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 133: The Chase—First Day	3,533	14 min	Check it →
Chapter 134: The Chase—Second Day	3,319	13 min	Check it →
Chapter 135: The Chase.—Third Day	4,785	18 min	Check it →

READING IT FOR CLASS?

Knowing how long it takes is one thing. Understanding it is another.

Parlor Study is a reading comprehension companion. Read Moby-Dick one chapter at a time, then make sure you understood it.

Read a chapter. The full Project Gutenberg text, with highlights, notes and read-aloud.
Explain it in your own words. Challenge me asks about the main idea, what the text suggests without saying, and the turn the chapter hinges on, then checks your answer against the text.
Talk it through, then come back. Discuss stays within the chapters you have reached, so it won’t give away what comes next, and Revisit brings your ideas back later.

Open Moby-Dick in Parlor →How Parlor practices reading comprehension

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How these numbers were worked out

Words are counted in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, Project Gutenberg eBook #2701, the edition Parlor opens, divided into chapters exactly as Parlor shows them. Project Gutenberg’s licence and notes are left out. Other editions may differ slightly.

Reading speeds follow Marc Brysbaert’s review of 190 studies, which found that adults read English silently at about 260 words a minute for fiction and 238 for non-fiction (Journal of Memory and Language, 2019). Older and more difficult books often take longer than their word count suggests.

The reading level is the Flesch–Kincaid grade, worked out from average sentence length (22.1 words) and word length. It measures how long the sentences and words are, not how hard the ideas are.

Similar length

The Deerslayer 13 h 35 min
Adam Bede 13 h 50 min
The Three Musketeers 14 h 40 min
Jane Eyre 11 h 55 min

All reading times →