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At a glance
French novel by Stendhal (1830).
- Author
- Stendhal1783–1842
- First published
- 1830
- Original language
- French
- Genre
- Literary fiction
- Readers
- Adult
- Length
- Very long120,000 to 200,000 words
- Readers' rating
- 3.5 out of 5from 121 ratings on Hardcover
How long it takes to read
About 12 h 54 min at 250 words a minute, or 20 h 49 min as an audiobook.
| Reading speed | Whole book | At 30 minutes a day |
|---|---|---|
| Careful200 words a minute | 16 h 8 min | 33 days |
| Average250 words a minute | 12 h 54 min | 26 days |
| Fast300 words a minute | 10 h 45 min | 22 days |
The Red and the Black
Read or listen
The Red and the Black is in the public domain: these editions are free to download, read and share.
Compared with other books
The books closest in length, and a few well-known ones for scale.
Counted from the text
Automated estimates from the selected Project Gutenberg text; it may include a preface or notes.
- Words in the text
- 193,611
- Chapters
- 75about 2,581 words each
- Dialogue
- 36%of the words are inside quotation marks
- Average sentence
- 16.3 words
- Vocabulary
- 431 different words in every 1,000Distinct words in the sampled text; this does not measure writing quality.
Where the numbers come from
The word count comes from the sources below.
- gutenberg.orgword count
- openlibrary.orgbook record
- wikidata.orgdescription and author
- hardcover.appreaders' rating
The word count is Musael’s own count of the Project Gutenberg text, which can include a preface or notes.
Checked on 2026-10-27. Page counts change from edition to edition.
Questions
How many words is The Red and the Black?
The Red and the Black by Stendhal has 193,611 words.
How long does it take to read The Red and the Black?
About 12 h 54 min at 250 words a minute, or 20 h 49 min as an audiobook.
How many days to read The Red and the Black at 30 minutes a day?
About 26 days at an average reading speed.
Who wrote The Red and the Black?
The Red and the Black was written by Stendhal and first published in 1830.
Writing a book of your own?
Musael counts every chapter as you write, keeps the plan beside the draft and checks names and facts across the book.