How long does it take to read The Count of Monte Cristo?
Alexandre Dumas
At an average reading speed of 250 words a minute, The Count of Monte Cristo takes about 31 hours to read. As an audiobook, expect about 49 hours at 1x.
The Count of Monte Cristo is the third-longest single book in our study, after War and Peace and Les Misérables. It was written as a newspaper serial, so its 117 chapters are short, about 16 minutes each, and most end on a hook. Check your copy: abridged editions are common and much shorter.
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: counted text. We used the Project Gutenberg text (#1184), the unabridged, anonymous 1846 English translation, from Chapter 1 to the end. Footnotes aren't included.
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 The Count of Monte Cristo?
About 31 hours at an average reading speed of 250 words a minute: 38 hours at 200 and 26 hours at 300.
How many words are in The Count of Monte Cristo?
459,809 words.
How many pages a day to finish The Count of Monte Cristo in a month?
About 56 pages a day, or 1h 2m of reading a day at an average pace. That assumes about 1,672 pages at 275 words a page; real page counts vary by edition.
How many chapters does The Count of Monte Cristo have?
117 in the unabridged text. They average about 3,900 words, or roughly 16 minutes of reading each, so a chapter a day takes just under four months.
How do I know if my copy is abridged?
Count the chapters. The complete novel has 117; a copy with far fewer, or one well under 1,000 pages in ordinary print, has been cut.