| I have a confession to make: there are a bunch of books that have been collecting dust on my shelves for, in some cases, over a decade. Those same books have been collecting metaphorical dust on my Goodreads to-read shelf since I joined in 2007. They're all the really long ones; the ones that double as doorstops. I've read many long books but not in the past few years, other than continuations of series I am already invested in and perhaps one or two audiobooks that were serious time investments. I consider this a gaping hole in my journey to be a well-read person considering many of the books that people are always asking if I've read are serious time sucks: Infinite Jest, The Stand, War and Peace, Gone with the Wind, and that damn Game of Thrones series that has replaced the Twilight series as that book that all your relatives, coworkers, people on mass transit, your gynecologist, and your best friend's cousin's roommate ask if you've read. I think what stops me is a lack of accomplishment. I can finish three or four books in the time it would take me to read some of these books. I can finish three or four wonderful books in some cases, and it is so much easier for me to abandon a book I'm not enjoying if I haven't already invested a lot of time into it. (so it could (but won't) go without saying that I refuse to give up on really long books) I was emailing with Tatiana and Catie recently about my intent to start slowly reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, which rings in at an impressive 1,079 pages. By some accounts it is a huge undertaking and one that takes a ton of commitment, but when I read some of the 5-star reviews on Goodreads, I am certain that I want to read it. (Bonus: It would up my street cred with Seattle hipsters) In 2009, many participants in Infinite Summer read the entirety of it in small increments. (75 pages a week) Though I found out about the project only recently, I really like the idea of slowly reading long books with a community of readers. Last year I did many readalongs with friends of mine during the first half of the year but I let it fall by the wayside during the second half, despite the enjoyment it brings me. In my dreams, I could find perhaps four or five people who all want to read one of these books with me. We could read 100 pages a week and take turns writing a blog post about what we thought of that section and how the readalong is going. But since I doubt that will come together easily, I am thinking that I can just pick a book to start with and just post every Sunday on my progress. Maybe I'll end up reading much more than 100 pages a week. Maybe I'll even finish say, five of these books this year. (cue the laugh track) For now I'll just set my goal at a whopping ONE dust collector off my to-read shelf. Here are my choices: The Stand by Stephen King (1,153 pages) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (1,392 pages) Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1,024 pages) Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (1,079 pages) Kristin Lavransdattar by Sigrid Undset (1,168 pages) This Is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn by Aidan Chambers (816 pages) The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (1,007 pages) The Magus by John Fowles (656 pages) Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky (1,425 pages but ongoing) The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (672 pages) Doomsday Book by Connie Willis (578 pages) A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (864 pages) Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (1, 015 pages) The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy (704 pages) When I think about which book to start with, I am almost positive I have to start with Infinite Jest. It's the one I'm most scared of so it makes the most sense to shoot for it while I'm gung-ho about finishing one of these books. What do you think? What imposing tomes do you have collecting dust on your shelves? Want to challenge yourself with me? (or even perhaps read Infinite Jest with me? Would anyone actually read posts about my progress on long books? (I'm really skeptical that they would!) Please, people of the internet, answer all my questions. | |
28 Comments
I didn't used to be daunted by long books but in the past few years as the demands on my time have increased, my willingness to sink that much time in one book decreased. My first book of the year was The Wind-Up Bird by Haruki Murakami which was more than 610 pages if I'm not wrong. But since it was so compulsively readable, it didn't feel like a long book. I think your idea of reading slowly and savouring it is a sound one. I don't think it is possible to just read one long book and expect to retain your sanity. At least it wasn't possible for me. I feel like you invest so much in a long book, you commit to it and when it fails to live up, it's like being betrayed. Haha. Have fun reading though! I'm thinking about starting 1Q84 soon.
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2/4/2013 05:30:58 pm
I love how we're "thinking about starting" books. I mostly only say that when it's something long. IQ84 is a daunting one--you must've really liked Wind-Up Bird if you're ready to jump into another Murakami so quickly. I have a feeling that at least some of these long ones are similarly readable but it doesn't make them less of a chore to start/commit to. I think the slow and steady method is my best bet for ones I am betting are NOT easy reads. (e.g. IJ)
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2/4/2013 06:05:31 pm
I don't think it's possible to simply "like" Murakami's works. I had such mixed feelings about that book but the good thing was that it made me think. Made me question things and it's quite lovely to come across work like that. I probably won't start 1Q84 though I want to. And IJ does sound interesting but not in the least easy to read. But you know, I find non-fiction way more difficult to read compared to really long fiction. 2/4/2013 05:04:14 pm
I've never done a read along before, but I think it would be quite cool to do. I really want to read Gone With the Wind, so you ever decide to do that one... :) This Is All was one of my favourite books when I was younger - definitely worth checking out.
