How long does it take to read A Ladder to the Sky?
A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne takes about 7 hours 20 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 7 hours 20 minutes
A weekend read
First published 2018. 400 pages, about 110,000 words.
15 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 12 hours 13 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 7 hours 20 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 4 hours 35 minutes |
The page count is the median across 9 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Aspiring writer Maurice Swift, whose desire for fame exceeds his talent, uses a chance meeting with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann in a West Berlin hotel in 1988 to obtain secrets about Ackermann's wartime activities, which becomes material for his first novel. Once Maurice has had a taste of literary fame, he knows he can stop at nothing in pursuit of that high. Moving from the Amalfi Coast, where he matches wits with Gore Vidal, to Manhattan and London, Maurice hones his talent for deceit and manipulation, preying on the talented and vulnerable in his cold-blooded climb to the top. But the higher he climbs, the further he has to fall.
Subjects: Authors, Betrayal, Ambition, Novelists, Fame, Fiction
