How long does it take to read Brave New World?
Aldous Huxley
At an average reading speed of 250 words a minute, Brave New World takes 4 hours 58 minutes to read. The unabridged audiobook runs 8h at 1x, or 5h 20m at 1.5x.
Brave New World is the middle length of the three dystopias most people read at school: longer than Fahrenheit 451, shorter than 1984. Its 18 chapters average about 17 minutes each by our estimate.
Average is about 250 WPM. Measure yours in two minutes and every time on this page recalculates.
How much to read a day
At 250 words a minute, to finish the book:
Have a deadline in mind? The pages-per-day calculator works it out for any date.
How we measured it
Method: audiobook estimate. Estimated from the unabridged audiobook narrated by Michael York (8:00) at 155 words a minute. York reads slowly, so this probably overstates the text a little. Brave New World is in US copyright until 2028.
Part of our study of the 100 most popular books, last checked November 2026. Reading times assume steady reading; editions, translations and your own pace all move them.
See how long it really takes you
Log it in Parch as you read. It tracks your pages, sessions and streak, so you'll know your real pace, and how long the next one will take.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read Brave New World?
About 4h 58m at an average reading speed of 250 words a minute: 6h 12m at 200 and 4h 8m at 300.
How many words are in Brave New World?
About 74,400 words. That's estimated from the unabridged audiobook at a narration pace of 155 words a minute, so treat it as close, not exact.
How long is the audiobook?
About 8 hours unabridged at 1x: 5h 20m at 1.5x and 4h at 2x.
How many pages a day to finish Brave New World in a month?
About 10 pages a day, or 10m of reading a day at an average pace. That assumes about 271 pages at 275 words a page; real page counts vary by edition.
How many chapters does Brave New World have?
18. By our estimate they average a little over 4,000 words, or about 17 minutes of reading each.
Which is longest: Brave New World, 1984 or Fahrenheit 451?
1984, at about 114,000 words. Brave New World is about 74,000 and Fahrenheit 451 about 45,000, all by the same audiobook estimate. At an average pace that's roughly 7.5, 5 and 3 hours.