Longest book you've ever read?

[LostInAnomie]

I had to read "The Wealth of Nations" over my spring break. All 1200 pages of it. It sucked.

What is the longest book you've ever read?

[Dogmudgeon]

1. Atlas Shrugged

And Jesus Wept.

He probably read that sucker, too.

--p!

[jpgray]

2. Not split into volumes?

Probably Heimskringla or Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

[SCDem]

3. Les Miserables

but probably read it faster than some smaller books because I love the story. I could read it over and over again.

[deutsey]

4. "Gravity's Rainbow" was one

"Ulysses" and "War and Peace" were two others.

I don't know which was longer, but I like all three of them.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

18. Me too! n/t

[deutsey]

22. I woulda never guessed

:evilgrin:

[Semi_subversive]

5. Hawaii

Paperback over 1100 pages if I recall correctly.

[asthmaticeog]

6. Infinite Jest.

About 1,100 pages. And I'm about to crack Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum," because I'm a masochist.

[amazona]

13. not sure but Infinite Jest was one of them

A great read. Cryptonomicon and Gravity's Rainbow were others.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[redqueen]

17. I'm just now starting Infinite Jest.

Not sure which book is the longest I've read, but I'm sure whatever it is, it's somewhere in the 1000-1200 page range.

[asthmaticeog]

23. Jest is funny as hell.

When you finish it, let me know what you thought!

[FrankBooth]

39. I love the weird little story in "Jest"

where the guy holes up in his apartment with a lot of weed and junk food - very funny.

Good book but I don't think I could wade through it again.

[amazona]

48. heh

My partner complained that every time he looked at me that summer I was reading that book, which I think is kinda appropriate considering the subject matter.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[xmas74]

7. The dictionary.

It was the favorite punishment for detention. I spent so much time in there one year that I easily finished it (had to copy it all the time).
My teachers didn't care about killing trees.

[Shredr]

8. The Bible

That's one year of my life I'll never get back...

[jonnyblitz]

9. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer nt

[immoderate]

20. Read that.

First I thought it was a science fiction novel. Now it's an everyday occurrence.

--IMM

[4_Legs_Good]

10. Lord of the Rings, probably

What's that, 1,100 pages?

david

[LynzM]

11. Cryptonomicon

Great book, fast read. Probably about 1100 pages? Also read all of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire, but at least that's split up into 3 900 pages books :)

[guinivere]

24. I've read Cryptonomicon

too. It was great. I'm reading Quicksilver now.

[LynzM]

29. Hey, me too!

Though I'm not liking it as much as I liked Cryptonomicon. There were definitely parts of that that I could identify with. I think Quicksilver needs to pick up the pace a bit ;) Hopefully, it'll get better, but even if it keeps this pace, I've read that the next two are better!

[flvegan]

12. Spiderman comic #124

Man, that Spidey...

[babylonsister]

14. I remember King's "The Stand" took me forever

to get through and I enjoyed it. That sucka was long!

[7th_Sephiroth]

15. harry potter 5

and all 2,000 pages of akira, but it was more than 1 book

[skjpm]

30. Heart of Darkness

Not the longest, but it felt like the longest. It took forever to sort out what each sentence meant, who was talking, what was going on, etc.

[TN al]

16. Alaska...

...by Michener, unless Texas was longer.

[Jersey Devil]

21. All Michener books have minimum 200 pages of geography

and go back to the Big Bang but I have to admit that I enjoy all of them.

[BurtWorm]

19. Tom Jones, Middlemarch, American Aurora

all come to mind. I'm laboring away at Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, which is probably more than 1,200 pages.

[lolly]

33. Another Melancholiac?

I wrote a graduate seminar paper on Burton's Anatomy umpteen years ago.

Warning--you should tell somebody where you're going when you start that book. You can get lost in those labyrinthine sentences.

[BurtWorm]

36. Indeed!

I love all the Latin, too. :loveya:

So you read the whole thing? :wow:

[lolly]

46. Well, I plowed through it.

With long breaks.

Don't worry; I give away any spoilers! ;)

[tanyev]

25. Remembrance of Things Past by Proust

I almost gave up when he spent the first 50 or so pages talking about that damn madeleine cake, but once I got into it, I really enjoyed it.

[Borgnine]

26. Curious George Flies a Kite.

It took me four months, but I finally finished it.

[blue neen]

56. OMG.

I love that picture. He is so hot there! whew.

