English classics by difficulty: 1,093 books measured

This page ranks the 1,093 public-domain classics in the Booklern library by how hard they are to read in English: the fewest distinct words at each level, the shortest books a learner can finish, and the densest and lightest vocabularies. The numbers come from the texts themselves, not from reviews. Snapshot of 2026-10-04.

How the numbers were measured

Each book in the library is counted once, from its full English text: total words, and distinct words (every different spelling counted once, so "walk" and "walked" are two). Vocabulary density is distinct words per 1,000 words of text. A high density means the book keeps introducing new words; a low one means it repeats its vocabulary, which is easier for a learner.

The level is an estimate on the CEFR scale from A2 to C1, made from sentence length, word frequency and the share of rare words, then checked by hand for the best-known titles. It says how the language reads, not how hard the ideas are: a philosophical essay in plain words rates low, a children's story full of nineteenth-century vocabulary rates high.

The density tables leave out books under 20,000 words, because a short text always looks dense: most of its words occur once. The easiest-per-level tables rank by distinct words, the number a reader has to know, which also favours short books, so read them together with the level.

The easiest books at A2

The books at this level with the fewest distinct words, fewest first. Every one opens free with the translation under each sentence.

BookAuthorWordsDistinct wordsDensity
Blue eyes and diamondsLemuel De Bra2,298710309.0
The Book of NonsenseEdward Lear3,424911266.1
In our timeErnest Hemingway3,6761,004273.1
The vidiotIb Melchior3,5321,034292.8
The Old Lady fliesRaoul Whitfield5,4431,050192.9
The Rime of the Ancient MarinerSamuel Taylor Coleridge3,8491,091283.5
The Plymouth Express AffairAgatha Christie4,8941,198244.8
The hand of GodMurray Leinster5,4721,234225.5
The man who saved New YorkRay Cummings6,3411,235194.8
How joy was foundIsobel Wylie Hutchison7,5531,341177.5
Sonnets from the PortugueseElizabeth Barrett Browning5,1841,469283.4
WizardLaurence M. Janifer7,2751,517208.5
The Adventures of Reddy FoxThornton W. Burgess14,8301,557105.0
Winnie-the-PoohA. A. Milne21,9771,85684.5
AnthemAyn Rand19,0491,956102.7
Lady Windermere's FanOscar Wilde20,0952,00399.7
A Martian OdysseyStanley G. Weinbaum10,2982,023196.4
The Little PrinceAntoine de Saint-Exupery16,9382,101124.0
Dancing Devil rangeW. C. Tuttle17,0102,161127.0
The StormAleksandr Nikolaevich Ostrovsky20,7772,298110.6

The easiest books at B1

The books at this level with the fewest distinct words, fewest first. Every one opens free with the translation under each sentence.

BookAuthorWordsDistinct wordsDensity
The Tale of Peter RabbitBeatrix Potter952376395.0
Ali Baba, or the Forty ThievesUnknown1,302507389.4
The winner and new...Ib Melchior1,876742395.5
The Arctic legionsA. De Herries Smith2,031745366.8
The Cask of AmontilladoEdgar Allan Poe2,338794339.6
The Velveteen RabbitMargery Williams Bianco3,959879222.0
The Missing WillAgatha Christie3,2541,011310.7
The Monkey's PawW. W. Jacobs4,0291,081268.3
The Hunter's Lodge CaseAgatha Christie4,4171,114252.2
Murder maskEdgar Daniel Kramer2,9341,119381.4
The Yellow WallpaperCharlotte Perkins Gilman6,2221,221196.2
Songs of Innocence and of ExperienceWilliam Blake5,3281,249234.4
Just a bit too fastHal Moore4,0701,330326.8
Old Mother West WindThornton W. Burgess17,0121,43984.6
The Adventures of Danny Meadow MouseThornton W. Burgess15,4491,46494.8
The Madman: His Parables and PoemsKahlil Gibran7,0841,467207.1
A young man's storySarah Doudney5,9001,468248.8
The Adventures of Jerry MuskratThornton W. Burgess15,5701,47094.4
The Forerunner, His Parables and PoemsKahlil Gibran6,7481,495221.5
The bar actBud La Mar4,9261,585321.8

The easiest books at B2

The books at this level with the fewest distinct words, fewest first. Every one opens free with the translation under each sentence.

