5. Read a book under 200 pages

[Martha]

A list of books under 200 pages - note that not all will meet the 100 page minimum requirement for this challenge
Popular Less than 200 Pages Books

Some examples:
The Great Gatsby
Animal Farm
Of Mice and Men
Lord of the Flies
A Wizard of Earthsea
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Girl, Interrupted

Discussion prompts
- What will you / did you read for this task? What do you think of it?
- Do you prefer long or short books? Why?
- Why do you think so many "classics" are shorter, while many modern books are 300pp+?

[Marina]

For this task I read The Ubu Plays: Ubu Rex / Ubu Cuckolded / Ubu Enchained, which is 190 pages in the Italian edition I own (this one: Ubu: Ubu Re - Ubu Cornuto - Ubu incatenato - Ubu sulla Collina). I didn't like it. I know it's considered to be a groundbreaking work, especially the play Ubu Rex, but it wasn't to my taste at all. I found it utterly nonsense.

I'm not usually a fan of long books, they intimidate me. However, there are some exceptions to this rule (for example, I'm reading the Game of Thrones series - but I have to admit I'm stuck at the second book because the third intimidates me with its ca. 1200 pages... sigh).

Actually, there are lots of classics which are very long, let's just think about many books such as Les Misérables or War and Peace. However, it's true that many of them tend to be shorter, while many contemporary books tend to be longer (see Game of Thrones, as mentioned before). I think that many modern authors like to take their readers through longer journeys, and that's also why there are so many series nowadays. This might also be a marketing strategy, because, if the readers are hooked, they will buy more books and the authors and publishers will earn more money...

[Martha]

I've never heard of Ubu Rex, but sounds like it's best avoided!

I feel the same about long books, they can be intimidating and I also feel like they require more commitment than something short. 1200 pages is extreme though!

You're very right about there being many long classics. I wonder if the shorter ones are partly down to the differences in writing style where many classics can say more with fewer words; while more modern authors can waffle on a bit...but that can also make the modern books easier to read, so there's certainly pros and cons.

For this prompt I read The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism, 193 pages. To be honest, it felt even shorter as it's basically a collection of short observations from the perspective of a boy with autism. I'd highly recommend it, it's incredibly insightful.

Over the last few months I've tended towards shorter books, as I've been completely commitment-phobic - the shorter the better so I can get onto the next one! I'd like to change that in 2017 as I have sooo many long books on my shelf.