Long Books–Are they worth the time and effort?
A blog reader and friend Madeleine Kaye suggested that I ask readers a different question each month in order to solicit participation in the blog. She even supplied the questions!! I concur that the idea is a good one. So please take the time, when you finish reading this entry, to reply to November’s question (submitted by Madeleine). Your answer will be featured for other readers to see.
What is the best long book (at least 500 pages) you have read? Would you read it again?
Long books….some book clubs will not allow them. I must say that I cringe when I come upon a book that is over 350 pages. The October book for one of the my book clubs was The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne. When I saw that it had 592 pages, I immediately decided I didn’t like it. Well, I read it and DID like it. Clearly, many long books are worth the read.
Madeleine’s favorite long book is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. She also mentions Shogun by James Clavell. And yes, she has read both of them twice.
Interestingly, after Madeleine submitted her question, I read an article by Melissa Flandreau in the November 5, 2001 edition of “Book Bub” that lists her favorite ‘long’ books. She says they are 100% worth the time. Look at her list and see how many you have read. Please remember to reply to the question and be featured on the blog!!
Life After Life, Kate Atkinson (Read it)
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (Read it)
The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
The Fifth Season, N. K. Jemisin
Caste, Isabel Wilkerson (Read it)
The Secret History, Donna Tartt
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke
Pachinko, Min Jin Lee (Read it)
Leviathan Wakes, James, S. A. Corey
The Poppy War, R. F. Kuang
A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara
IQ84, Haruki Murakami
When looking at”long books”, I think of them as treats you get to enjoy for a longer time! Some favorite longer books I’ve enjoyed are Demon Copperhead, Pachinko, Fellowship Point, and others.
I should have also mentioned two of my favorite non-fiction tomes, both by David Halberstam: “The Children”, a gripping 700+ page account of the very young Black students who met in the early 1960s and went on to lead the civil rights movement; and “The Powers That Be”, another 700+ pager, which details the emergence of The Washington Post, CBS, Time Inc., and the NY Times as the most powerful news sources of their time.
What fun to look over this list of books and remember what treats they were to read. Some of the ones that I have read here I have read more than once, and got so much out of them even in subsequent readings. (Life After Life is a good example.) Other excellent ones are two by Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone and more recently, The Covenant of Water.
I am a huge fan of “ long “ books. Once I’m captivated by the story, writing, characters , etc I want to stay in that world. Such a treat to look back at the titles mentioned and think about the pleasure of reading. And thank you for new suggestions.
SueEllen Hanan
I would list Pulitzer Prize winning Anthony Doerr’s “All the Light We Cannot See” as a long book I have read (544 pp). It is an expansive tale and war story about two youthful characters caught up in World War II after the occupation of France. (a Nazi Germany soldier and a blind French girl). The chapters alternate telling in beautiful fashion about their lives in this wartime. Today, November 2nd, the story comes out on Netflix.
Length is not an issue, just love a great book. Two of my favorite long books are The Warmth of Other Suns and Tha Gentleman from Moscow.