BookAuthorWordsDistinct wordsDensity
The Brave Tin SoldierHans Christian Andersen1,644526320.0
Trial by waterSewell Peaslee Wright1,452542373.3
The TinderboxHans Christian Andersen2,879618214.7
The Damned ThingAmbrose Bierce3,2681,051321.6
Aladdin and the Magic LampUnknown5,3011,088205.2
The Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn; With NotesKing of England Henry VIII5,4981,175213.7
An Occurrence at Owl Creek BridgeAmbrose Bierce3,7681,258333.9
The Undersea TubeL. Taylor Hansen4,2571,270298.3
The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight FitsLewis Carroll4,4331,295292.1
How to write Little Blue BooksLloyd E. Smith7,4781,543206.3
Borrowed feathersRuth Lamb8,4071,823216.8
The Snow QueenHans Christian Andersen12,4311,871150.5
The NoseNikolai Vasilievich Gogol9,0861,891208.1
The EnchiridionEpictetus9,2081,924208.9
The Novel on the TramBenito Pérez Galdós8,7732,066235.5
Buddhist Psalms translated from the Japanese of Shinran ShoninShinran15,5262,066133.1
The Big FixGeorge O. Smith9,0852,197241.8
The servant's behaviour bookEmily A. Patmore18,5132,228120.3
Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary RowlandsonMary White Rowlandson20,1392,310114.7
How to Live on 24 Hours a DayArnold Bennett11,2612,341207.9

The easiest books at C1

The books at this level with the fewest distinct words, fewest first. Every one opens free with the translation under each sentence.

BookAuthorWordsDistinct wordsDensity
The Wonder-Working MagicianPedro Calderón de la Barca2,869942328.3
A Modest ProposalJonathan Swift3,4221,083316.5
The Little MermaidHans Christian Andersen9,0971,568172.4
A Pickle for the Knowing OnesTimothy Dexter6,3821,624254.5
As a man thinkethJames Allen7,3641,721233.7
The Fall of the House of UsherEdgar Allan Poe6,8641,953284.5
Rip Van WinkleWashington Irving7,3021,993272.9
The Grand InquisitorFyodor Dostoyevsky9,5012,067217.6
The silent BalticMarcus Knox9,3222,221238.3
Manifesto of the Communist PartyKarl Marx, Frederick Engels11,4192,226194.9
ApologyPlato16,1792,238138.3
Astronomy for beginnersHereward Carrington13,1692,240170.1
The Poetics of AristotleAristotle14,8622,323156.3
The Science of Getting RichW. D. Wattles22,5292,469109.6
The Canterville GhostOscar Wilde11,3632,510220.9
The Steel FleaN. S. Leskov13,3002,541191.1
Our Lady of the PillarEça de Queirós12,4152,545205.0
The Vampyre; a TaleJohn William Polidori10,8922,636242.0
New AtlantisFrancis Bacon15,3472,652172.8
The new art of writing playsLope de Vega10,7232,703252.1

The shortest books at B1 and below

The books a learner is most likely to finish: short, and rated A2 or B1.

BookAuthorLevelWordsDistinct wordsDensity
The Tale of Peter RabbitBeatrix PotterB1952376395.0
Ali Baba, or the Forty ThievesUnknownB11,302507389.4
The winner and new...Ib MelchiorB11,876742395.5
The Arctic legionsA. De Herries SmithB12,031745366.8
Blue eyes and diamondsLemuel De BraA22,298710309.0
The Cask of AmontilladoEdgar Allan PoeB12,338794339.6
Murder maskEdgar Daniel KramerB12,9341,119381.4
The Missing WillAgatha ChristieB13,2541,011310.7
The Book of NonsenseEdward LearA23,424911266.1
The vidiotIb MelchiorA23,5321,034292.8
In our timeErnest HemingwayA23,6761,004273.1
The Rime of the Ancient MarinerSamuel Taylor ColeridgeA23,8491,091283.5
The Velveteen RabbitMargery Williams BiancoB13,959879222.0
The Monkey's PawW. W. JacobsB14,0291,081268.3
Just a bit too fastHal MooreB14,0701,330326.8
The Hunter's Lodge CaseAgatha ChristieB14,4171,114252.2
The Waste LandT. S. EliotB14,5421,778391.5
The Plymouth Express AffairAgatha ChristieA24,8941,198244.8
The bar actBud La MarB14,9261,585321.8
Sonnets from the PortugueseElizabeth Barrett BrowningA25,1841,469283.4

The lightest vocabularies

Among books of at least 20,000 words. A light vocabulary repeats its words, so each one is met many times; a dense one keeps bringing new ones.

