Venus in Furs

At a glance

1869 novella by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch.

Author

Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch1836–1895

First published

1870

Original language

German

Genre

Literary fiction

Readers

Adult

Length

Standard40,000 to 80,000 words

How long it takes to read

About 2 h 48 min at 250 words a minute, or 4 h 32 min as an audiobook.

Compared with other books

The books closest in length, and a few well-known ones for scale.

1. 1War and PeaceLeo Tolstoy587,287Compare
2. 2The Fellowship of the RingJ. R. R. Tolkien177,227Compare
3. 3Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen121,970Compare
4. 4Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneJ. K. Rowling76,944Compare
5. 5The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald47,094Compare
6. 6The Sorrows of Young WertherJohann Wolfgang von Goethe42,526Compare
7. 7The Book of DragonsE. Nesbit42,271Compare
8. 8Venus in FursLeopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch42,095
9. 9The Country of the Pointed FirsSarah Orne Jewett42,077Compare
10. 10The Adventures of PinocchioCarlo Collodi41,602Compare

Counted from the text

Automated estimates from the selected Project Gutenberg text; it may include a preface or notes.

Words in the text

42,095

Dialogue

43%of the words are inside quotation marks

Average sentence

14.5 words

Vocabulary

442 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.orgcover and 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. Cover from Open Library; the edition shown may differ.

Questions