READING TIME · ALEXANDRE DUMAS · 1844

How long does it take to read The Count of Monte Cristo?

At an average reading speed, about 29 hours 40 minutes. The Count of Monte Cristo is 463,031 words long, in 117 chapters.

WORDS: 463,031
CHAPTERS: 117
READING LEVEL: About grade 8 (Flesch–Kincaid)

Reading time at different speeds

Total reading time for The Count of Monte Cristo at three reading speeds
Reader	Speed	Whole book
Unhurried	200 words a minute	38 h 35 min
Average adult reader	260 words a minute	29 h 40 min
Quick reader	320 words a minute	24 h 5 min

To finish it at a steady pace:

20 minutes a day: about 90 days
30 minutes a day: about 60 days
60 minutes a day: about 30 days

How many chapters are in The Count of Monte Cristo?

The Count of Monte Cristo has 117 chapters. The longest is Chapter 33: Roman Bandits (11,118 words, 43 min); the shortest is Chapter 71: Bread and Salt (1,326 words, 5 min). The average chapter takes 15 min.

Reading times below are at 260 words a minute.

Words and reading time for each chapter of The Count of Monte Cristo
Chapter	Words	Reading time	Practice in Parlor
Chapter 1: Marseilles—The Arrival	3,141	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 2: Father and Son	2,515	10 min	Check it →
Chapter 3: The Catalans	3,894	15 min	Check it →
Chapter 4: Conspiracy	2,222	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 5: The Marriage Feast	5,528	21 min	Check it →
Chapter 6: The Deputy Procureur du Roi	4,202	16 min	Check it →
Chapter 7: The Examination	3,487	13 min	Check it →
Chapter 8: The Château d’If	3,183	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 9: The Evening of the Betrothal	1,823	7 min	Check it →
Chapter 10: The King’s Closet at the Tuileries	2,780	11 min	Check it →
Chapter 11: The Corsican Ogre	2,908	11 min	Check it →
Chapter 12: Father and Son	2,551	10 min	Check it →
Chapter 13: The Hundred Days	2,463	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 14: The Two Prisoners	3,119	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 15: Number 34 and Number 27	5,376	21 min	Check it →
Chapter 16: A Learned Italian	4,170	16 min	Check it →
Chapter 17: The Abbé’s Chamber	7,739	30 min	Check it →
Chapter 18: The Treasure	4,624	18 min	Check it →
Chapter 19: The Third Attack	3,931	15 min	Check it →
Chapter 20: The Cemetery of the Château d’If	1,952	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 21: The Island of Tiboulen	3,703	14 min	Check it →
Chapter 22: The Smugglers	2,932	11 min	Check it →
Chapter 23: The Island of Monte Cristo	3,023	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 24: The Secret Cave	3,167	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 25: The Unknown	3,141	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 26: The Pont du Gard Inn	5,539	21 min	Check it →
Chapter 27: The Story	5,140	20 min	Check it →
Chapter 28: The Prison Register	2,316	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 29: The House of Morrel & Son	4,333	17 min	Check it →
Chapter 30: The Fifth of September	5,640	22 min	Check it →
Chapter 31: Italy: Sinbad the Sailor	8,621	33 min	Check it →
Chapter 32: The Waking	2,266	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 33: Roman Bandits	11,118	43 min	Check it →
Chapter 34: The Colosseum	10,790	42 min	Check it →
Chapter 35: La Mazzolata	5,315	20 min	Check it →
Chapter 36: The Carnival at Rome	6,354	24 min	Check it →
Chapter 37: The Catacombs of Saint Sebastian	5,982	23 min	Check it →
Chapter 38: The Rendezvous	3,092	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 39: The Guests	2,732	11 min	Check it →
Chapter 40: The Breakfast	8,300	32 min	Check it →
Chapter 41: The Presentation	5,072	20 min	Check it →
Chapter 42: Monsieur Bertuccio	1,590	6 min	Check it →
Chapter 43: The House at Auteuil	2,350	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 44: The Vendetta	8,558	33 min	Check it →
Chapter 45: The Rain of Blood	5,393	21 min	Check it →
Chapter 46: Unlimited Credit	5,071	20 min	Check it →
Chapter 47: The Dappled Grays	5,170	20 min	Check it →
Chapter 48: Ideology	4,544	17 min	Check it →
Chapter 49: Haydée	1,903	7 min	Check it →
Chapter 50: The Morrel Family	3,453	13 min	Check it →
Chapter 51: Pyramus and Thisbe	4,932	19 min	Check it →
Chapter 52: Toxicology	6,322	24 min	Check it →
Chapter 53: Robert le Diable	6,134	24 min	Check it →
Chapter 54: A Flurry in Stocks	4,095	16 min	Check it →
