---
title: "How long to read Dune? about 13 hours"
description: "Dune takes about 13 hours — about 187,000 words. What that assumes, how it breaks down, and how long at a realistic pace."
url: https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/dune/
site: "At One Place"
---

# How long does it take to read Dune?

**How long to read Dune: about 13 hours**

about 187,000 words

Dune is around 187,000 words, roughly thirteen hours of reading. It was rejected by more than twenty publishers before Chilton, a company best known for car repair manuals, took it. The two Villeneuve films together run 321 minutes and cover a little over half the novel, so the film adaptation runs at about one minute per 350 words of source. Reading the book takes roughly two and a half times as long as watching both films.

## The numbers

- **Total:** 13 hours 6 minutes
- **In hours:** 13.1 hours
- **Non-stop:** 0.5 days without sleeping
- **Covers:** about 187,000 words
- **At a realistic pace:** an hour a night
- **That works out as:** about 14 days

## What this assumes

About 187,000 words at 238 words per minute. Published figures range from 181,493 to 188,000.

> Word counts from 181,493 to 188,000 circulate; no primary source publishes one.

## Other books

| What | How long |
| --- | --- |
| Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone | about 5 hours 23 minutes |
| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | about 18 hours |
| The Hobbit | about 6 hours 39 minutes |
| The Bible | about 55 hours |
| War and Peace | about 40 hours |
| Infinite Jest | about 40 hours |
| Moby-Dick | about 15 hours |
| Ulysses | about 19 hours |
| Pride and Prejudice | about 8 hours 33 minutes |
| Nineteen Eighty-Four | about 6 hours 14 minutes |
| The Great Gatsby | about 3 hours 18 minutes |
| Animal Farm | about 2 hours 6 minutes |
| It | about 31 hours |
| The complete works of Shakespeare | about 59 hours |
| The complete Sherlock Holmes | about 72 hours as an audiobook |
| All of English Wikipedia | about 41 years |

## Common questions

### How long does it take to read Dune?

about 13 hours — about 187,000 words.

### What does that assume?

About 187,000 words at 238 words per minute. Published figures range from 181,493 to 188,000.

### How long at a realistic pace?

an hour a night — about 14 days.

## Related pages

- [How long to read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/harry-potter-philosophers-stone/)
- [How long to read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/harry-potter-order-of-the-phoenix/)
- [How long to read The Hobbit?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/the-hobbit/)
- [How long to read the Bible?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/the-bible/)
- [How long to read War and Peace?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/war-and-peace/)
- [How long to read Infinite Jest?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/infinite-jest/)
- [How long to read Moby-Dick?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/moby-dick/)
- [How long to read Ulysses?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/ulysses/)
- [How long to read the Harry Potter series?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/harry-potter-series/)
- [How long to watch Friends?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/friends/)
- [How long to watch One Piece?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/one-piece/)
- [How long to watch The Simpsons?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/the-simpsons/)
- [How long to watch The Office (US)?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/the-office-us/)
- [How long to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe?](https://atoneplace.net/how-long-to/marvel-cinematic-universe/)

## Sources

- Calculated on this page — At One Place (/about/)