So I started reading The Terror by Dan Simmons and stalled almost halfway through. Yeah, I’ll finish it. I didn’t stop because the story wasn’t good, but because it’s so darned long — almost 800 pages. Long books have that effect on me. Take this one: Cervantes’ Don Quixote. I have the coolest version, an Oxford World Classics hardback, perfectly palm-sized. But at 1,000 plus pages, its sheer enormity keeps me from wading in.
I know, it’s probably psychological. I mean, if I can read two 350 page books with no problem, why can’t I read one 700 pager? I’ve asked myself that question many times. Anyway, here’s 10 really long books (well over 500 pages) that I’d like to read, but whose long shadow intimidates to no end.
What about you? Are there any books whose sheer size intimidates you?
Wow, you missed a couple real good ones in there.
A Prayer for Owen Meany is one I first heard when John Irving himself read it at an event I attended, and I fell in love with the story and had to read the whole thing. I’m glad I did.
You also have my favorite book of all time in there: The Stand. I’m very surprised you haven’t read this one yet. I read the original, which was a little shorter than the now unabridged version that’s floating around these days. But I’ve read the newer version too. This is one book that I will pick up and reread from time to time. Yes, it’s that good.
Swan Song I read a long time ago, when I was a teenager. I remember liking it, and remember having a sense that it was a long one, but I didn’t let its length bother me, just like The Stand. In fact, I remember the two stories having similar elements to them.
The only book I ever put down that was lengthy was For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, and not because of its length (it’s shorter than the ones you listed above) but because the story just didn’t MOVE at the beginning and I couldn’t get past it.
I LOVE super-size novels as long as they are well written. There is something about knowing I won’t have to leave the author’s world too soon, but on a couple of these you’ve pictured, which are all-time favorites, 800+ pages was still too soon. Four of the books in your post, I’ve gotten lost in more than once. The only exception: Don Quixote. I’ve been working on it for many months at a snail’s pace. The older language and unfamiliar references keep me from reading quickly enough to get lost in the story. At this rate, I should finish sometime within the next two years!
Ouch. You have several of my favourite novels up there. You could skip the DFW though. I’d advise skipping it if you are at all prone to depressive episodes. He was always depressed–up until he killed himself–and his sadness and loathing of life hangs over every page of his writing like a caul of grim.
Some tricks for reading long books:
1. Read more than one book at once. I usually have at least 3 going, and read whatever I’m in the mood for at the time. A book is like a vacation, and just as you wouldn’t go fishing when you were in the mood for the beach there’s no reason to stay in Follett’s medieval times if you’re in the mood for modern horror.
2. Give yourself permission to abandon. A book is not a marriage unless you’re writing it yourself. If you aren’t grabbed by (100pg-the years of your age), then don’t sink any more of your time into it.
3. Read the bigger books on Kindle. The line of little dots under the title is less intimidating than the chocolate-cake sized stack of pages.
4. Size doesn’t matter. Really. Tell yourself that.
This is great advice, Katherine. I’d love to see you blog more about this. I hadn’t thought about the Kindle approach. I already have most of these books at home and staring at their brick-sized bindings is part of my problem. Maybe a digital version would be less intimidating. Re: Wallace, it’s more out of fascination. To have an opinion about him. But he does seem like one of those writers that overly gloomy postmoderns like to call their own.
I suppose I could blog more about it, but I hadn’t thought about it. It’s just a thing I do, I guess.
Since I pay for the vast majority of my books on Kindle (I do have some freebies, but most of them cost a mint), I’ve gotten to the place where I _prefer_ longer books just because after paying $12.99 for a 1000-pager it feels kind of a let down to pay the same amount for a 200pg book. So, ironically, most of what I read on the Kindle are longer things. And I really don’t notice once I’m in the book, usually.
I did notice with _Fall of Giants_ but that was because it was dreadful.
Oh, and before I blog long and loud about this at my place I should say it here.
Writers who don’t read bother me…big time.
It grates on my nerves when people will go to endless workshops and conferences and drum circles sitting around talking about The Writing Rules and How To Get Published but then don’t read things that are a) published and b) nearly universally acclaimed.
You can learn more about writing by reading good books than you can by memorizing two thousand lists of Rules For Writers.
“You can learn more about writing by reading good books than you can by memorizing two thousand lists of Rules For Writers.”
Yes! Organic osmosis has got to be better anyway–like the difference between synthetic vitamins that the body can only minimally use, and simply eating healthy. I see so much struggle with writers trying to figure out their 2,000 lists of rules…instead of learning to do by doing. Can be very bad for the heart, the brain and the writing voice.
“…people will go to endless workshops and conferences and drum circles sitting around talking about The Writing Rules and How To Get Published but then don’t read things that are a) published and b) nearly universally acclaimed.”
