How we read a book
Every plate on this site is computed from the full public-domain text of the novel. Here is exactly how, and where the method falls short.
Four steps, one text
The same steps, in the same order, for every book on the shelf.
The text
We download the plain-text edition from Project Gutenberg, strip the Gutenberg header and footer, and start at the first chapter (or the opening letters, for Frankenstein). Contents pages are removed; author-written front matter is kept only where it belongs to the novel.
The base for all three plates
The arc
We split the book into 40 slices of equal word count. Each sentence gets a VADER compound score from −1 to +1; a slice scores the average of its sentences. The line is a centered five-slice moving average.
Plate I: the mood of the wording
The names
For five central characters we list every name and title the book uses for them, then count whole-word matches in 20 equal slices. Ambiguous names are resolved by reading the passage, or left out.
Plate II: who is named when
The network
For the eight most-named characters we count the paragraphs in which both of a pair are named. Each paragraph counts once per pair. We keep links seen in at least three paragraphs, at most the 15 strongest.
Plate III: who shares a paragraph
Clues, not verdicts
The plates show patterns in the wording. Read them alongside the book, not instead of it.
Tone of the wording, not events
VADER scores words such as “happy”, “dreadful” and “not bad”. A calm description of a terrible event can score positive, and a polite quarrel can score higher than it feels. The arc shows how the language feels, slice by slice, not what happens.
Pronouns are not counted
We count names, not “he”, “she” or “I”. Narrators who tell their own story, such as Victor Frankenstein, Nick Carraway, Ishmael and Jane Eyre, look quieter than they are.
The nameless creature
Frankenstein’s creature has no name, so we count the words others use for him: monster, fiend, dæmon, wretch and the creature. A few of those hits refer to something else; we list them in our working notes and accept the small error rather than guess.
A modern scorer, an old vocabulary
VADER was built for modern English, especially short social-media posts. Nineteenth-century words can carry different weight, and irony is invisible to it. We use it because it is open, transparent and the same for every book, so books can be compared fairly.
Slices are equal in words, not chapters
A slice can start mid-chapter. Labels such as “Ch 46” name the chapters a slice mostly covers.
Which edition, which names
The exact texts we read, and every name and title we counted for each character.
| Book | Gutenberg text | Words | Chapters | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pride and Prejudice | #1342 | 121,850 | 61 | |
| Frankenstein | #41445 | 71,876 | 23 | The 1818 first edition text, not the 1831 revision |
| Jane Eyre | #1260 | 186,163 | 38 | |
| Moby-Dick | #2701 | 209,384 | 135 | Melville’s Etymology and Extracts set aside |
| Dracula | #345 | 161,057 | 27 | |
| The Great Gatsby | #64317 | 48,402 | 9 |
Pride and Prejudice: the names we counted
- Elizabeth Bennet
- Elizabeth, Lizzy, Eliza, Miss Eliza, Elizabeth Bennet, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Miss Elizabeth
- Mr Darcy
- Darcy, Mr. Darcy, Fitzwilliam Darcy
- Jane Bennet
- Jane, Jane Bennet, Mrs. Bingley
- Mr Bingley
- Bingley, Mr. Bingley, Charles Bingley
- Mr Wickham
- Wickham, Mr. Wickham, George Wickham
Frankenstein: the names we counted
- Victor Frankenstein
- Victor, Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, V. FRANKENSTEIN, VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN, VICTOR
- The creature
- monster, fiend, Fiend, dæmon, the wretch, the creature, thy creature, my creature
- Elizabeth
- Elizabeth, Elizabeth Lavenza, ELIZABETH LAVENZA
- Henry Clerval
- Clerval, Henry, Henry Clerval
- Justine Moritz
- Justine, Justine Moritz
Jane Eyre: the names we counted
- Jane Eyre
- Jane, Jane Eyre, Miss Eyre, Eyre, Janet, Miss Jane, Jane Rochester
- Mr Rochester
- Rochester, Mr. Rochester, Edward, Edward Rochester, Edward Fairfax Rochester, Fairfax Rochester
- St John Rivers
- St. John, St. John Rivers, Mr. Rivers, Mr. St. John
- Mrs Reed
- Mrs. Reed, Aunt Reed, aunt Reed
- Helen Burns
- Helen, Helen Burns, Burns
Moby-Dick: the names we counted
- Captain Ahab
- Ahab, Captain Ahab
- Queequeg
- Queequeg
- Starbuck
- Starbuck, Mr. Starbuck
- Stubb
- Stubb, Mr. Stubb
- Moby Dick
- Moby Dick, Moby-Dick, White Whale, white whale
Dracula: the names we counted
- Count Dracula
- Dracula, Count Dracula, Count, Count de Ville
- Abraham Van Helsing
- Van Helsing, Dr. Van Helsing, Abraham Van Helsing, Professor, Professor Van Helsing
- Mina Harker
- Mina, Madam Mina, Mrs. Harker, Miss Murray, Mina Murray, Mina Harker, Wilhelmina
- Jonathan Harker
- Jonathan, Harker, Mr. Harker, Jonathan Harker
- Lucy Westenra
- Lucy, Miss Lucy, Lucy Westenra, Miss Westenra
The Great Gatsby: the names we counted
- Jay Gatsby
- Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, Mr. Gatsby, Jay, James Gatz, Gatz, Jimmy
- Daisy Buchanan
- Daisy, Daisy Buchanan, Daisy Fay, Mrs. Buchanan
- Tom Buchanan
- Tom, Tom Buchanan, Buchanan, Mr. Buchanan
- Nick Carraway
- Nick, Nick Carraway, Carraway, Mr. Carraway
- Jordan Baker
- Jordan, Jordan Baker, Miss Baker