Book · Classics
The Tin Drum
by Gunter Grass
Page count, estimated reading time and reading quiz: everything to know before you start The Tin Drum, and the Vread challenge to get to the end.
- Pages
- 823
- Reading time
- ≈ 15 h
- Checkpoints
- 23
- Genre
- Classic
Free on iPhone and Android.
How long does it take to read The Tin Drum?
At 823 pages, The Tin Drum is a doorstopper. Expect about 15 hours of reading to finish it, based on 250 words per page and an average reading speed of 230 words per minute. A fast reader will go quicker; a careful read (or reading in a second language) will take longer.
At 30 minutes a day, that is about 30 days of reading. At the median pace of Vread readers, 72 pages per reading day, it takes 12 reading days. For a book of this length (600 pages or more), Vread readers who finish it take a median of 6.4 days between the first and the last checkpoint (Vread Reading Barometer 2026).
- 30 minutes a day30 days
- Vread median pace (72 pp./day)12 days
Estimates; see the method at the bottom of the page.
Prove you read it
The Vread challenge: 23 checkpoints
- Checkpoint 1, page 36
- Checkpoint 2, page 72
- Checkpoint 3, page 107
- Checkpoint 4, page 143
- Checkpoint 5, page 179
- Checkpoint 6, page 215
- Checkpoint 7, page 250
- Checkpoint 8, page 286
- Checkpoint 9, page 322
- Checkpoint 10, page 358
- Checkpoint 11, page 394
- Checkpoint 12, page 429
- Checkpoint 13, page 465
- Checkpoint 14, page 501
- Checkpoint 15, page 537
- Checkpoint 16, page 573
- Checkpoint 17, page 608
- Checkpoint 18, page 644
- Checkpoint 19, page 680
- Checkpoint 20, page 716
- Checkpoint 21, page 751
- Checkpoint 22, page 787
- Checkpoint 23, page 823
In Vread, The Tin Drum is split into 23 checkpoints, one every 36 pages or so. At each checkpoint, a question covers the passage you have just read: a correct answer validates the step, and your progress moves forward like a training plan.
The challenge: validate all 23 checkpoints through to the last page. No giant quiz at the end, no summary to copy out: short questions along the way that prove the book was actually read. It also works as a reading quiz to check your understanding before a test.
Also available in French on Vread.
Illustrative example
What a checkpoint looks like
A short, precise question about the pages you have just read: a character, a place, a choice.
The answer is in the text: reply in the app.
This is not a question from The Tin Drum: to avoid spoilers, the real questions stay in the app.
Answer in the app, one checkpoint at a time.
Summary, quiz, reviews: frequently asked questions
How many pages is The Tin Drum?
How long does it take to read The Tin Drum?
Is there a quiz on The Tin Drum?
Where can I find a summary of The Tin Drum?
Read The Tin Drum with Vread
Add the book to your library, read at your own pace in whatever format you use, and validate each checkpoint. Vread is free on iPhone and Android.
Take the challenge