Erewhon: Pace
16 lenses on pace for Erewhon by Samuel Butler. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 D14 D15 D16
D1. Chapter length in words, as a chart. Count
29 chapters, median 2,806 words. See the full lens on the book page.
D2. Mean sentence length per chapter. Count
Mean 33.5 words. See the full lens on the book page.
D3. Paragraph length per chapter. Count
Paragraphs average 134 words.
Mean paragraph words, chapter by chapter
D4. Scene against summary: how much is shown live? AI
Erewhon balances scene and summary. Early chapters (1 to 6) show exploration live; middle chapters (7 to 20) mix prison scenes and social observation with summaries of customs; late chapters (23 to 27) present long documents summarising philosophy and history.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25
D5. Action against reflection, per chapter. AI
Action dominates early chapters (1 to 6: crossing mountains, discovery). Middle chapters (7 to 20) shift to reflection on Erewhonian society with less physical action. Late chapters (23 to 27) are almost entirely reflective summaries of ideas and history.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 7, Ch 23
D6. Tension score per chapter (1 to 5) as a curve. AI
Peak 5 of 5, mean 3.2. See the full lens on the book page.
D7. Emotional arc of the whole book, matched to the six shapes. Count
Riches to rags (fall). See the full lens on the book page.
D8. Chapter endings: cliffhanger, question, reveal or quiet close. AI
23 of 29 chapters end on a hook. See the full lens on the book page.
D9. Chapter openings: in scene, in summary, or after a time jump. AI
Most chapters open in scene or with immediate action. Chapter 1 opens in summary of the narrator's past. Chapters 7 to 20 often open with the narrator already in a location, then reflect. Chapters 23 to 27 open with documents or summaries.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 7, Ch 23
D10. Do chapters and sentences get shorter near the climax? Count
In the last fifth, chapters run at 1.3 times the length of earlier ones, and sentences at 0.98 times. So the end does not speed up by these measures.
D11. Dialogue density against pace. Count
Link between dialogue share and chapter length: 0.11 (1 is a perfect match, 0 none). Between dialogue share and tension: 0.27.
Dialogue % per chapter, chapter by chapter
D12. Time jumps and how they are signalled. Both
20 time jump phrases in the narration, such as 'next morning' or 'years later'.
| Where | Phrase |
|---|---|
| c2p2 | next day |
| c2p6 | next day |
| c3p7 | Next morning |
| c3p9 | Next morning |
| c4p14 | next day |
| c5p5 | Next day |
| c6p4 | next day |
| c6p8 | the following day |
Time jump phrases, chapter by chapter
Ch 2, para 2: I was angry, for I had to go without my own grog and had got nothing out of him; so the next day I determined that he should …
Ch 2, para 6: For myself I was open-mouthed with astonishment. Chowbok rolled the bales rapidly into their place, and stood before me shuddering as in great fear; horror was written upon …
Ch 3, para 7: Next morning we found our last night’s tea-leaves frozen at the bottom of the pannikins, though it was not nearly the beginning of autumn; we breakfasted as we …
Ch 3, para 9: On the saddle there was some coarse grass which was in full seed, and therefore very nourishing for the horses; also abundance of anise and sow-thistle, of which …
Ch 4, para 14: I looked at this rift in great doubt; then I went a little way on either side of it, and found myself looking over the edge of horrible …
Ch 5, para 5: Next day I began gathering the dry bloom stalks of a kind of flag or iris-looking plant, which was abundant, and whose leaves, when torn into strips, were …
Time jumps are signalled by chapter breaks and brief summaries. Chapter 8 jumps from imprisonment to language learning. Chapter 9 jumps to travel to the capital. Chapter 21 jumps to the Colleges of Unreason. Most jumps are marked by location changes rather than explicit time signals.
Chapters: Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 21
D13. Info dump spots: long runs with no action or speech. Both
23 stretches of 900 words or more with no speech at all. These are where description, summary or backstory pile up.
| Starts at | Words | Paragraphs |
|---|---|---|
| c27p29 | 6591 | 56 |
| c11p19 | 5551 | 35 |
| c4p19 | 3964 | 30 |
| c6p5 | 3401 | 18 |
| c3p6 | 3381 | 23 |
| c14p10 | 3187 | 21 |
| c1p1 | 3127 | 17 |
| c9p11 | 2706 | 14 |
Long info dumps occur in chapters 10, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 23 to 27. Chapter 10 summarises Erewhonian attitudes to illness and crime. Chapters 23 to 27 present translated documents on machines, animal rights, and philosophy with minimal action or dialogue.
Chapters: Ch 10, Ch 13, Ch 15, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25
D14. Reading time per chapter. Count
About 5.5 hours to read at 250 words a minute. The longest chapter takes 18.8 minutes.
Minutes per chapter, chapter by chapter
D15. Micro tension in quiet scenes. AI
Quiet scenes gain tension through the narrator's internal conflict. Chapter 16 creates tension between love for Arowhena and custom requiring marriage to Zulora. Chapter 14 builds tension through gossip about Mahaina's faked illness. Chapter 15 creates tension through the absurdity of the Musical Banks.
Chapters: Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16
she was a perfect martyr to it, and her excellent health was the only thing which consoled her under her affliction. (Ch 14, para 2)
Not only this, but they would stick to it that the current coin of the realm was dross in comparison with the Musical Bank coinage. (Ch 15, para 22)
D16. Section breaks per chapter. Count
3 section breaks marked in the text, in 2 of 29 chapters.
Section breaks, chapter by chapter
Ask Erewhon a question about its craft (free beta)
Answers cite chapter and paragraph, and every quote is checked against the text. (3 free questions a day).
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