BookAuthorLevelWordsDistinct wordsDensity
Short FictionAnton ChekhovB1802,03720,97726.2
Household Tales by Brothers GrimmB2283,9308,15128.7
War and Peacegraf Leo TolstoyB2580,13917,91930.9
The Brothers KaramazovFyodor DostoevskyB1358,38112,43634.7
The Count of Monte CristoB2465,72516,41035.2
The Mysteries of UdolphoAnn Ward RadcliffeC1293,37310,40535.5
Pamela, or Virtue RewardedSamuel RichardsonB2224,6337,97335.5
Anna KareninaLeo TolstoyB2357,25813,27137.1
San kuo; or, Romance of the three kingdoms (volume 1 of 2)Guanzhong LuoB1297,04811,15137.5
Fairy Tales of Hans Christian AndersenH. C. AndersenB2350,48513,31538.0
History of Tom Jones, a FoundlingHenry FieldingC1347,45213,25538.1
David CopperfieldCharles DickensB2360,49214,82541.1
The IdiotFyodor DostoevskyB1247,66110,21341.2
The Woman in WhiteWilkie CollinsB2248,97310,44542.0
Les MisérablesVictor HugoB2564,72323,96942.4
EthicsBenedictus de SpinozaB289,0673,78242.5
The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll FlandersDaniel DefoeC1136,4605,79842.5
The Decameron of Giovanni BoccaccioGiovanni BoccaccioC1305,77613,15543.0
Bleak HouseCharles DickensB2358,84515,89644.3
The three musketeersB1232,05910,36944.7

The densest vocabularies

Among books of at least 20,000 words. A light vocabulary repeats its words, so each one is met many times; a dense one keeps bringing new ones.

BookAuthorLevelWordsDistinct wordsDensity
The Japanese SpiritYoshisaburo OkakuraC121,5314,285199.0
Robert FrostGorham Bert MunsonB223,5204,602195.7
Eugene Oneguine [Onegin]Aleksandr Sergeevich PushkinB239,2007,589193.6
Brazilian TalesB224,6084,733192.3
Death in VeniceThomas MannC128,4085,446191.7
The Germany and the Agricola of TacitusCornelius TacitusC123,5444,495190.9
Bushido, the Soul of JapanInazo NitobeC131,6426,034190.7
A Japanese BoyShigemi ShiukichiC131,9906,071189.8
At the Sign of the Cat and RacketHonoré de BalzacC121,4344,038188.4
A Little English GalleryLouise Imogen GuineyC144,4068,239185.5
Keats: Poems Published in 1820John KeatsA235,8116,634185.3
1066 and all thatB220,7273,761181.5
The Lady of the LakeWalter ScottB140,5917,338180.8
Beowulf: An Anglo-Saxon Epic PoemA230,6115,445177.9
The Romance of the Milky Way, and Other Studies & StoriesLafcadio HearnB233,0005,866177.8
NumantiaMiguel de Cervantes SaavedraA225,1694,432176.1
Poems by Emily Dickinson, Three Series, CompleteEmily DickinsonA232,4365,697175.6
Life Is a DreamPedro Calderón de la BarcaA224,3904,262174.7
The black pearlMarie LionB136,4746,283172.3
Luna BenamorVicente Blasco IbáñezB234,0265,795170.3

Averages by level and by genre

What a typical book at each level, and in each genre, looks like in numbers.

By level

LevelBooksAverage wordsAverage distinct wordsAverage density
A213545,4264,495127.2
B131774,5186,434116.4
B239497,1337,900106.4
C124796,6167,928111.6

By genre

GenreBooksAverage wordsAverage distinct wordsAverage density
Novels35898,2938,09196.2
Historical novels136129,3429,35989.7
Short stories6866,0365,654165.6
Science fiction6260,2695,809131.4
Essays5770,8876,412116.6
Plays5526,2103,556146.7
Poetry4546,8945,272168.3
Children's books4443,6243,803110.4
Adventure4290,2468,762114.0
Detective stories4282,5837,13590.1
Fantasy2851,0245,441132.9
Satire27128,3539,060101.3
Horror2658,7885,540148.6
Fairy tales2265,1864,197123.1
Folklore1867,2535,741101.2
Romance1876,7116,683106.8
Biographies16113,3099,52895.1

The data as a file

The whole catalogue, one row per book with title, author, level, word counts, genre, year, the translation languages available and the page and reader URLs, is published as JSON and updated with every catalogue export. Free to reuse with a link to booklern.com.

Download catalogue.json