How long does it take to read Billy Budd?
Billy Budd by Herman Melville takes about 3 hours 22 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 3 hours 22 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1900. 184 pages, about 50,600 words.
7 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 5 hours 37 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 3 hours 22 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 2 hours 7 minutes |
The page count is the median across 90 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
TRIALS OF THE HANDSOME SAILOR Aboard the warship Bellipotent, the young orphan Billy Budd was called the Handsome Sailor. Billy was tall, athletic, noble looking; he was friendly, innocent, helpful and ever-cheerful. He was a fierce fighter and a loyal friend. All the men and officers liked him... All but one: Master-at-Arms Claggart. Envious, petty Claggart plotted to make Billy's life miserable. But when a fear of mutinies swept through the fleet, Claggart realized he could do more than just torment the Handsome Sailor... He could frame Billy Budd for treason...
Subjects: classics, Sailors, Ship captains, Fiction, Executions and executioners, Impressment
