How long does it take to read Crime and Punishment?
Fyodor Dostoevsky · Garnett translation
At an average reading speed of 250 words a minute, Crime and Punishment takes 13 hours 31 minutes to read. As an audiobook, expect about 22 hours at 1x.
Crime and Punishment is the shorter of Dostoevsky's two best-known novels and the usual place to start with him. It's in six parts and an epilogue, and the crime itself comes at the end of Part I; the rest of the book is what follows from it.
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 (#2554), Constance Garnett's translation, from Part I, Chapter I to the end of the Epilogue. Word counts differ between translations.
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 Crime and Punishment?
About 14 hours at an average reading speed of 250 words a minute: 17 hours at 200 and 11 hours at 300.
How many words are in Crime and Punishment?
202,692 words.
How many pages a day to finish Crime and Punishment in a month?
About 25 pages a day, or 28m of reading a day at an average pace. That assumes about 737 pages at 275 words a page; real page counts vary by edition.
How many parts does Crime and Punishment have?
Six parts and an epilogue. The parts average a little over two hours each at an average pace.
Is Crime and Punishment shorter than The Brothers Karamazov?
Yes, much: 202,692 words against 349,315 in the same translator's versions. Crime and Punishment takes about 13 and a half hours; The Brothers Karamazov takes about 23.