[Nikia]

27. War and Peace

I think that was the longest. I forget how many pages were in it. It was rather long though. I read it for a Russian literature class (luckily in translation).

[bobthedrummer]

32. That's the classic I think of for reading length too-"War and Peace"

a very intricate tale.

[Left Is Write]

28. Probably Gone With The Wind.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

31. "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "My Pet Goat"

Thay tuk mee 4EVIR too reed. I dednt' eevin hav themm uppsyde doun!

Sined,

GWB

[Bullwinkle925]

47. You couldn't resist, could you? LOL!!

[Arkana]

34. Either Clinton's book

or the LOTR trilogy--which was about 1100 pages.

[chickenscratching]

35. umm

don quixote i think

[blindpig]

37. Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, Gibbons

OK, 3 volumes, about 2500 pages(or more). Should be required reading as many of the woes of our Republic are retreads of Patrician scams. Gibbons had snarky down cold.

[Shredr]

38. I've heard it's good

But I've always been intimidated by the length. You're saying it's worth it?

[blindpig]

43. if you like history and smart-ass Englishmen

and got some time on your hands, by all means.

[Shredr]

44. I love history

Smart-ass Englishmen I can do without...

But if it's historically accurate, enlightening or educational, I will dive in.

[Bertha Venation]

40. I'll give you the longest one I've read and learned the best from:

Truman by David McCullough.

[DrZeeLit]

61. Fiction? I'm thinking Shogun, but probably one Michener 's,

like Centennial or The Source or Hawaii.

Of course, the entire saga by Colleen McCullough, starting with
The First Man in Rome.

Leon Uris -- Trinity -- wasn't that long?

Mostly I don't consider number of pages. My students always ask, "But, but, but...how looooonnnng is the book?" I always say, "As long as it takes to read."

I love being LOST in a book. I really did love Shogun for that -- lost in that world for days.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

41. "Dahlgren" by Samuel R. Delany felt like the longest

At about 819 pages, it took me weeks to read, because it's a densely written book with a lot of surreal imagery. But it's a great read, a very powerful novel.

[Babel_17]

52. :) Did you ever try "Stars in my Pocket Like Grains of Sand"?

It's been so long since I've read any Delany.

Sorry for the Off Topic.

I guess War and Peace is the longest book I've ever read.

If you count novels that are serialized then I guess The War Against the Chtorr would have the honor.

Or maybe the ChungKuoSeries.

While Dune and Dune Messiah could be considered as being parts of a segmented novel the rest of the series is just that, a series of novels expanding on each other and exploring similar themes. Mmmm, Chapterhouse Dune and Heretics of Dune are like one big novel though.

[scubadude]

60. Couldn't make it through that one....

Just tried last summer. Perhaps I'll try again.

Scuba

[scubadude]

59. Yeah, kind of hypnotic....

From what I remember the same thing told over and over, in a slightly different fashion each time. Actually they weren't exactly the same, but that's how I remember it. Very weird. Read it several times...

Scuba

[jpak]

42. Silas Marner

I never thought it would end....

[deadparrot]

45. "A Storm of Swords," George R. R. Martin. nt

[donheld]

49. It by Stephen King

[koneko]

57. me too

It was one of the few novels I read for pleasure during college, and I couldn't put it down.

[Dark]

Atlas Shrugged. n/t

[Dark]

50. Atlas Shrugged. n/t

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

51. The Scarlet Letter

...and I hated it.

[tishaLA]

53. Remembrance of Things Past

it's very very very long. And wonderful.

Also, Clarissa--not quite as long but just as wonderful.

In third place, I think, is The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil.

[Starlight]

54. It only seemed like the longest book...

The Disease Concept of Alcoholism by Jellinek

That's got to be the driest book ever written. :beer:

[blue neen]

55. Texas by James Michener

It took 6 weeks of almost constant reading, but it was good!

[sendero]

58. Foundation Trilogy..

... Ok I know it is really 3 books, but it came in one bound volume and I read it straight through :)

[Rabrrrrrr]

65. You mean all 15 or so books of it?

With the Robot, the Foundation, and Second Foundation books?

That does make for a very long storyline.

Damned good, though.

[Shananigans]

62. Probably a tie between "Roots" and the autobiography of Nelson Mandela

Both longer than my usual books...

[roguevalley]

63. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

[jjmalonejr]

64. Either "Moby Dick" or "Dr. Zhivago"

I forget which one was longer.