How long does it take to read Lord of the Flies?
William Golding · 1954 · 59,900 words · Classic fiction
Lord of the Flies is about 59,900 words. At the average adult silent reading speed of 238 words per minute, that takes about 4 hr 12 min. Read aloud it's closer to 5 hr 27 min, and as an audiobook at a comfortable narration pace, around 6 hr 39 min.
Lord of the Flies: reading time by speed
| Reading style | WPM | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Average silent reading | 238 | 4 hr 12 min |
| Reading aloud | 183 | 5 hr 27 min |
| Audiobook narration | 150 | 6 hr 39 min |
| Fast reader | 400 | 2 hr 30 min |
Based on a 59,900-word estimate. Speeds from our sources & methodology page. Your own pace may differ — the reading speed test measures it.
About Lord of the Flies's length
At around 60,000 words, Lord of the Flies is a compact novel, but Golding's dense, descriptive prose and heavy symbolism make it read slower than its length implies. Plan for a little more time than the word count alone suggests.
For context, at 59,900 words Lord of the Flies is shorter than a typical novel — a typical adult novel runs around 90,000 words. That puts a focused read at roughly 4 hr 12 min for an average reader, before accounting for the density of the prose or how often you stop to re-read.
How to finish Lord of the Flies on a schedule
If you'd rather pace it than binge it, here's how much daily reading it takes to finish at the average 238 WPM:
- In 3 days: about 1 hr 24 min a day
- In a week: about 36 min a day
- In two weeks: about 18 min a day
- In a month: about 8 min a day
Prefer the audiobook?
At a comfortable 150 WPM narration pace, Lord of the Flies is about 6 hr 39 min of listening — though published audiobook editions are often shorter, since many narrators read faster, and most apps let you speed up to 1.25× or 1.5×. If you listen rather than read, Audible carries most editions, and our audiobook length calculator lets you check the runtime at any playback speed.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to read Lord of the Flies?
At the average adult silent reading speed of 238 words per minute, Lord of the Flies (about 59,900 words) takes roughly 4 hr 12 min. A faster reader at 400 WPM finishes in about 2 hr 30 min; reading aloud takes about 5 hr 27 min.
How many words is Lord of the Flies?
Lord of the Flies by William Golding is approximately 59,900 words. Word counts vary slightly between editions and translations, so treat this as a close estimate rather than an exact figure.
How long is the Lord of the Flies audiobook?
At a comfortable narration pace of 150 WPM, Lord of the Flies works out to about 6 hr 39 min of listening. Published audiobook runtimes are often a little shorter, because many narrators read faster than 150 WPM — and you can speed most apps up to 1.25× or 1.5×.
Can I read Lord of the Flies in one sitting?
It's a stretch for most readers. At about 4 hr 12 min of focused reading, Lord of the Flies is more realistically a two-to-three-session book — see the reading plan above to pace it.
How long to read other books
- Atomic Habits72,000 words · 5 hr 3 min
- 198488,942 words · 6 hr 14 min
- The Great Gatsby47,094 words · 3 hr 18 min
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone76,944 words · 5 hr 23 min
- Animal Farm29,966 words · 2 hr 6 min
- The Hobbit95,022 words · 6 hr 39 min
Work it out for any text
Reading a book that isn't listed, or a manuscript of your own? Paste it into the reading time calculator for an instant estimate, or find your personal reading speed with the words-per-minute test and recalculate from there.
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