Your longest book.

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  • #202909
    Weird Jim
    Participant

      What’s the longest novel (single volume) you’ve read or tried to read. Apparently famous, David Foster Wallace published an unfinished volume titled The Infinite Jest. It was published unfinished at 1088 pages with 388 end notes, some of which had end notes. It’s a dystopia volume. The poor guy couldn’t hack it (life) and hanged himself. Much is written about his genius.

      Anybody read this book.

      The longest I’ve tackled (unsuccessfully) was Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy. I enjoyed it until he started quoting Indian politicians. I can’t even stand the Western variety of the breed, so I had to close. Still, I remember that I enjoyed the part I did read.

      So what’s the longest single volume you’ve ever tackled?

      #243231
      jameskearl
      Participant

        I own Infinite Jest but haven’t read it yet. Actually, it is a finished novel and the footnotes (and their footnotes) are intended by the author. The Pale King is his unfinished novel.

        I read War and Peace about 25 years ago, which is apparently longer than Infinite Jest. Stephen King’s The Stand and It also comes to mind, as does Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes. Do we count The Lord of the Rings which is a single work published in multiple volumes?

        In the last few years, I read several long novels, including 2666 by Roberto Bolano, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, Underworld by Don Delillo, and Anathem by Neal Stephenson.

        #243232
        astropolis
        Participant

          I think Heinlein’s “Time enough for love” must be up there somewhere.

          #243233
          Gilroy
          Participant

            Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time books, in paperback form, sometimes clocked in at the 900 page mark or more. I managed to wade through five of them before I gave up…

            #243271
            Magic Seeker
            Moderator

              ROFL! That’s about how long I lasted, too. :silly:

              Happy writing,
              Deb Salisbury
              The Mantua-Maker, Quality Historical Sewing Patterns and Books
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              The Art of the Hoop: 1860 - 1869, Dress, Sewing, and Clothing Care Advice
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              Dead Wizard's Loot: Wizard Whitewing #1
              http://www.djsalisburybooks.com/Dead-Wizard-s-Loot.html

              #243283
              Weird Jim
              Participant

                The Infinite Jest is selling well. I think I saw the number 155,000 and still selling well. There seems to be a lot written about the author. Some reviewers claiming it’s not a finished novel because it doesn’t have an ending. I’ve been seeking an excerpt, but can only find audio. I don’t like audio.

                #243260
                Weird Jim
                Participant
                  astropolis wrote:
                  I think Heinlein’s “Time enough for love” must be up there somewhere.

                  How many pages is it and did you read it all?

                  #243234
                  Anonymous

                    The Malazan Book of the Fallen series by Steven Erikson (highly recommended to any Epic Fantasy reader!) consists of ten books, all between 200k and 300k words. My paperback edition of Toll the Hounds is over 1,200 pages, and I think that might be the longest of the bunch.

                    #243290
                    astropolis
                    Participant

                      Time Enough for Love is just under 600 pages and I’ve read it right through about four times.

                      #243272
                      Chaos
                      Participant
                        Gilroy wrote:
                        Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time books, in paperback form, sometimes clocked in at the 900 page mark or more. I managed to wade through five of them before I gave up…

                        Those are all divided into two, three, even four volumes each for the German paperback edition.

                        #243321
                        Gilroy
                        Participant

                          Doesn’t offer as satisfying a thunk when thrown against a wall, though.

                          #243328
                          Chaos
                          Participant
                            Gilroy wrote:
                            Doesn’t offer as satisfying a thunk when thrown against a wall, though.

                            A far more sustainable thunk experience… you know, *thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk*

                            #243235
                            bwochinski
                            Participant

                              Just finished Wise Man’s Fear at something like 1100+ pages, word count is apparently 395,000. I’d have read another 500 pages too.

                              #243331
                              Weird Jim
                              Participant
                                bwochinski wrote:
                                Just finished Wise Man’s Fear at something like 1100+ pages, word count is apparently 395,000. I’d have read another 500 pages too.

                                Was it worth the effort — story-wise.

                                #243332
                                bwochinski
                                Participant

                                  I would definitely say so, both books in the series have been really compelling for me. Now that I’m just waiting for the last book, reading up on all the clues and speculation about the overarching mystery is really fun too. :D

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