How long does it take to read The Book of Daniel?
a novel
The Book of Daniel by E. L. Doctorow takes about 5 hours 33 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 5 hours 33 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1971. 303 pages, about 83,325 words.
12 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 9 hours 16 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 5 hours 33 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 3 hours 28 minutes |
The page count is the median across 17 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
The Book of Daniel is a semi-historical novel loosely based on the lives, trial and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Doctorow tells the story of Paul and Rochelle Isaacson (corollaries to the Rosenbergs) through the persons of their older son, Daniel, and his sister, Susan, who are college students deeply involved in 1960s politics. The presentation constantly shifts through backflashes as Daniel faces his [and his sister's] inability to honestly tell his life story. While there are some crude descriptions/language in places, the novel as a whole is historically informative and instructive and socially thought provoking.
Subjects: Fiction, Jews, Executions and executioners, Jewish families, Trials (Espionage), American communism
