How long does it take to read After Babel?
aspects of language and translation
After Babel by George Steiner takes about 9 hours 25 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 9 hours 25 minutes
A week or two of reading
First published 1975. 514 pages, about 141,350 words.
19 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 15 hours 42 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 9 hours 25 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 5 hours 53 minutes |
The page count is the median across 8 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
First published in 1975, After Babel constituted the first systematic investigation of the theory and processes of translation since the eighteenth century. In mapping out its own field, it quickly established itself as both controversial and seminal, and gave rise to a considerable, and still-growing, body of secondary literature. Even today, with its status as a modern classic beyond question, many of the book's insights remain provocative and challenging. Since the first edition of After Babel, George Steiner has entirely revised the text, adding new and expanded notes, and the bibliography has been completely updated. New prefaces written for the second and third editions set the book in the context of hermeneutics, poetics, and translation studies, and reflect on the implications for translation of recent social, technological, and political developments. - Back cover.
Subjects: Translating and interpreting, Philosophy, Hermeneutics
