How long does it take to read Tono-Bungay?
Tono-Bungay by H. G. Wells takes about 7 hours 19 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 7 hours 19 minutes
A weekend read
First published 1890. 399 pages, about 109,725 words.
15 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 12 hours 12 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 7 hours 19 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 4 hours 34 minutes |
The page count is the median across 332 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
George Ponderovo's quiet young life is changed forever when he is forced to leave home and is apprenticed to his dynamic Uncle Edward in his chemist's shop. Edward, determined to "strike out", invents a bogus medicine called Tono-Bungay which earns him a vast fortune. George's share of the wealth enables him to live out his fantasies by building an aeroplane. As he witnesses the spectacular rise of the Tono-Bungay empire he contemplates a corrupt English society that allows his uncle to wield so much power. Tono-Bungay (1909) is widely regarded as Wells's finest novel, combining futuristic science fiction and contemporary social satire. His scathing account of Edwardian London remains as relevant today as when it was first published. No other writer has the breadth of Wells to encompass both George's personal breakdown and the full panorama of a degenerate imperial society. This is the only popular edition of the text to included Wells's final revisions. The notes explain his multi-layered allusions, and the Introduction places the nove in its literary and historical context. - Back cover.
Subjects: Fiction, Patent medicines, Pharmaceutical industry, Marketing, Pharmacists, English Humorous stories
