Charles Dickens Reading Time Calculator: Find Out How Long It Really Takes to Read All 15 Novels

Charles Dickens wrote fifteen complete novels across a career spanning from 1836 to 1870. They are among the most widely known titles in the English literary canon and among the least read in their entirety. Most people who know Dickens well have read one or two novels, often Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, or Oliver Twist. Reading the full fifteen is a project of a different order from reading any single one, and the honest scale of that project is something most people who have considered it have never quite calculated.

The fifteen novels total 3,948,078 words. That figure covers The Pickwick Papers at 357,489 words, Oliver Twist at 155,925 words, Nicholas Nickleby at 358,003 words, The Old Curiosity Shop at 233,483 words, Barnaby Rudge at 259,233 words, Martin Chuzzlewit at 321,407 words, Dombey and Son at 358,394 words, David Copperfield at 358,003 words, Bleak House at 360,947 words, Hard Times at 102,821 words, Little Dorrit at 339,002 words, A Tale of Two Cities at 135,420 words, Great Expectations at 183,349 words, Our Mutual Friend at 336,928 words, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood at 87,674 words.

At a reading speed of 200 words per minute, the complete fifteen novels take approximately 329 hours and 1 minute to read. At a careful study pace of 100 words per minute, that extends to approximately 658 hours and 2 minutes. At a typical audio narration pace of 130 words per minute, the full canon takes approximately 506 hours and 10 minutes.

These are large numbers, and they are honest ones. At 329 hours of reading time, the complete Dickens canon is shorter than the full Wheel of Time series but still larger than A Song of Ice and Fire across its five published books by a wide margin. It is, in terms of reading time, one of the largest single author novel canons in popular literary culture. A daily reading commitment of 30 minutes at 200 wpm would take approximately 658 days, just under two years. At 60 minutes a day, the same commitment finishes in around 329 days, just under one year.

Knowing the per novel figures matters as much as the total. Hard Times at 102,821 words takes around 8 hours 34 minutes at 200 wpm. Bleak House at 360,947 words takes around 30 hours 5 minutes at the same pace. Treating all fifteen novels as equivalent planning units would produce a schedule that runs drastically short on the longer works and far over on the shorter ones. The per novel breakdown in this calculator makes each individual commitment visible before the reading starts.

This calculator uses the verified word counts above for every novel in the Dickens canon and produces personalised reading time estimates at any speed, alongside daily and weekly planning tools and an audio comparison.

How the Calculator Works

The calculator uses verified word counts for all fifteen Dickens novels. The Pickwick Papers is 357,489 words. Oliver Twist is 155,925 words. Nicholas Nickleby is 358,003 words. The Old Curiosity Shop is 233,483 words. Barnaby Rudge is 259,233 words. Martin Chuzzlewit is 321,407 words. Dombey and Son is 358,394 words. David Copperfield is 358,003 words. Bleak House is 360,947 words. Hard Times is 102,821 words. Little Dorrit is 339,002 words. A Tale of Two Cities is 135,420 words. Great Expectations is 183,349 words. Our Mutual Friend is 336,928 words. The Mystery of Edwin Drood is 87,674 words. The full canon total is 3,948,078 words. These figures cover the primary text of each novel and do not include introductions, appendices, or editorial notes included in some modern editions.

The reading speed slider sets the words per minute pace for all time estimates. The default is 200 wpm, a reasonable average for adult readers of prose fiction. Preset buttons allow quick selection of common speeds, or the slider can be adjusted to match a personally timed reading pace. Every estimate in the calculator updates in real time as the slider is moved.

The study speed slider is separate and set to zero by default. This covers any slower, more deliberate reading mode: re reading passages, pausing between serial installments (as the novels were originally published), or engaging with the dense plotting and large casts at a more analytical pace. A study pace of 100 words per minute is a reasonable estimate for careful reading with regular pauses.

