~30,000 words of greatness
January 19, 2014 1:11 PM Subscribe
I'm binding a book that should be about 30,000 words in length. What's out there in the public domain at about that length that is also a really good read?
Here's a list of word counts for classic novels, at least some of which are in the Public Domain.
This also claims the average is 64,500, and in either case I think you'll be splitting a work in half at best...unless you want an 18th of War and Peace.
If you're in Australia, the Public Domain is substantially larger, and I see you could pick Animal Farm, which is the perfect length. But it's under copyright in the US and many other English-speaking countries.
You may also be able to combine a few nicely-sized short stories to get the right size-- Sherlock Holmes shorts, for example.
posted by Sunburnt at 1:29 PM on January 19, 2014
This also claims the average is 64,500, and in either case I think you'll be splitting a work in half at best...unless you want an 18th of War and Peace.
If you're in Australia, the Public Domain is substantially larger, and I see you could pick Animal Farm, which is the perfect length. But it's under copyright in the US and many other English-speaking countries.
You may also be able to combine a few nicely-sized short stories to get the right size-- Sherlock Holmes shorts, for example.
posted by Sunburnt at 1:29 PM on January 19, 2014
Some obvious candidates (like Heart of Darkness) are closer to 40,000 words.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is just under 30,000; the Tenniel illustrations are public domain in the US as well.
posted by holgate at 1:31 PM on January 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is just under 30,000; the Tenniel illustrations are public domain in the US as well.
posted by holgate at 1:31 PM on January 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson (which I should note is listed in Sara C.'s novella link) clocks in ~26,000 words.
posted by fings at 6:56 PM on January 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by fings at 6:56 PM on January 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by Sara C. at 1:23 PM on January 19, 2014