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2/4/2013 05:40:14 pm
I'd never even heard of This Is All until perhaps 6 months ago, and even then I'm not positive whose review it was that prompted me to add it to my TBR shelf on Goodreads. The fact that it was one of your favorite books when you were younger is a good sign. If younger you could read and enjoy it, hopefully late twentysomething me should have no problem trucking through it, eh? :)
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2/9/2013 09:40:38 pm
I'd love to do a Gone with the Wind readalong if you ever get round to it :D
I think part of it is that being book bloggers we feel the need to pump out the reviews (I feel this need). Quite a few of these books, The Strand and Game of Thrones especially, are on my TBR list but keep getting put off because they are just so daunting. I always tell myself I'm waiting till when there's less to review though I'm never sure when that mythical time will be.
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2/5/2013 03:07:34 am
That's definitely part of it. We haven't been posting a lot of reviews lately anyway, but it is much harder to keep up with the pace of book blogging when we try to read longer books. I laughed at your "mythical time" comment. It will never happen.
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2/4/2013 08:26:59 pm
You should read The Way of Kings. It is really long but it is in sections so feels more like several books than one long one, it makes it easier to tackle.
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2/5/2013 03:13:52 am
I am betting I will love that one and that it will be totally readable, but I honestly finished listening to Mistborn YESTERDAY and it was 20 discs long. I'm not sure I can switch Sanderson fantasy worlds basically the next day.
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2/4/2013 09:06:14 pm
A Game of Thrones is one I loved and for me, sometimes shorter books take the same time as longer books - which I make sure I read as much of and as often as I can so I can get through them in a timely manner. One of the reason I stopped counting the number of books I read is because I stopped reading bigger books, and that's not something I want to do.
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2/5/2013 03:20:49 am
You stopped counting? Hm, I am so impressed that you could do that--I don't know that I could stop having my 100 book yearly goal as an incentive to keep trucking.
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I read the first book after the first season and it actually helped me visualize what character was who, etc. and keep them straight in my head. But after that I read the books before the seasons aired.. I'm more likely to watch something after I read it (even if I know what's going to happen there is still the differences in story interpretation and acting etc) than read it after I watch it, so I hear you. Maggie asked me the same thing and I was almost tempted to tell her just to read book 3 before this upcoming season but the books have a lot more history and back story than the show goes into so I'm not sure if she'd get the same out of it skipping the first two books. DILEMMAS.
This is an awesome goal. I know in my goals I made for myself this year, one is to not be so dang worried about how many books I've completed... if I read one super awesome book in the time it takes me to read three mediocre books, well, there's nothing wrong with that. I've already decided to read a few beastly sized books this year including The Stand and The Magus plus The Count of Monte Cristo (1276 pages... *dies*)
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Kaethe Douglas
2/5/2013 01:01:11 am
I'm horrible about read-alongs, so I won't volunteer. But I will absolutely read blog posts on your progress through one of the big tomes. Of course, I read all of your blog posts anyway, so that might not influence you.
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Andrea
2/5/2013 09:39:34 am
On the whole I'll read books I'm interested in, long or short, and ignore books which are simply "well known books (in my genre) which people insist I should read".
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2/5/2013 10:57:25 am
I agree - since starting Goodreads and my blog, I haven't really had the motivation to read super long books either. And it is a shame, because there are some great ones out there! Good luck with reading Infinite Jest, if that's what you do decide to start with. I just tried reading it as a book club at work, and it was a horrible failure. We got to around 300 pages, but it is very difficult reading. And we tried to mimic the Infinite Summer reading guide, although we did around 115 pages a week and had weekly discussions. We stopped after three weeks because my coworkers found it to be too much like homework. I wouldn't have minded continuing with it necessarily, but it's definitely something that I would have found difficult to read just by myself. If you find some people to read it with, then I'm sure that'll help tremendously!
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2/5/2013 01:48:46 pm
I have many books waiting to be read, too, in the hopes of someday...
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2/5/2013 08:45:20 pm
I might join you if you read Kristin Lavransdatter (later in the year maybe). It's easier for me to commit to a long book if I have an audio to go along with it too.
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2/6/2013 12:49:40 am
What a good idea! I have so many long books collecting dust, including about half the ones you've listed. I would suggest not going for War & Peace, because I tried to read that slowly last year and had to abort. There are too many characters with too many names for it to be a sporadic read.
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Gone With the Wind is on my list to read this year as well, and I JUST finished RE-READING Game of Thrones. Yes, its a large book, but so worth the read, as are the rest of the Song of Ice and Fire books I've read thus far.
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I have tried listening to The Way of Kings, and have had trouble getting in to it. The Name of the Wind though: oh, how I loved that book. The page count is daunting, but I could not put it down. It's sequel was the same.
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2/8/2013 10:07:35 pm
I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees long books as daunting. I started Game of Thrones last year but abandoned it because I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere fast.
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