The audio toggle adds a comparison figure based on standard narration pace for the full canon. Professionally narrated recordings of all fifteen Dickens novels are available, with the complete fifteen novel canon running to approximately 506 hours and 10 minutes at a standard narration pace of 130 words per minute. The calculator adjusts this figure for playback speeds between 0.75 and 2.0 times standard.

The daily reading slider and the weekly planning option both return a personalised completion estimate in days or weeks. Entering the realistic daily or weekly minutes available shows how long the full canon, or any individual novel, would take at that pace.

The novel by novel table shows word count and reading time at the selected speed for each of the fifteen works, ordered by original publication date.

Reading vs Studying Dickens

Reading and studying are distinct modes of engagement, and for a body of work of this scale and density the difference in time is too large to ignore when planning.

Reading in the standard sense means moving through the text at a consistent forward pace, following the narrative without stopping except where the story naturally prompts a pause. At 200 words per minute, the complete fifteen novel canon takes approximately 329 hours and 1 minute. This is the estimate for working through all 3,948,078 words at a comfortable adult reading pace.

Study reading is slower. It involves pausing at passages of particular density or interest, re reading sections for comprehension, tracking the large casts and nested plot structures that run through most of the longer novels, and engaging with the text at a pace that allows for processing before moving forward. At 100 words per minute, the full canon takes approximately 658 hours and 2 minutes, double the reading time.

Dickens’s longer novels present a particular version of this challenge. Many of the novels that run to 320,000 words or more, including Bleak House, Little Dorrit, Our Mutual Friend, and the three novels close to 358,000 words each, contain large numbers of named characters and multiple intersecting plot threads that were originally followed across monthly or weekly serial installments. Readers encountering these novels in a single continuous read rather than as serial parts may find that the pace at which they can comfortably follow the material is slower than their standard reading speed, particularly across the longer middle sections where many threads are running at once.

For most readers approaching the canon for general enjoyment, the realistic total time sits between the reading and study estimates, typically in the range of 380 to 470 hours depending on which novels they spend the most time with.

Time Per Book

The fifteen Dickens novels range from just under 88,000 words to over 360,000 words, and those differences require a per novel planning approach rather than a single average based schedule.

Bleak House is the longest novel at 360,947 words. At 200 wpm it takes around 30 hours 5 minutes to read. It is one of four novels in the canon that exceed 355,000 words, and the longest of the group by a margin of around 2,500 words over Dombey and Son.

The four novels that cluster closely at the top of the word count range are Bleak House at 360,947 words, Dombey and Son at 358,394 words, Nicholas Nickleby at 358,003 words, and David Copperfield at 358,003 words. These four are essentially equal in reading time at approximately 29 hours 50 minutes to 30 hours 5 minutes each at 200 wpm.

The Pickwick Papers follows at 357,489 words, taking around 29 hours 47 minutes at 200 wpm. Martin Chuzzlewit is 321,407 words, taking around 26 hours 47 minutes. Little Dorrit is 339,002 words, taking around 28 hours 15 minutes. Our Mutual Friend is 336,928 words, taking around 28 hours 5 minutes.

Barnaby Rudge is 259,233 words, taking around 21 hours 36 minutes at 200 wpm. The Old Curiosity Shop is 233,483 words, taking around 19 hours 27 minutes. Great Expectations is 183,349 words, taking around 15 hours 17 minutes. Oliver Twist is 155,925 words, taking around 12 hours 59 minutes.

A Tale of Two Cities is 135,420 words, taking around 11 hours 17 minutes at 200 wpm. Hard Times is 102,821 words, taking around 8 hours 34 minutes. These two novels are the most commonly assigned in school and university contexts partly because of their relative brevity compared to the rest of the canon.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is the shortest novel at 87,674 words, taking around 7 hours 18 minutes at 200 wpm. It is an unfinished novel, left incomplete at Dickens’s death in 1870.

