I’ve wasted hours upon hours looking up word counts. Finally, I made a list. I want to share what I’ve found so that you won’t waste time looking yourself. Here are the numbers on highly-praised literary fiction, fantasy and science fiction. Now you won’t need to scour the web to find them again.

Literary Fiction

  • The Old Man and the Sea 27,000
  • A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – 28,000
  • Animal Farm by George Orwell – 29,000
  • Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck – 30,000
  • The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – 47,000
  • Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut – 49,000
  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe – 50,000
  • The Bluest Eyes by Toni Morrison – 52,000
  • Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck – 55,000
  • As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner – 57,000
  • The Road by Cormac McCarthy – 59,000
  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding – 60,000
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Huston – 64,000
  • The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway – 68,000
  • The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain – 68,000
  • Exit Ghost by Philip Roth – 68,000
  • The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro – 70,000
  • The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger – 73,000
  • This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald – 80,000
  • A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway – 83,000
  • Beloved by Toni Morrison – 95,000
  • Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro – 96,000
  • The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner – 97,000
  • To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – 99,000
  • A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini – 104,000
  • Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald – 104,000
  • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain – 106,000
  • The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini – 107,000
  • One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey – 108,000
  • The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald – 122,000
  • Atonement by Ian McEwan – 123,000
  • The Plot Against America by Philip Roth – 130,000
  • A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens – 135,000
  • The Human Stain by Philip Roth – 137,000
  • Light in August by William Faulkner – 151,000
  • Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens – 156,000
  • White Teeth by Zadie Smith – 169,000
  • The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck – 169,000
  • We Were the Mulvaneys by Joyce Carol Oates – 172,000
  • For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway – 174,000
  • Catch-22 by Joseph Heller – 174,000
  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – 183,000
  • Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides – 195,000
  • The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen – 197,000
  • Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson – 208,000
  • Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie – 209,000
  • Freedom by Jonathan Franzen – 210,000
  • The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon – 216,000
  • East of Eden by John Steinbeck – 225,000
  • The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow – 248,000
  • David Copperfield by Charles Dickens – 339,000
  • Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell – 418,000

Fantasy and Science Fiction

  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis – 36,000
  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury – 46,000
  • I, Robot by Isaac Asimov – 69,000
  • The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker – 73,000
  • 1984 by George Orwell – 89,000
  • The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien – 95,000
  • Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – 101,000
  • The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien – 116,000
  • World War Z by Max Brooks – 117,000
  • Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison – 177,000
  • A Game of Thrones (only book one) by George R.R. Martin – 293,000
  • The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis – 294,000
  • The Hunger Games (trilogy) by Suzanne Collins – 302,000
  • His Dark Materials (trilogy) by Philip Pullman – 329,000
  • Lord of the Rings (trilogy) by J.R.R. Tolkien – 455,000
  • Harry Potter (seven-book series) by J.K. Rowling – 1,002,000

Note: All word counts are from Amazon or other online booksellers.

A note on distraction among writers

As a writer, there are infinite distractions that can keep me from putting words on a page. The same can be said of most hobbies and professions. We are easily kept from our work by excuses and diversions. You know what distracts you, and I know what distracts me.

I think writing in particular lends itself to distraction. At least the way I do it – I open a Word document or blog template and type away – there are opportunities to surf Wikipedia, read the news, watch YouTube, etc. And it’s not just the internet connection that’s the problem. Even if I wrote with pen and paper, I’d still be lured into people-watching, skimming books from my shelves, daydreaming, falling asleep. The list goes on.

While writing has become something of a habit for me, thus casting distractions a little farther away, the word count distraction keeps coming back.

I love to know the word counts of books and essays. Maybe it’s because I am data-driven or attracted to trivia, or just like to have a concrete number to say, “This is what I did today,” but I think the main reason is comparison. I like to know how long my pieces are, and juxtapose them against famous pieces.

For instance, I know that Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men is only 30,000 words and Orwell’s Animal Farm is even less, so in my head I follow the twisted logic that goes If these short books earned such fame, surely I can write something of equivalent length and have a chance.

The same logic goes by genre. How long does a fantasy novel have to be to fit the mold? Science fiction? Literary? And by prestige: What is the average length of a New York Times bestseller? Or Newbery winner? Or Oprah Book Club book?

I know that none of this is important. Books should be judged by the quality of the story and storytelling, not the quantity of words and pages. It’s the nervous fear of Will I fit in? that just won’t go away. And, as much as word counts shouldn’t matter, anyone who has looked into publishing is aware of the numbers. Publishers are reluctant about first-time novels shorter than 80,000 words or longer than 120,000. (Interestingly, in the above list, only about 20 percent are in that range.) Fantasy and sci-fi should be longer. YA should be shorter. There are norms and expectations. The problem is that when we fixate on these norms and expectations, creativity is stifled, and we get so caught up in the details that we forget to actually write.

Posted by Griffin Paul Jackson

39 Comments

    1. Griffin Paul Jackson April 29, 2014 at 7:33 pm

      Thanks, John. Much appreciated.

