How many words are in Heart of Darkness?
by Joseph Conrad · 1899 · Literary Fiction
37,917
Word count
2 hr 39 min
Reading time
152
Est. pages
1899
Published
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is approximately 37,917 wordslong. At an average reading speed of 238 words per minute, that's about 2 hr 39 min of reading spread across several sittings. First published in 1899, it sits in the Literary Fiction category.
Typical literary fiction novels run 70,000–100,000 words, with a sweet spot around 80,000–90,000. At 37,917 words, Heart of Darkness comes in below the typical range — closer to a novella in length.
Source: Word count computed from the Project Gutenberg plain-text edition (eBook #219, public domain) · referenceVerified 2026-06-21
Literary Fiction novels of similar length
| Title | Author | Word count |
|---|---|---|
| Of Mice and Men | John Steinbeck | 29,572 |
| The Great Gatsby | F. Scott Fitzgerald | 47,094 |
| The Catcher in the Rye | J.D. Salinger | 73,404 |
| The Picture of Dorian Gray | Oscar Wilde | 78,462 |
| My Ántonia | Willa Cather | 81,365 |
| Persuasion | Jane Austen | 83,335 |