The average novel length across the fifteen works is 263,205 words, or around 21 hours 56 minutes at 200 wpm. The average is most representative of Barnaby Rudge and The Old Curiosity Shop, which sit closest to that figure.

Daily and Weekly Reading Plans

The full canon at 3,948,078 words and approximately 329 hours 1 minute of reading time at 200 wpm produces the following completion timelines at different daily and weekly commitments.

At 10 minutes a day, the full canon takes approximately 1,974 days, just under five years and five months. This is the honest figure for a very small daily commitment applied to one of the longest single author novel canons in the literary tradition. At this pace, Bleak House alone takes around 178 days.

At 15 minutes a day, the full canon takes approximately 1,316 days, just over three years and seven months. The longer novels each take around 118 days at this rate. Hard Times, the second shortest, takes around 51 days.

At 30 minutes a day, the full canon takes approximately 658 days, just under one year and ten months. This is a pace where each of the four longest novels takes around 59 to 60 days and the shorter ones, Hard Times and Edwin Drood, take around 17 to 22 days. At this rate the full fifteen novels are done in under two years.

At 60 minutes a day, the full canon takes approximately 329 days, just under one year. This is the most efficient realistic daily pace for completing the full Dickens canon within a calendar year. Bleak House takes around 30 days at this pace. The Mystery of Edwin Drood takes around 7 days.

At 60 minutes a week, the full canon takes approximately 329 weeks, equivalent to 10 minutes daily. A single one hour weekly session is the lowest practical pace for a reading project of this scale, where long gaps between sessions make it harder to maintain continuity across the complex plots of the longer novels.

At 120 minutes a week, the full canon takes approximately 164 weeks, around three years and two months. This is the equivalent of just over 17 minutes a day and is a realistic committed reading pace for the full fifteen novels while maintaining other regular commitments.

Reading vs Listening

The complete Charles Dickens novel canon is available in professionally narrated audiobook form across all fifteen works. At a standard narration pace of 130 words per minute, the full fifteen novel canon runs to approximately 506 hours and 10 minutes. This is longer than the silent reading time of approximately 329 hours 1 minute at 200 wpm, meaning audio at standard pace takes more time than reading at a comfortable adult speed.

At 1.5 times playback speed, the full canon audiobook runs to approximately 337 hours, broadly comparable to silent reading pace. At 1.25 times speed it runs to around 405 hours, still longer than reading pace but faster than standard narration. Many listeners find 1.3 to 1.5 times a comfortable range for the longer Dickens novels, where the density of dialogue, the variety of character voices, and the complex plotting benefit from a pace that allows for clear comprehension of who is speaking and what is being arranged.

The practical case for audio with the Dickens canon is strong for specific novels. Hard Times at around 13 hours at standard audio pace and A Tale of Two Cities at around 17 hours can be completed across a few weeks of commuting. The four novels that each run to around 45 hours at standard audio pace, Bleak House, Dombey and Son, Nicholas Nickleby, and David Copperfield, are projects where adding even 30 minutes of daily audio listening to a reading routine makes a clear difference to the overall pace.

The calculator’s audio toggle allows any playback speed to be entered and compared directly against the reading and study time estimates.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to read all fifteen Dickens novels?

At a reading speed of 200 words per minute, the complete fifteen novel canon takes approximately 329 hours 1 minute. At 30 minutes a day that is around 658 days, just under two years. At 60 minutes a day it is approximately 329 days, just under one year. At a study pace of 100 words per minute the canon takes approximately 658 hours 2 minutes. The calculator allows any words per minute rate to be entered for a personalised estimate.

How many words are in each Dickens novel?

