Bookshelf Nominations: LONG NOVELS WE LOVE

[Suraj]

I've tried to compile a list of some of the longest books ever published. http://www.freepaperbook.com/some-of-... . These books have also been best sellers and liked by many.

[Leo]

I love the concept! Long should be a genre b/c it's a favourite of mine. No idea why :-) Proust's In Search of Lost Time and Karl Ove Knausgård's Min kamp series as well :-)

[Suraj]

my personal fav is The suitable boy

[Whitney]

I like long reads as a genre as well. Some of my favs:: Musashi, The Recognitions, Ulysses, and all of Doestoevsky's major works. Maybe too soon to include 1Q84?

Some that linger on my TBR: The Man Without Qualities, The Tale of Genji, Don Quixote.

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Shall we move this into a bookshelf nominations thread? If we do, I think it needs to be "Long books that we recommend" though, rather than based on best-sellers?

[Leo]

Gr-gr-gr-great idea :D!

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Suraj - I've moved the discussion thread over so that we can use it to base a group book shelf on. Would you recommend all of the books on your list? Or are some popular books, that maybe aren't your favourites?

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Will wrote: "Underworld."

That looks to be around 800 pages. How long is "long", I guess is the question. I was assuming 1,000pages, but how long are the others that have been nominated?

[Suraj]

Ruby wrote: "Suraj - I've moved the discussion thread over so that we can use it to base a group book shelf on. Would you recommend all of the books on your list? Or are some popular books, that maybe aren't yo..."

Hi Ruby, great idea to move it to the discussion threads, i've only mentioned those books which fall under the Novel category and were initially and eventually published in a single volume.there are some of the books which are listed there which i have not read and there might have been a couple of books that are missing in the list. it would be nice to see what additions other members make to the list.

[Suraj]

Whitney wrote: "I like long reads as a genre as well. Some of my favs:: Musashi, The Recognitions, Ulysses, and all of Doestoevsky's major works. Maybe too soon to include 1Q84?

Some that linger on my TBR: The Ma..."

Whitney wrote: "I like long reads as a genre as well. Some of my favs:: Musashi, The Recognitions, Ulysses, and all of Doestoevsky's major works. Maybe too soon to include 1Q84?

Some that linger on my TBR: The Ma.

i didnt include Don Quixote in my list as it was published in 2 volumes.

[Suraj]

Ruby wrote: "Will wrote: "Underworld."

That looks to be around 800 pages. How long is "long", I guess is the question. I was assuming 1,000pages, but how long are the others that have been nominated?"

The book with the least amount of pages in the list is 1000+ , didn't include 800+ cause a lot of books will probably fall under that category

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

I think 1,000+ pages is a good criterion for this shelf.

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

For the purposes of the group shelf, do we need them to have been initially published as a single volume? What do people think?

[Whitney]

Ruby wrote: "For the purposes of the group shelf, do we need them to have been initially published as a single volume? What do people think?"

Tough one. It seems wrong to exclude something like In Search of Lost Time, which is essentially one book. Obvious series should be disallowed, for sure.

Is there a limit on nominations? I'd like to add 2666 .

[Suraj]

Another addition to the list could be Miss Mcintosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young but i am not sure if this was published in a single volume.

[Ben]

Against the Day

[Whitney]

Suraj wrote: "Another addition to the list could be Miss Mcintosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young but i am not sure if this was published in a single volume."

Volume 1 by itself is over 1000 pages, so I think it would qualify.

[Mary]

Well, The Lord of the Rings was originally published in three volumes because the book-binding technology of its day wasn't able to handle a book that size. Does it qualify?

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, OTOH, does by the 1000+

[Cora]

I think A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones series) should get a nod here. A lot of people are gaga over these books (myself included) and they are long (1000 pages each, easy) but they are fun, disturbing and terrific reads.

[Mary]

I think +800 might be better than +1000 for the list -- if we are just recommending long books that we like, not just any old books that happen to be that long.

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

Definitely our very favourites - those we'd recommend - for bookshelf nominations.

The person who started this thread was using the group to drive traffic to his blog of book lists. He is no longer with us. Draw your own conclusions. :)

[Mary]

It might also be fun to have a short book shelf -- though there there might also be so wangling about what constituted a book.

