How long does it take to read Samarkand?
Samarkand by Amin Maalouf takes about 6 hours 50 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 6 hours 50 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1988. 373 pages, about 102,575 words.
14 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 11 hours 24 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 6 hours 50 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 4 hours 16 minutes |
The page count is the median across 30 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Accused of mocking the inviolate codes of Islam, the Persian poet and sage Omar Khayyam fortuitously finds sympathy with the very man who is to judge his alleged crimes. Recognising genuis, the judge decides to spare him and gives him instead a small, blank book, encouraging him to confine his thoughts to it alone. Thus begins the seamless blend of fact and fiction that is Samarkand. Vividly re-creating the history of the manuscript of the Rubaiyaat of Omar Khayyam, Amin Maalouf spans continents and centuries with breathtaking vision: the dusky exoticism of 11th-century Persia, with its poetesses and assassins; the same country's struggles nine hundred years later, seen through the eyes of an American academic obsessed with finding the original manuscript; and the fated maiden voyage of the Titanic, whose tragedy led to the Rubaiyaat's final resting place - all are brought to life with keen assurance by this gifted and award-winning writer.
Subjects: Fiction, History, Lebanese fiction (French), Historical fiction, Roman, nouvelles, Histoire
