The Turn of the Screw
At your speed≈ 3 hrs
Pages134
Audiobook≈ 5 hrs
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.
The complete text runs to 42,836 words, counted word for word. At an average 250 words a minute that is 3 hrs — a day's reading.
Readers on Hardcover rate it 3.16 out of 5, from 435 ratings.
Worth-it score 3.7/10 — A hard sell for the time. Readers 3.3 (Hardcover's 3.16★ from 435 ratings) + length 0.4 = 3.7. How the score works →
How long does it take to read The Turn of the Screw?
The complete text of The Turn of the Screw runs to 42,836 words — about 134 pages in the edition we list. How long that takes depends on how fast you read:
| Your pace | Words per minute | Time to finish |
|---|---|---|
| Slow | 175 | 4 hrs |
| Average | 250 | 3 hrs |
| Fast | 400 | 2 hrs |
Counted word for word from the complete public-domain text on Project Gutenberg, so these times don't depend on any one edition's page count. Most adults read between 200 and 300 words a minute — set your own pace and every time on the site adjusts. Prefer to listen? At a typical narration pace of 150 words a minute the audiobook runs about 5 hrs — an estimate from the word count, since narrators vary.
Common questions
- How long does it take to read The Turn of the Screw?
- About 3 hrs at an average reading speed of 250 words per minute. The complete text of The Turn of the Screw runs to 42,836 words — so at a slower 175 wpm it is nearer 4 hrs, and at 400 wpm closer to 2 hrs.
- How many pages is The Turn of the Screw?
- About 134 pages, though editions of a book this old vary a great deal — which is why its reading time comes from the complete text instead: 42,836 words, about 3 hrs of reading at an average pace.
- Is The Turn of the Screw worth reading?
- We score it 3.7 out of 10 for the time it takes — a hard sell for the time. Readers on Hardcover rate it 3.16 out of 5 from 435 ratings, which counts for 3.3; at about 3 hrs at an average pace it earns +0.4 for being short.
- How long is The Turn of the Screw audiobook?
- About 5 hrs, estimated from the 43,000 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
The classic ghost story about a high-strung governess and the two young children who may--or may not--be plotting with the diabolical Peter Quint.
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