      Reply

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  2. I am tackling my first book this winter and was very thankful to come across this article. Funny enough, I was measuring word count with World War Z which is how I stumbled across it. Thanks for letting me know I’m not alone. I will commit your wise words to memory on quality of the story and forget about the quantity. Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Griffin Paul Jackson February 6, 2015 at 12:36 pm

      Absolutely, Jamie. I’m glad this proved helpful, and I hope you’re encouraged in your writing. A good story is a good story, regardless of the number of words it takes to tell it.

      Reply

  3. Much appreciated, Griffin. I find that literary agents often seem obsessed with word count. It’s the words, not the count. Be well.

    Reply

    1. Griffin Paul Jackson April 7, 2015 at 10:42 pm

      A good story is a good story, regardless of word count. That’s for sure. Certainly, genres have traditions and readers have expectations, but it’s the words that really matter.

      Reply

  4. […] Word counts and other distractions. […]

    Reply

  5. Love this! Much appreciated.

    Reply

  6. Your blog entry, excluding the list, is 440 words, give or take a few. Just thought you’d want to know.

    Reply

  7. Oops, I forgot the first paragraph. Make that 490-500 words. Nice. Oh, I’m so distracted!

    Reply

  8. Hah, I’m always comparing word counts. I’ll find your list very useful when I next tell someone how long this or that title is.

    Reply

  9. Great list with great books. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is not science fiction or fantasy, however.

    Reply

  10. If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter. – T.S. Elliott
    Some of my favorite books are well under 60,000 words.

    Reply

  11. […] The Griffin Paul Jackson Blog […]

    Reply

  12. […] compare this way, but we do. I’ve wasted hours upon hours looking up word counts. I made a list a while ago with word counts for some of the classics and some of my favorite fantasy and sci-fi […]

    Reply

  13. Thanks very much for this excellent blog. Griffin is such an excellent name as well. Thanks

    Reply

  14. Great info! thanks for putting this down… 🙂

    Reply

  15. Hey, you saved me a lot of time on a personal project. Thank you for this.

    Reply

    1. Griffin Paul Jackson December 7, 2016 at 1:29 pm

      Glad it was helpful. Enjoy!

      Reply

  16. Thank you so much! You have saved me hours of research. Much appreciated!!

    Reply

  17. Very much appreciated, thank you ! It was so helpful ! Would you also happen to know the number of words for His dark materials : northern lights ? Any how thank you thank you !

    Reply

  18. Thank you for this. I am about to publish and was shocked by how low my word count was, but I feel it is complete. Anything else added would distract, I feel

    Reply

  19. […] to check out the word counts of your favorite—or least favorite—books, you can search for them here and […]

    Reply

  20. Thanks for the information.
    In my case, it’s not I’m aware of the length of my works and I think we shouldn’t be, as it will limit on how we write rather than just letting the words come out.

    I always look for word counts so I can know the amount of time it will take me to read a book.

    Reply

  21. Thank you!! I’m editing my first book now, and I’m obsessed with word count. While scouring the internet, I think I’ve read this article three times.

    Reply

  22. thanks my g best fun i ever had

    Reply

  23. I am writing a paper comparing Beloved and Slaughterhouse Five. I was prepared to spend hours trying to find out how many words each book has. You have saved me. My endless praises and thanks.

    Reply

    1. Griffin Paul Jackson June 3, 2018 at 4:46 pm

      So glad I could be of assistance for you!

      Reply

  24. […] long gone. There are a variety of sites that offer word counts of popular books, like I’ve done here. Or we can calculate word counts ourselves by turning to the rule-of-thumb that says each page is […]

    Reply

  25. Love it! So now I wonder how Kindle has changed our concept of word counts – book lengths that is?? While traveling, which is most of the time, I am forced to use my Kindle exclusively even though I still prefer “real” books. 🙂 I also miss seeing a real cover and often forget the name of the author of any given book I am reading on my Kindle. Side track I know. Just want to make sure you have plenty else to ponder. Thanks for your research!

    Reply

  26. I don’t know if you noticed but from the reader’s POV, and at this day and age of e-reading on Kindles, tablets and even the phone, word count IS the only absolute number we have to do an equivalent to browsing books in the library by their spines and saying “Gosh! This one is massive!” or “Well, I may even finish this one by the time the extended holiday is over.” so, with this list you have indirectly helped readers (I’m sure there are many others out there) who, like me, sometimes have, when time is short, to check out “how thick” an e-book is before moving on with our to read list. Thank you!

    Reply

    1. Griffin Paul Jackson March 23, 2020 at 8:30 am

      Happy to help! And perhaps I should write a post making this “equation” explicit. Do you think that would be helpful?

      Reply

  27. This is very handy–thanks for making this!

    Reply

  28. […] More here. You’re in very good company! […]

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  29. Who cares? If you like the story then length doesn’t matter. On the other hand if you are more concerned about numbers than content then numbers matter. It’s all about your perspective on life. I was amazed at how may people who responded were fixated on word count, I write for my pleasure, not the pleasure of others. If someone likes my book, then great. If not, who cares. Life is not competing with John Steinbeck but being who you are and not comparing your works nor yourself to others. Write what you like, ignor the word count and you just might be surprised at what you can accomplish

    Reply

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