Quote of the Year…
I am a ridiculously slow reader most days, so I sympathize with you greatly on this matter…
That’s why I hesitated to start A Song of Ice and Fire – each book is over 800 pages. But really, once you conquer Martin’s dramatis personæ it goes fairly quickly. Or at least A Game of Thrones did. We’ll see about the others.
Most of them do. There are parts that seem
Draggy (Sansa….) but I’m on my 4th read through and they go smoothly.
The Name of the Wind was one of the fastest 700+ page reads I’ve ever had. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was another.
I’d encourage you to try A Song Of Ice And Fire. I think you’d find it goes as quickly as the Rothfuss did.
I’ll also add that I’ve read several of Dan Simmons’ brickhouses and I think that–if the Terror is anything like his others–he doesn’t write long books well.
_Drood_ was the first book I read on my Kindle, and at 800 pages it was a very good 300 page book.
No, big books don’t intimidate me. But then I am a fast reader and read 4 or 5 books at a time because different mental states call for different books. I’ve read Winter’s Tale, Don Quixote, Gulag Archipelago, and A Prayer for Owen Meany. I think everybody ought to read at least an abridged version of Gulag Archipelago. I adore Moby Dick.
One of the way too long, egregiously too long book for me was Atlas Shrugged. I wanted to know what the book said, so I finished it, but it was no pleasure.
I read The Terror. It seems like it would be your kind of book.
Lelia, I have enjoyed The Terror, but I’ve just felt in need of a break before I finish it. Maybe it’s the incessantly bleak atmosphere that was wearing on me.
Mike, I felt the same about American Gods. I loved it, still one of my favorites, but I put it down halfway through, read something else, then came back and finished it.
It was bleak. It ends bleak. But I thought that was your kind of story. Huh. Simmons is such a good and thoughtful writer, but I admit that I do not want to read too many of his novels in a row. I like Dean Koontz, but once, during a spell of illness I read eight of his books in a row, and felt sicker. I needed to read light and cheerful books for a month to get over it.
That’s ironic, because I read Dean Koontz when I want something light and cheerful. Wonder what that says about my reading tastes…
*snicker* That you would read The Terror and memorize it?
I don’t find long books intimidating. If the story is good, it will feel almost like an epic–you’re settling into a world the author has built, with all sorts of nooks and crannies to explore.
I like the Kindle approach suggested above–it feels much less intimidating that way, since you’re not holding a doorstop in your hands. I finished Stephen King’s 11/22/63 a little while ago–another behemoth, and yet I was a little down when the story was finally over.
That being said, there were still a few points in that one and in other long books (Tom Clancy’s come to mind) where I think they could have trimmed some fat. But none of us are perfect writers and I’ll forgive a lot for a good story.
2 of those books (The Stand and The Historian) are on my 12-page to-read list. But, to be honest, I’ve actually never been intimidated by a book of any length. My problem is finding the time in my day (and, ironically, I have no job yet… though I think being online quite often is a hindrance) to read them.
The Historian I REALLY enjoyed, though some folks enjoy slamming it. Swan Song is one of the few – and one of the only McCammon books – I’ve started and didn’t finish, but it had nothing to do with the length. It’s fundamentally different than The Stand, but it’s an apocalyptic tale, and I felt like I’d already a lot of those, and just wasn’t up for it.
I actually love long, epic books. Which is not always a good thing, because then I always try to write long, epic things…
Really, really long books are such a time investment that I seldom commit to them. Although Bleak House consumed my life for an entire month, and I still think about going back to visit everyone. The hardest thing is their weight on your wrists, but as other people have pointed out, Kindle editions are nice that way.
If I’m really interested in the book, no matter how long, I’ll dive right in, though. It’s just been a while since I wanted to read something longer than 800 pages (Harry Potter for the win!)
I’m with Jonnia–I LOVE long books, if it’s a book I’m loving anyways.
That being said, Mark Helprin is one of my very favorite writers, but I was disappointed in Winter’s Tale. It meandered.
I haven’t read any of David Foster Wallace’s novels yet (and I might not), but his essays are amazing and funny and life-affirming. Read those instead 🙂
It is amazing how fast a long book goes when you’re into it–I think I read IT in like a week or less. I couldn’t put it down. 😀
And others, well…not so much. That Jonathan Strange book up there has been sitting on my shelf for years because I couldn’t seem to get through the first ten or so pages. Ha ha.
But I will stick in a vote for Don Quixote because not only is it excellent–it’s more like a bunch of short stories hooked together. Perfect stop and start places.
“Journey to the West” is along the same lines, the book is split into four volumes–but they’re all short stories connected together. It makes that giant block much more manageable. 😀
The only super large books I’ve read are the Bible (really 66 books, but eh), and the two Rand megaliths of Atlas Shrugged and the Fountainhead. I enjoy all 3 of them but Rand apparently loved to hear (see?) herself write so she belabors plot points into the stratosphere.
