# How long would it take you to read a 1000 pg book? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 1, 2009, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-you-to-read-a-1000-pg-book/519570 "2009-12-01T09:14:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-you-to-read-a-1000-pg-book/519570/101 "2016-06-28T03:25:52Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > you actually sound out the words? I didn’t think anyone did that unless it was a word they had never seen before. Most people go by the “shape” of the words, kind of like how your fingers (well, your brain) learn “patterns” of typing each word or phrase instead of hunting and pecking for individual letters. Reading/writing and talking/speaking seem to be entirely different brain processes. I can read entire pages at a glance, not in detail, but enough to get the gist and/or to locate the relevant information I am looking for. I don’t read for pleasure that way but’s handy when scanning through a textbook, paper, or a webpage. People tend to be really good at visually spotting patterns. I read at talking seed – reading “to myself” as if I were reading out loud to someone else. I see no point in speed reading. Many of the best-selling non-fiction books (Future Shock, Peter Principle) you can get the entire idea from the dust jacket, and reading the whole book adds nothing at all to your comprehension of the topic. Thee was a joke about a guy who took a speed-reading course, read “Huckleberry Finn” in 45 minutes, and never laughed once. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-you-to-read-a-1000-pg-book/519570/102 "2016-06-28T15:19:10Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Some of you people are nuts. I mean it’s one thing to recognize all the words you’re looking at and get the gist, but how can you really _digest_ so much text in so short a time? When I am reading I am also trying to visualize what I’m reading and that means going at a fairly slow pace. I haven’t really timed myself, but I sure as hell can’t read an 800 page book in 5-6 hours as some people have claimed in here. Not even close. I’m the same way. I like to take my time reading fiction. Really absorb the story. I read about 200 pages in 4 to 5 hours. That’s the longest I like to read at one sitting. 5 days to finish King’s book. I can speed read. Skim through paragraphs to get the gist of what’s being said. Did it frequently with my textbooks. I always read the chapter quickly then went back to focus on the areas we covered in class. > [@gladtobeblazed](#): > > I like to go through the dialogue as naturally as possible, as though I were reading a play. I like to sort of play a movie in my mind as I go through a novel. I figure about 10-20 pages per hour. > > This is also how I tend to read threads here; as though the posters were actually speaking to one another. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-you-to-read-a-1000-pg-book/519570/103 "2016-06-28T19:45:24Z")
For kicks and grins, [here](http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/technology-research-centers/ereaders/speed-reader/) is an online reading test that measures words per minute and a quick 3 question comprehension test. Going at my normal recreational reading speed I got about 500 wpm at 100% comprehension. Per that site, I could get through War and Peace (1,200-1,300 pages) in just over 22 hours of non-stop reading. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-you-to-read-a-1000-pg-book/519570/104 "2016-06-28T20:58:33Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > For kicks and grins, [here](http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/technology-research-centers/ereaders/speed-reader/) is an online reading test that measures words per minute and a quick 3 question comprehension test. Going at my normal recreational reading speed I got about 500 wpm at 100% comprehension. Per that site, I could get through War and Peace (1,200-1,300 pages) in just over 22 hours of non-stop reading. I took the test three times. (There seems to be three different text samples used in the test.) My average was 588 wpm with 89% comprehension. This felt like I was racing, and was faster than I felt comfortable with. Then I took it three more times, reading at my normal reading pace. This time, I got an average of 470 wpm with 100% comprehension (which was helped by the fact that I was now reading the same three selections a second time). So referring back to my 2009 [post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11839168&postcount=39)earlier in this thread, it would have only taken me about 3.5 hours to read **The Hobbit** (95,356 words) at a reading speed of 470 wpm. This means that reading this book in a single sitting should have been easily doable. Reading **The Source** (500K words) in a single sitting is a much more daunting task. At a pace of 470 wpm, it would have taken me nearly 18 hours. This seems like a stretch, but could have happened. I remember some long summer days home by myself. For what it’s worth, it was my second time reading the book. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-you-to-read-a-1000-pg-book/519570/105 "2016-06-28T21:38:09Z")
Reading isn’t a “words per minute” thing. Some writing is meant to be read quickly, like page-turner thrillers, or grocery lists. Some writing is meant to be read quite slowly and closely, like math papers and legal codes. I could read (and have) a \>1000 page Stephen King book in a couple of days. Try that with a dictionary sometime. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-you-to-read-a-1000-pg-book/519570/106 "2016-06-28T21:39:08Z")
“Atlas Shrugged” took about 2 hours because so much of it was obviously repetitive meth-addled drivel. “The Instructions” took me about 3 weeks the first time, and it’ll take longer the next time. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-you-to-read-a-1000-pg-book/519570/107 "2016-06-30T02:11:35Z")
I just reread the entire Harry Potter series in about a month, with just a few hours of spare time per night and one long binge-reading weekend. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-it-take-you-to-read-a-1000-pg-book/519570.md?page=5)