Chapter 55: Major Cavalcanti	3,544	14 min	Check it →
Chapter 56: Andrea Cavalcanti	4,389	17 min	Check it →
Chapter 57: In the Lucern Patch	4,414	17 min	Check it →
Chapter 58: M. Noirtier de Villefort	3,284	13 min	Check it →
Chapter 59: The Will	3,055	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 60: The Telegraph	3,619	14 min	Check it →
Chapter 61: How a Gardener May Get Rid of the Dormice that Eat His	3,036	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 62: Ghosts	2,887	11 min	Check it →
Chapter 63: The Dinner	3,382	13 min	Check it →
Chapter 64: The Beggar	3,056	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 65: A Conjugal Scene	3,615	14 min	Check it →
Chapter 66: Matrimonial Projects	3,294	13 min	Check it →
Chapter 67: The Office of the King’s Attorney	4,264	16 min	Check it →
Chapter 68: A Summer Ball	2,219	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 69: The Inquiry	3,102	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 70: The Ball	3,044	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 71: Bread and Salt	1,326	5 min	Check it →
Chapter 72: Madame de Saint-Méran	4,166	16 min	Check it →
Chapter 73: The Promise	9,305	36 min	Check it →
Chapter 74: The Villefort Family Vault	3,150	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 75: A Signed Statement	3,753	14 min	Check it →
Chapter 76: Progress of Cavalcanti the Younger	3,393	13 min	Check it →
Chapter 77: Haydée	8,170	31 min	Check it →
Chapter 78: We hear From Yanina	7,251	28 min	Check it →
Chapter 79: The Lemonade	4,024	15 min	Check it →
Chapter 80: The Accusation	2,014	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 81: The Room of the Retired Baker	5,658	22 min	Check it →
Chapter 82: The Burglary	4,480	17 min	Check it →
Chapter 83: The Hand of God	2,008	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 84: Beauchamp	2,097	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 85: The Journey	3,426	13 min	Check it →
Chapter 86: The Trial	4,610	18 min	Check it →
Chapter 87: The Challenge	2,233	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 88: The Insult	3,258	13 min	Check it →
Chapter 89: The Night	2,996	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 90: The Meeting	4,109	16 min	Check it →
Chapter 91: Mother and Son	2,234	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 92: The Suicide	3,083	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 93: Valentine	2,557	10 min	Check it →
Chapter 94: Maximilian’s Avowal	3,899	15 min	Check it →
Chapter 95: Father and Daughter	3,276	13 min	Check it →
Chapter 96: The Contract	3,707	14 min	Check it →
Chapter 97: The Departure for Belgium	2,180	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 98: The Bell and Bottle Tavern	4,424	17 min	Check it →
Chapter 99: The Law	3,431	13 min	Check it →
Chapter 100: The Apparition	2,438	9 min	Check it →
Chapter 101: Locusta	1,926	7 min	Check it →
Chapter 102: Valentine	1,999	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 103: Maximilian	2,984	11 min	Check it →
Chapter 104: Danglars’ Signature	3,538	14 min	Check it →
Chapter 105: The Cemetery of Père-Lachaise	4,496	17 min	Check it →
Chapter 106: Dividing the Proceeds	5,337	21 min	Check it →
Chapter 107: The Lions’ Den	2,637	10 min	Check it →
Chapter 108: The Judge	3,427	13 min	Check it →
Chapter 109: The Assizes	1,975	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 110: The Indictment	2,578	10 min	Check it →
Chapter 111: Expiation	3,074	12 min	Check it →
Chapter 112: The Departure	5,200	20 min	Check it →
Chapter 113: The Past	4,232	16 min	Check it →
Chapter 114: Peppino	3,723	14 min	Check it →
Chapter 115: Luigi Vampa’s Bill of Fare	2,164	8 min	Check it →
Chapter 116: The Pardon	1,730	7 min	Check it →
Chapter 117: The Fifth of October	5,452	21 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 The Count of Monte Cristo 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.

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How these numbers were worked out

Words are counted in The Count of Monte Cristo, Project Gutenberg eBook #1184, 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 (17.5 words) and word length. It measures how long the sentences and words are, not how hard the ideas are.

Similar length

David Copperfield 23 h 10 min
Bleak House 22 h 45 min
Little Dorrit 22 h
Our Mutual Friend 21 h 30 min

Also by Alexandre Dumas

The Three Musketeers 14 h 40 min

All reading times →