Haven’t read Tolkein’s ME books yet, but I will. I haven’t figured out how to clone myself properly to read everything on my list.
The better books I’ve read, I think, are more on the lean side, though the length of those longs ones didn’t work to their detriment, I don’t think it made them better, really.
I’ve got to try A Song of Ice and Fire. Also, The Name of the Wind. And The Gulag Archipelago–and Winter’s Tale…
Long books don’t often trouble me, but Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell did. I had the hardest time getting into that book. At the risk of sounding like I’m contradicting myself, I didn’t like it very much, but it was awesome. 🙂
For me, it’s really a matter of whether I can get caught up in the characters. I had to push myself through Utopia’s hundred pages, but Anna Karenina’s eight hundred? No biggie. It’s taken me two months to get halfway through the 400-page The Silmarillion–all these Fin- names are destroying me!–whereas I blew through thirteen 600-1000 page Wheel of Time novels in seven months last year.
Also, I find it surprisingly helpful to mix the long ones up with lot of short, quick reads. It makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something. Considering my aforementioned to-read list, I wish I weren’t running out of Percy Jacksons right now. 🙂
I agree w/Leila–started Atlas Shrugged and then I shrugged it off. Gulag Archipelago is one I started and still want to complete, as well as Bleak House. Aren’t the Twilight books at least 500 pages each? I’ve finished all of those (I know you’re bashing your hand into your head here, folks! hee).
Subject matter makes the difference. Though Gone With the Wind is lengthy, it was an easy read. I do love delving into classics, but tend toward the shorter ones, b/c they’re so DENSE and it’s what I have time to complete (while working on my OWN writing!). Although I still want to finish Anna Karenina someday, because I love his writing, and Daniel Deronda, because I love her writing. And Moby Dick, just to say I did it.
I have much less patience with books than I used to. It’s kind of astonishing, actually. The nice thing about Don Quixote is that it was written before the develop of the modern novel, so it’s episodic. You can pick it up and read an episode, laugh at loud at its hilarity, then put it aside. The humor is way, way better in the original Spanish, but you’ll at least get the gist, if not that nuance. I literally have about 27 books by my bed, plus my Nook with another (don’t remember) and a Kindle app that has about 10 books. Many of these books are long, but I cycle through them, a few pages here, and a few pages there. My husband thinks I need help, you know, like mental help. Oh–another really great episodic book that is about 600 pages is Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne. It is so freaking hilarious. It’s like old-fashioned Dave Barry, only kind of dirty and insinuative. I can’t think of any really big books I want to read that I haven’t read yet, though I was planning on reading Jonathan Strange at some point.
Mike,
It took me three times before I could read Winter’s Tale by Helprin. I’m glad I finally read it. But, I read Helprin’s Soldier of a Great War which is just as long as Winter’s Tale in one try. (BTW, I believe those are Helprin’s two best novels.)
I’ve tried reading Nicholas Nickleby by Dickens (that’s about 800 pages long) several times but haven’t finished it. However, I did read David Copperfield ( which is even longer) and is my favorite novel…go figure.
Also, I have tried reading Islandia by Austin Tappan Wright and it’s 1015 pages long and I only got to 400 pages and put it down. And that was the longest novel I’ve ever attempted to read.
Marion
Mike… A Prayer for Owen Meany… do it. Irving captured something special in that one.
Love long books… mainly because when I get captured by a story, it’s such a disappointment to realize that I’m nearing the end, and will soon be forced to leave this fictional world that I’ve grown attached to. So page counts of 800+ have the potential to feel more satisfying. Also, I’m drawn in by characterization & detail, and longer stories allow more room for those elements to breathe.
Favorite Doorstops: The Terror (yeah!); War & Peace; Anna Karenina; Gone with the Wind; Les Miserables; David Copperfield; Bleak House; The Historian
Didn’t Do Anything For Me (But I finished them): The Stand; Under the Dome. (Ironically, one of my favorite SK novels is one of his shortest: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
I absolutely loved The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Fantastic book.
By law, no book should be longer than the Bible. Not even a phone book.
It is kind of embarrasing for me to admit it, but the Bible is really intimidating. The gospels are nice, Paul’s letters. Maybe peruse through Genesis or Proverbs, but other than that everything else is foreign. Yeah, i know about the other books, but read them start to finish? Yikes! That takes some gusto. Psalms is nice, but man it is way long.
When i did finish i think my last book was Numbers. I just read it to say that i had finally finished the Bible, but a lot of that was mindless skimming.
One of the benefits of ereaders is that you really lose sight of a book’s length.
I’ve just thought of another immense book that’s a popular bestseller: Justin Cronin’s The Passage. If you like anti-romantic vampires spread by vampires in a post-apocalyptic world and the only cure is in a truly unthinkable source, this is your kind of thing. I know it’s caught my interest.