[donna]

I would like to add "Roots" to this list!

[Ruby , Mistress of Chaos]

No worries, Donna. The link: Roots: The Saga of an American Family

You just need to click "add book/author" when you mention a book.

[caracal-eyes]

Anathem by Neal Stephenson (900+)
Peter F Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy (each book 1,000+)
Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders series (each book 800+)
Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany(800+)

Of course, length varies somewhat depending on edition--Anathem is over 1,000 pages in some editions, and the final book of the Liveship Traders series is just short of 800 pages in some editions as well...though it doesn't seem certain yet whether we're going with 800+ or 1,000+ for page count. Well, those're my suggestions, anyway.

I'll second Infinite Jest. Aptly titled, length-wise.

[Richard]

Don quixotie (I can never spell it). Trust me life is infinitely better with the man of La Mancha free to roam in your head. And the novel is so funny and created post modernism - book 2 is the most fabulous and pleasurable read

A Suitable Boy is shit. Never ever bloody ever

[Leo]

Richard wrote: "A Suitable Boy is shit. Never ever bloody ever"

Hah! Dinghied (Glaswegian for avoided) not that I've read it yet but The Stand? Seen most people rave about it..

[Richard]

The Stand is great but very religious. When I read it as teen god was an ok idea. When I re read it as an adult god was the silliest concept since aerosol cheese whizz and the book kinda crumbled on me.

[caracal-eyes]

Hmm, yeah, The Stand...I almost suggested it, but since in the time (a few years, maybe?) since I read it, my impression of it has faded a good deal, I wouldn't include it as one of my 'favorite' long books. Worth reading, sure, but not, to me, a must-read. [Too many commas in that sentence? Yeesh.] And yeah, there was a lot of religious stuff there, and unless you're really into that--whether or not you 'believe' in any of the stuff--it does grate somewhat. But, despite its length, I did finish it, and as far as I remember, it didn't take me absolutely forever either, so my opinion of it is still fairly positive.

[Leo]

Cool, sounds alright- quite fancied some lengthy King chat- The Stand, It, Under the Dome?

[Richard]

Under The Dome - seriously you'll spend 900 pages thinking "ohhh i wonder" and then you'll stick your head in a blender shouting "what the fuck?" as you press the power button

i am a huge King aplogist but the ending of Dome was beyond stupid

if you want long King try IT, it's clunky in parts but mostly nails it.

Imajica i have good memories off but I was a teenager so apologise if it has aged appallingly


Musashi is one of the greatest things I have ever read, get passed the first 40 pages and you are flying and becoming very peaceful and zen as you do so

[Leo]

Richard wrote: "Under The Dome - seriously you'll spend 900 pages thinking "ohhh i wonder" and then you'll stick your head in a blender shouting "what the fuck?" as you press the power button"

Hahaha, brilliant! Cheers: Dinghied, added, added, and added in that order :-)

[Jennifer]

A Suitable Boy, I read this while living in India....maybe it meant more because I was in the country of setting.....Having said that not sure if I would devote my my time to the sequel that is being written.

[Cathie]

Middlemarch

[Quentin]

The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Incredibly gripping and moving. I think I read it in under a week, despite its length, which is unusual for me.

[Whitney]

Leo wrote: "Cool, sounds alright- quite fancied some lengthy King chat- The Stand, It, Under the Dome?"

I stand by "The Stand" as the best of long-form King. "IT" was very readable, though. And I do like the way King writes kids. I've also heard not so great things about "Under the Dome" before, although never with quite so much vitriol.

[Richard]

Dome is ok until the end. Seriously, the cause of the dome should go down in legend beyond Indiana jones in a fridge or fonzie jumping a shark

[Ed]

I know I should say a Remembrance of Things Past.

Not for me, though. I'm too lazy. I'll pick Don Quixote.

[Maggie the Muskoka Library Mouse]

Gone with the Wind

[Guy]

Quentin wrote: "The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Incredibly gripping and moving. I think I read it in under a week, despite its length, which is unusual for me."

In under a week. That is impressive Quentin. I am pleased that I read The Brothers Karamazov. However, though I liked parts of it, I found it rather turgid. Next up for me is Anna Karenina. Have you read it?