Is The Great Gatsby hard to read? Its reading level from A1 to C2
How many words in every 100 you will probably not know, at each level from A1 to C2. Estimated over the whole book with Solaread’s own word-difficulty model.
- Author
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
- First published
- 1925
- Length
- About 46,500 words
- Copyright
- Public domain
Short answer
Just right from C1: 4.9 new words in every 100. At B1 it is a little hard, 9.7 in 100. It is the tenth hardest of the 20 English classics we measured.
New words per 100, by level
Estimated over all 46,514 running words. Character names are left out. The labels follow Solaread’s difficulty scale: Easy means knowing 98 of every 100 words, Just right 95, A little hard 90, and below that Too hard.
The Great Gatsby vocabulary by level
At A2
- sport50×
- toward47×
- begin60×
- cry39×
- egg34×
- afternoon44×
- garage29×
- suddenly40×
- eye92×
- sit62×
- inquire27×
- glance26×
The 12 words an A2 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 4% of the new words at this level.
At B1
- inquire27×
- remark23×
- nod23×
- glance26×
- lawn26×
- stare23×
- whisper18×
- anyhow13×
- porch16×
- policeman14×
- coupé12×
- tremble11×
The 12 words a B1 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 4% of the new words at this level.
At B2
- inquire27×
- coupé12×
- remark23×
- tremble11×
- murmur10×
- faintly10×
- chauffeur10×
- anyhow13×
- nod23×
- exclaim9×
- drugstore9×
- mutter8×
The 12 words a B2 reader is most likely to stop at in this book, with how often each appears. Together they are about 4% of the new words at this level.
The opening lines
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
“Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”
He didn’t say any more, but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.
Open the free EPUB in Solaread and the words it marks follow your own level, with glosses in the language you choose.
Books with a similar level
- Anne of Green Gables9.5 new words per 100 at B1
- The Picture of Dorian Gray9.6 at B1
- Treasure Island9.7 at B1
Questions
Is The Great Gatsby hard to read?
At B1 it is a little hard, with 9.7 new words in every 100 (about one in 10). It is just right from C1.
What is the reading level of The Great Gatsby?
On Solaread’s scale it is just right from C1, and the tenth hardest of the 20 English classics we measured. At B2, 6.1 in every 100 words are new.
Where can I get The Great Gatsby for free?
It is in the public domain. Project Gutenberg has a free EPUB you can import into Solaread.
Read it with help only where you need it
Import the free EPUB. Solaread marks the words you probably don’t know, at your level.