The Pickwick Papers is 357,489 words. Oliver Twist is 155,925 words. Nicholas Nickleby is 358,003 words. The Old Curiosity Shop is 233,483 words. Barnaby Rudge is 259,233 words. Martin Chuzzlewit is 321,407 words. Dombey and Son is 358,394 words. David Copperfield is 358,003 words. Bleak House is 360,947 words. Hard Times is 102,821 words. Little Dorrit is 339,002 words. A Tale of Two Cities is 135,420 words. Great Expectations is 183,349 words. Our Mutual Friend is 336,928 words. The Mystery of Edwin Drood is 87,674 words. The full fifteen novel total is 3,948,078 words.

How long does each novel take to read?

At 200 words per minute: The Pickwick Papers takes approximately 29 hours 47 minutes. Oliver Twist approximately 12 hours 59 minutes. Nicholas Nickleby approximately 29 hours 50 minutes. The Old Curiosity Shop approximately 19 hours 27 minutes. Barnaby Rudge approximately 21 hours 36 minutes. Martin Chuzzlewit approximately 26 hours 47 minutes. Dombey and Son approximately 29 hours 52 minutes. David Copperfield approximately 29 hours 50 minutes. Bleak House approximately 30 hours 5 minutes. Hard Times approximately 8 hours 34 minutes. Little Dorrit approximately 28 hours 15 minutes. A Tale of Two Cities approximately 11 hours 17 minutes. Great Expectations approximately 15 hours 17 minutes. Our Mutual Friend approximately 28 hours 5 minutes. The Mystery of Edwin Drood approximately 7 hours 18 minutes.

Is the audiobook faster or slower than reading?

Slower at standard playback. The complete fifteen novel canon at standard narration pace of 130 wpm runs to approximately 506 hours 10 minutes, compared to around 329 hours 1 minute of silent reading at 200 wpm. At 1.5 times playback speed the full canon runs to approximately 337 hours, broadly comparable to standard reading pace. The gap between reading and listening reflects the slower narration pace that the density and variety of Dickens’s prose is typically given.

Is The Mystery of Edwin Drood a complete novel?

The calculator includes The Mystery of Edwin Drood at its verified word count of 87,674 words. It is an unfinished novel, left incomplete at Dickens’s death in 1870. The reading time figure covers the text as published, not a completed or speculative version. Whether to include it in a reading project is a personal decision the calculator does not address.

Can this calculator help plan a single novel reading project rather than the full canon?

Yes. The novel by novel table shows reading time, study time, and word count for each of the fifteen novels individually. Any single novel can be used as a standalone reading target using the daily or weekly planning tools. Setting the daily minutes slider and reading the per novel estimate from the table gives a completion date for any individual novel without committing to the full fifteen.

Who built this calculator?

The Savzz Charles Dickens Reading Time Calculator was built by the team at Savzz.co.uk, a UK money saving site. We build free practical tools designed to give honest answers to time and cost questions. We built it because the complete Dickens canon is one of those reading projects that sits as a vague long term intention for many readers of literary fiction without ever quite being turned into a concrete plan. Knowing that 60 minutes a day finishes all fifteen novels in under a year, or that 30 minutes a day completes it in under two years, gives that intention a specific and workable shape. The calculator is completely free and requires no sign up.

Final Thoughts

Reading the complete works of Charles Dickens is a project of genuine scale. At 3,948,078 words, the fifteen novels represent one of the largest single author reading commitments in the literary canon. The scale is real and worth acknowledging honestly rather than minimising.

What is also worth acknowledging is that large reading projects, approached with a specific plan and a consistent daily habit, do get completed. Sixty minutes a day finishes the full fifteen novels in under a year. Thirty minutes a day does it in under two years. Both of those timelines represent a real and achievable project for a reader who is committed to the canon rather than simply interested in the idea of it.

The calculator above gives the novel by novel breakdown, the daily and weekly planning tools, and the audio comparison. The novel by novel table is particularly important with Dickens because the range from 87,674 words to 360,947 words means that the time required for any single novel varies by a factor of more than four. A realistic plan accounts for those differences before the reading starts rather than discovering them mid schedule.