Follow Friday March 23
It's still hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read
Today's Question is:
Q. What is the longest book you've read? What are your favorite 600+ page reads?
I remember the first time I read a book that I thought was impressively long. That book was Watership Down, and I remember having a giant hardcover edition from the library, although most editions of that book fall in the 450-500 page range.
I exceeded this achievement fairly quickly. I'm not sure what the longest book I've read might be by now. For a while it was To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams, which is long enough that it's generally split into two when published in paperback. Tad Williams' Otherland series are all 700+ page bricks, too.
I remember the first time I read a book that I thought was impressively long. That book was Watership Down, and I remember having a giant hardcover edition from the library, although most editions of that book fall in the 450-500 page range.
I exceeded this achievement fairly quickly. I'm not sure what the longest book I've read might be by now. For a while it was To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams, which is long enough that it's generally split into two when published in paperback. Tad Williams' Otherland series are all 700+ page bricks, too.
1104 pages, so it might still hold the crown, if it wasn't for:
The Stand, by Stephen King, 1141 pages
Yeah, that might be it.
No, wait! We have a challenger!
The Count of Monte Cristo, according to Goodreads, is a whopping 1243 pages!
Huh, I think the final winner might be unknowable, since the complete Lord of the Rings is 1285 pages in paperback, but should you count that as one book or three?
Anyway, here's a few more favorite long reads:
Most recently: Reamde, by Neal Stephenson: 1044 pgs
Wolves of the Calla, by Stephen King is only 714 pages in hardcover, but 925 in paperback. The Dark Tower, meanwhile, clocks in at 1072 pages, but I didn't like it quite as much.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke is a respectable 1006 pagesAnchoring the bottom of my bookshelves I also give pride of place to Dragonlance: Annotated Chronicles (1312 pages, but definitely three books in one), Annotated Legends (1312 pages, same), and The Amazing Spiderman Omnibus (1088 pages!)
I thought I didn't read as many super-long books as once I might have, but after looking at this list, I'm not so sure...
The Count of Monte Cristo is among my all-time favorites :)
ReplyDeleteHere's my FF
Wow, those are a lot of books over 600 pages! I couldn't imagine reading a book over 1000 pages! Crazy! Have a great Friday :)
ReplyDeleteHere's my FF!
I've never heard of them before but I think I may give them a try! New follower!
ReplyDeleteEileen @ ***Singing and Reading in the Rain***
The Stand is on a TON of lists which makes me feel guilty for never getting around to it.
ReplyDeleteGone with the Wind and East of Eden are what I chose. Honorary mentions to Harry Potter.
My follow friday
Hopping through. Have you read Cryptonomicon by Stephenson? I've heard it's great.
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Thanks for stopping by, all! (one of these days I'm going to fix those stupid threaded comments...)
ReplyDelete@Vanya: Yes! I loved The Count of Monte Cristo, when I read it I was actually sad that I hadn't read it years earlier.
@Jessica: so long as the plot moves at a decent clip, I love long books. Recently I've been enjoying more 200-page classic sci-fi tales, which I devour a handful at a time like popcorn, but some of my favorite books are definitely doorstoppers!
@Eileen: You seem to be a fantasy fan, so if you want to try some longer works you could give some of Tad Williams' books a try. The Dragonbone Chair is the first volume in his main fantasy trilogy.
@Veela: The Stand is pretty intense, quite violent and dark. I suppose that's only natural, since it follows the survivors of an apocalypse-by-contagious-illness fighting over the future of humanity. I personally loved it, but I was already a big Stephen King fan.
@Alison: I have read Cryptonomicon (and basically everything else by Stephenson) and I liked it quite a bit. I found the characters more interesting in Reamde, though.
New follower! Good choices! Here is my FF if you'd like to follow back: http://theonceandfuturelibrarian.blogspot.com/2012/03/follow-friday-11.html
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