How long does it take to read The Black Book?
The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk takes about 9 hours 13 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 9 hours 13 minutes
A week or two of reading
First published 1990. 503 pages, about 138,325 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 22 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 9 hours 13 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 5 hours 46 minutes |
The page count is the median across 37 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
The Black Book is a stunning tapestry of Middle Eastern and Islamic culture which confirms Orhan Pamuk's reputation as a writer of international stature, comparable to Borges and Calvino. Galip is an Istanbul lawyer, and his wife, Ruya, has vanished. Could she be hiding out with her half brother, Jelal, a newspaper columnist whose fame Galip envies? And if so, why isn't anyone in Jelal's flat? As Galip plays the part of private investigator, he assumes the identity of Jelal himself, wearing his clothes, answering his phone calls, even faking his wry columns, which he passes off as the work of the missing journalist. But the amateur sleuth bungles his undercover operation, and with dire consequences. Richly atmospheric and Rabelaisian in scope, The Black Book is a labyrinthine novel suffused with the sights, sounds, and scents of Istanbul. An unforgettable evocation of the city where East meets West, The Black Book is a boldly unconventional mystery that plumbs the elusive nature of identity, fiction, interpretation, and reality.
Subjects: Fiction, Missing persons, False personation, Fiction, mystery & detective, general, Missing persons, fiction, Istanbul (turkey), fiction
