How Long Does It Take to Read Crime and Punishment?
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866) runs about 212,000 words — roughly 671 pages in a standard paperback. At an average reading speed of 238 words per minute, that is 14 hours and 51 minutes of reading. The tables below break it down by pace and by daily reading sessions, and you can calculate reading time for any book or test how well you know this one with the Crime and Punishment book quiz.
Reading time by speed
| Reading pace | Time to finish Crime and Punishment |
|---|---|
| Slow (150 wpm) | 23 hours and 33 minutes |
| Average (238 wpm) | 14 hours and 51 minutes |
| Fast (350 wpm) | 10 hours and 6 minutes |
| Speed reader (450 wpm) | 7 hours and 51 minutes |
Reading in daily sessions
Prefer a nightly page goal? Here is how long the book lasts as a daily habit:
| Session length | Days to finish |
|---|---|
| 15 minutes per day | 60 days |
| 30 minutes per day | 30 days |
| 60 minutes per day | 15 days |
Where the numbers come from
The average adult reads 238 words per minute for non-fiction and around 238–300 wpm for easy fiction, according to Marc Brysbaert’s 2019 meta-analysis of 190 reading-rate studies — the number most reading-time tools use. Crime and Punishment’s word count (212,000) is an estimate for a standard text or translation; translations and editions vary, so treat both word and page counts as planning figures. For a custom edition or your own pace, the reading time calculator does the math for any word count.
Is Crime and Punishment hard to read?
Hard — psychological intensity, long dialogues, Petersburg claustrophobia.
Dostoevsky's 1866 novel of Raskolnikov, a destitute ex-student in St Petersburg who murders a pawnbroker to test his theory of the 'extraordinary man' — then collapses under a guilt no investigator could match. Think you know it already? Take the Crime and Punishment book quiz — eight questions, two minutes — or see how you do on the full mixed-classics book quiz.
A realistic pace plan for Crime and Punishment
Numbers help, but habits finish books. At 30 minutes a day — one coffee break or one commute — you are done in 30 days. Prefer the one-sitting test? You would need about 14 hours and 51 minutes in a single stretch, which most readers split over a weekend. And if you read 67 pages a night, the book lasts roughly 11 nights — the point is that a 671-page classic shrinks fast once the session is fixed. Readers who finish long books almost never “find time”; they pick the session size first and let the days accumulate.
Your pace may vary from chapter to chapter, especially when the language or ideas are unfamiliar. Leave a little room in your plan for slower passages. When you turn the last page, the Crime and Punishment book quiz is a quick way to see how much stayed with you.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read Crime and Punishment?
At an average reading speed of 238 words per minute, Crime and Punishment takes about 14 hours and 51 minutes. At a fast 350 wpm it is 10 hours and 6 minutes; a slow, careful 150 wpm reader needs about 23 hours and 33 minutes.
How many pages is Crime and Punishment?
About 671 pages in a standard paperback edition — editions vary, so treat it as a close estimate.
How many words is Crime and Punishment?
Approximately 212,000 words, the figure used for every calculation on this page.
Is Crime and Punishment hard to read?
Hard — psychological intensity, long dialogues, Petersburg claustrophobia.
Is Crime and Punishment worth the time?
Dostoevsky's 1866 novel of Raskolnikov, a destitute ex-student in St Petersburg who murders a pawnbroker to test his theory of the 'extraordinary man' — then collapses under a guilt no investigator could match. If that sounds like your kind of book, 14 hours and 51 minutes is a reasonable price for one of the most-read titles in its genre — and the quiz linked above tells you whether an earlier read already stuck.
What reading level is Crime and Punishment?
About College, typically read by ages 16+. The suggested age is a guide; reading experience varies from person to person.
How long other classics take
Counting sessions instead of hours? Crime and Punishment has 41 chapters, about 5,170 words each. Every title on the shelf is timed the same way in how long to read: 133 classics, timed — from Animal Farm’s single afternoon to War and Peace’s two-week campaign. For scale, Crime and Punishment is the 6th longest of the 133 classics timed here — shorter than Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix but longer than Moby-Dick.
Planning a whole-author project? The Fyodor Dostoevsky books in order guide lists the full shelf in reading order.