Kim’s Comments (group member since Sep 22, 2010)

Kim’s comments from the McNeese State University LIBS 210: Technical Services in Libraries group.

I looked up novel lengths on the “longest novel” Wikipedia site (not documented) and one other site and found I have read several, but there is no clear agreement on exact lengths. Because I interpreted “book” here to mean a cohesive work by one author, even if written in several volumes, the longest I have read would probably be Proust’s A la recherché du temps perdu or Samuel Richardson’s Clarissa or the Harry Potter series (which didn’t appear in the lists I found, but would probably be longer than the first two).

Note - Besides the Wikipedia site see also English novel lengths at http://listverse.com/2009/06/06/top-1...

The worst book I ever read was Hubert Selby’s Last Exit to Brooklyn. I finished it because it was assigned reading in a modern world lit class, but its portrayal of the seamy (and horrific) side of life in Brooklyn seemed like a deliberate attempt to shock more than an attempt either at a realistic portrayal or a meaningful social criticism.

It is always a futile undertaking to try to determine what the best book is. If alone on a desert island I’d take the best encyclopedia I could find at the time, but for information, not for quality. It seems that the idea of “best book” should always have sub-categories (genre, topic, etc.). If forced to choose one I might pick Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, for its realism, its ironies, and its bizarre humor, both of situation and language, as well as for its vivid presentation of the concept of how institutions can thwart our attempts to move on, to achieve, to reason, to enjoy. (Better than Kafka’s Der Schloβ or Das Urteil, because it is not written from a psychologically damaged point of view, and because of the humor that accompanies the irony.)

I agree absolutely about Pullman's characters!