A Suitable Boy: This will almost certainly be the longest book I ever read because it's looooong, y'all. I spent weeks reading it during a summer in college. It was really good and I want to read it again but that is a COMMITMENT.
Les Miserables: I know a lot of people complain about the extended digressions into things like the history of the sewer system in Paris, but I actually really liked the whole thing!
War and Peace: It's so long but it's soooo good! The size can be intimidating but once you get started it really draws you in.
A Storm of Swords: The longest of the A Song of Ice and Fire series! All of these books are super long, and this one is actually my favorite but it took me until my second try to actually get all the way through it.
Gone With The Wind: In the ultimate bookish heresy, the movie is better. The subplots that got cut were worth excising for a still-sprawling but more focused narrative.
The Executioner's Song: I still maintain that there's a very good 600 page book inside this 1000+ pager about the first person executed after the death penalty was re-instituted in the United States but as is it's just too bloated to really recommend
Don Quixote: I hated this book so much.
The Cider House Rules: The movie inspired me to pick this one up, and though I haven't read it again in ages I want to someday because it's really good.
The Memoirs of Cleopatra: I read this (and quite a bit of other Margaret George) in high school, and I feel like I liked it? My memories of it are vaguely positive anyways.
Shantaram: I read this fairly recently, and after about page 200 it was hate-reading. For the next 700+ pages.
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I used to read long books, but after I turned 50 (some 24 years ago) I decided if you can't tell your story in 400 pages--I'm not interested. There are so many books and so little time.
ReplyDeleteThat's fair. I do love getting lost in a long book, but it does mean slowing up the reading pace!
DeleteI've seen several classics on people's lists. I haven't read any that you've mentioned. I'm still not sure I've I'd ever read any Russian classics or not. I need to read more classics, but I don't get in the mood to read them a lot.
ReplyDeleteRussian lit tends to be lengthy, but I've loved the Tolstoy I've read! If you're not excited to read it, though, it would probably feel like a slog!
DeleteA Storm of Swords is my favorite too, that book is just amazing (and heart wrenching at times). And Les Mis is definitely a chunkster!
ReplyDeleteLes Mis was definitely one I was glad to have on my Kindle (I read it when traveling overseas, I wouldn't have wanted to haul that around!)
DeleteSometimes I fall into big, long books and never want to come out, but other times I just can't stand the amount of time it takes to read long books, ha!
ReplyDeleteI love the detail and world-building and immersion, but the time commitment is a drag for sure!
DeleteI had a few of these on my list, as well - War & Peace, A Storm of Swords, and Gone with the Wind. I love a long book once in awhile!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't read all doorstops, but every once in a while I think they're a great escape!
DeleteWar and Peace I've tried for years to read but have never been able to just down and actually get through it. Why the dislike for Don Quixote?
ReplyDeleteWar and Peace is a big one! I think it took me almost a month, and I usually read 7-8 books in a month! Don Quixote...I don't know, I didn't think the humor was that funny? I felt like I got the joke after the first hundred pages and then it was just the same joke over and over. It just never clicked for me.
DeleteWow! Those are some intense reads. Les Miserables is one of my sister's favorite books. :) I really like John Irving, but I haven't read Cider House Rules. I will have to check it out. Great list! Here's my TTT.
ReplyDeleteCider House Rules is so good! I've read a couple of his others and really liked them but that one's my favorite. Les Mis is wonderful, but it does take a loooong time to get through.
DeleteI have not read any of the novels on your TTT post! They look like really good reads. Hopefully one day I’ll be able to get around to reading a few of them!
ReplyDeleteHere’s a link to my TTT post this week: http://captivatedreader.blogspot.com/2018/10/top-ten-tuesday-longest-books-ive-ever.html