The Secret History
At your speed≈ 11½ hrs
Pages578
Audiobook≈ 19½ hrs
578 pages works out to roughly 173,000 words. At an average 250 words a minute that is 11½ hrs — about a week of evenings.
Readers on Hardcover rate it 4.09 out of 5, from 1,731 ratings.
How long does it take to read The Secret History?
The Secret History is 578 pages, or roughly 173,000 words. How long that takes depends on how fast you read:
| Your pace | Words per minute | Time to finish |
|---|---|---|
| Slow | 175 | 16½ hrs |
| Average | 250 | 11½ hrs |
| Fast | 400 | 7 hrs |
Estimated at about 300 words per page. Most adults read between 200 and 300 words a minute — use the reading-speed control to set your own pace and every time on the site adjusts.
Every reading time on the site updates to your pace. Page counts are an estimate, so treat the hours as a good guide, not a stopwatch.
Common questions
- How long does it take to read The Secret History?
- About 11½ hrs at an average reading speed of 250 words per minute. The Secret History runs 578 pages, roughly 173,000 words — so at a slower 175 wpm it is nearer 16½ hrs, and at 400 wpm closer to 7 hrs.
- How many pages is The Secret History?
- 578 pages, which is about 173,000 words and 11½ hrs of reading. Editions vary, so we take the figure two of our three sources agree on.
- Is The Secret History worth reading?
- Readers on Hardcover rate it 4.09 out of 5, from 1,731 ratings. What we can tell you for certain is the cost: 578 pages and about 11½ hrs of your time, or 7 hrs if you read quickly. Whether that is worth it depends on the hours you have.
- How long is The Secret History audiobook?
- About 19½ hrs, estimated from the 173,000 words at a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute. Real editions vary by narrator, usually by well under an hour.
From the publisher
Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path, beyond human constructs of morality.
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