I m planning to read both frozen heart and don Quixote in the next months one is over 700 pages and the other over 900 .Most of books I read tend to be 150 -350 pages long on the whole what I call 3 day reads .Now over the years I have read huge tomes Ulysses ,Buddenbrooks ,midnights children and spent pleasant five-da’s at my grandmothers in Elie fife and whilst there read dom DeLillo’s underworld which I loved ,Now my question Is as Meike from periene press calls her books film books as they take as long as a good film to read ,so does that make large tomes “the wire ” of the book world ? I ve been getting a few longer books last month or two and also have my eye on a 900 page mexican novel .So why do we sometimes fear these big book .
WHAT IS THE LONGEST BOOK YOU’VE READ ?
DO YOU LIKE BIG BOOKS ?
The longest book I’ve read is Prousts Recherche. And do I like big fat books? Our german “Literaturpapst” Marcel Reich-Ranicki always says, that a novel must not have more than 100 pages to be still a good one.
But: I think it depends on the book. Novels narrated in a traditional, old-fashinioned style like Dickens, Mann, J. Irving, those with a lot of characters that demand development etc. imply being big. But to be honest, in everyday reading-life, I prefer to read the smaller books, just to be able to finish one of them now and then … 🙂
Nevertheless I’m looking forward to your Cervantes read-along, and will happily devour every single of those 900 pages…
true ,american writers seem to try on huge novel as they’d call it the great american novel ,but it seems a dying art in a way maybe its publishing demands saying that a few long books on last years booker shortlist ,all the best stu
The longest novel I’ve read was A Suitable Boy. I enjoy long novels from time to time; it’s nice to stay with the story for a while if it’s a good one (which I thought A Suitable Boy was).
yes I really enjoyed underworld it was so well written ,all the best stu
Proust, Clarissa, Infinite Jest are a few that come to mind. And I do enjoy a chunkster if I have adequate time to immerse myself. Summer is always perfect. Sometimes I think that the blogging community does not encourage the big read too frequently as speed is valued, frequent review posting. But obviously not always true as is the case with our upcoming Don Quixote or last summer and Infinite Jest and a bunch of other examples. Has become the equivalent of what I saw recently described as fight club for bibliophiles. I like that.
yes have seen some the other summer readalongs there is dos passos usa one which has been sat for ages on my tbr ,I agree with the demand for shorter books when blogging ,I m going try and read some longer books as I keep buying them 🙂 ,all the best stu
To me it isn’t so much fear but the irrational idea that I do not have the time to read longer books. Of course, I do have the time, but it takes a little more effort to start reading a longer book. Why? Because I like the feeling of finishing something and it takes longer to finish a chunkster (can I add that I really dislike the word chunkster?)
I really want to read A Suitable Boy sometime, but I never bought it because I don’t think I will read it anytime soon when I do.
sorry about use of chunkster ,you may have more time after studies I always like a big book on Hoilday and in summer ,stu
I love chunky, meaty books. I haven’t read them for a while now (not consciously), but I loved reading Dickens’ Bleak House, Charles Palliser’s The Quincunx, Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy and Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, especially during the summer holidays. I read a lot of fantasy books which are pretty long: Stephen Donaldson, Steven Erikson, George R.R. Martin, to name a few. Love them!
yes read some feist when younger his books were always big ,all the best stu
A few years ago I read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It was well over 1000 pages and I recall it taking a month to read. It was the type of book tht you need to sit and think about rather than the kind where you plunge right in and keep going.
yes heard its thought provoking like a lot of rands books ,all the best stu
Great post. I do fear big books, because they just take SO long to finish. It makes no sense, as I love them. Some of my favorite big books include Gone With The Wind, Scarlett, Toss of a Lemon, and Cutting for Stone. So I love big books, I just get scared before starting them it seems!
I do think its the time thinl big books take well over a week to read ,all the best stu
The longest book I’ve read so far is probably around….800 pages? Sometimes I find very long books intimidating, but I don’t usually shy away from them. I do have to be in a very particular mood to start one, though. Recently I’ve been averaging the 350-450 page middling range.
I don’t tend to be intimidated by them think its time thing with me more ,all the best stu
I don’t find long books intimidating, but most of what I read nowadays happens to be 300-500 pages. If it’s a well-written, good story I don’t care if it’s a short story or 2000 pages. The longest book I’ve read is Les Misérables at 1463 pages.
wow mish impressed you read les mis that is such a huge bok ,most mine this year been 200 – 300 pages long ,all the best stu
I love long books, but as a book blogger they could severely limit my posting rate! Fortunately I have a backlog of a dozen or so reviews to write so the odd tome does me no harm. Am looking forward to DQ – we start on 19 July don’t we. Do we post our comments on your blog or on our own?
I need to start saving some reviews ,for when I m busying at work ,all the best stu
Les Mis may be huge, but it went by quickly. I think it’s easier than what many anticipate about lengthy books (like War and Peace) and Hugo didn’t waste any pages. I read it over a decade ago, but would like to read it again with fresh eyes.
There is always something nice going back to a book you loved after time see if its changed as you ve got older ,all the best stu
The longest book I’ve read lately has been The Passage by Justin Cronin, which about 800 pages.. I think what’s feared is the commitment it takes to read so many pages and sick with a story until the end.
yes time is problem ,I tend to reader longer books when on hoilday as have more time ,all the best stu
I need to read long books in large chunks – little dips here and there will not do. Unfortunately, with two youngsters, this isn’t always possible. I’ll save them for retirement perhaps!
can imagine be hard with kids about ,yes I always like to get a good chunk in to a book when I start ,all the best stu
Don’t fear the big books – they are normally the best!! I recommend reading small sections of big books over several weeks. That seems to make them less scary for me and means I can work through about one long book a month. Good luck!
thanks Jackie ,all the best stu
the longest book i read was probably Shantaram, which was in the 900 page range, but it was absolutely worth it!
i’m in the middle of Midnight’s Children and The Fountainhead now, which are both pretty long…
i like reading longer books because you have more time to work with the characters and the stories are usually have more depth, though this isn’t always the case.
I loved midnights children one my all time favs ,all the best stu
Stu, I don’t know if it is the longest (probably is, though) but my favorite is “A Suitable Boy” by Vikram Seth. I tell almost everyone this — it’s one of my faves in general :-)!
Interestingly, when I read a chunkster, I tend to read at least one other book at the same time….do you?
From the other Winston’s “mom”
I think seth is longest book in english ,sometimes will be when reading don quixote ,all the best stu
Some chunky novels I have read over the years: Proust’ Recherche (some 3500+ pages in my edition), Thomas Mann’s Joseph and his Brothers, Don Quijote, War and Peace, Broch’s Sleepwalkers, The Buru Quartet by Prameodya Anata Toer, Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell, Hans Henny Jahnn’s River Without Banks (about 2500 pages in my edition), Naguib Mahfouz’ Cairo Trilogy. I can tackle a long novel only when I know I can read every day at least 100 pages, otherwise I would have the feeling to not really get into the book.