The longest books are the best books.
Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and this weeks theme is longest books I’ve ever read which is great for me because I get to fangirl over some of my faves. Let’s not waste time and get straight to it!
1. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
Totalling a stupendous 1,479 pages, this bad boy was such an incredible story. The characters are so diverse, and the story is much more character-driven than plot-driven, but if you enjoy well-developed and layered characters like me and are interested in learning more about Indian culture then this is the perfect book for you. I completely forgot that I had a huge crush on a certain budding entrepreneur from this novel. This is a perfect fall read best accompanied with a mug of chocolat chaud.
2. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
This is one of my favourite books and the whopping 1,463 words was completely worth it. I was a bit surprised that it didn’t take place during the French Revolution, nonetheless the aftermath and restless spirit of French citizens continues to be seen in 1832. If you enjoy politics, are a humanitarian and interested in learning more about French history then this is the perfect read for you. I need to reread this again one day. Don’t be fooled by the slow start, the book doesn’t truly begin until another 100 pages, but the slow start is necessary to understand who Jean Valjean is and becomes. Jean Valjean is another character who should have bagged a place on my bookish boyfriends list.
3. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
With a total of 1,276 pages, this is another of my favourite books. Now, I have to admit that this book isn’t for everyone, but this was perfect for me because I absolutely love adventure books and Dumas is such a brilliant and captivating storyteller, he tells stories the way you are supposed to tell stories. This book made me laugh and helped me pick up some survival and problem-solving skills along the way too.
4. A Storm of Swords, A Dance with Dragons, A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
1,177, 1,125 and 1,061 pages respectively. Sorry, George, I had to, otherwise I wouldn’t have much space left for other books to add to the list. Y’all know how much I love Game of Thrones and I love the Song of Ice and Fire series too. I will admit sometimes the writing can be hard to get into especially a Feast for Crows because it is much more filler material, but the series is scattered with prophecies and foreshadows many events e.g. the Red Wedding, Littlefinger’s death, and, er, stuff with Cersei which hasn’t happened yet, which makes those of us who have read the books chuckle a little because we already knew it was going to happen. If you enjoy reading between the lines, decoding prophecies, epic fantasies with dragons and fascinating, messed up, broken, complex and multi-layered characters then this series is for you. And, if not, watch the show and let’s discuss!
5. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
1,037 pages and yet… I never wanted it to end, I would have happily read another 1,000 pages if I got to continue this journey with such a heroine – who, in this case, is really like no other protagonist – like Scarlett O’Hara who to this day will always be the most intriguing heroine I’ve ever read about. Scarlett is shrewd, likes to party, fun, resourceful, creative, tenacious, unlikeable and her morals are ambiguous which makes her quite unpredictable. I just need more Scarlett in my life. You know I love this book when it’s my most read book, I’ve read this more times than any Harry Potter book. I love this and cannot wait to read it again. I recommend this book to everyone!
7. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
964 pages and I betcha at least half of that amount is taken up by Levin’s rambling thoughts. My goodness, Levin, you were such an overly philosophical bore. I could have enjoyed this book a lot more if it was specifically just about Anna who deserved more pages. Anna is like an emotionally tortured and highly complex version of Nina Zenik from Six of Crows. But if you like in-depth philosophy, Russian backdrops and broken characters this is for you.
7. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty
945 pages of definitely not my cup of tea. This was my first shot at Western and it was my last I believe. I don’t have much to say about it other than I didn’t like it, although, the novel did teach me some interesting things e.g. a friendship/relationship is a two-way street, there has to be effort from both sides if it is to work and, yes, sometimes you have to do 75%, but that shouldn’t be always. If you are interested in Westerns, this one might be for you.
8. Vanity Fair by William Thackeray
912 pages of a not-as-good version of Scarlett O’Hara. Becky Sharp is what you would call an upstart, and I admired her resourcefulness even if she was largely unsuccessful by the end. Interestingly, Gone with the Wind was written long after Vanity Fair and the novel mentions Vanity Fair which begs me to wonder if Scarlett is based on Becky Sharp. I would still recommend this to those who love spunky heroines and classics!
9. Middlemarch by George Eliot
904 pages of all things great about Britain like tea… because there’s quite a bit of gossiping and my Gemini heart was so here for it. Nothing much to say other than I really enjoyed this book. This book was fun, fun, fun. If you want a British classic with many, many, many characters and a Downton Abbey feel, then this is for you.
10. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
882 pages and God knows how much money Charles Dickens made being paid by the word because it is clear that he really took advantage of it. This book was mega boring excepting a female character who is David’s best friend and is far more sensible than every character in this book combined. I don’t remember much else other than he marries a woman who is both quite silly and is called silly, but if she’s so silly, isn’t David silly for marrying her? So much silliness and not the good, fun kind like in Middlemarch. I cannot in good conscience bring myself to recommend this to anyone.
That concludes the list! This has just reminded me how much I love classics and how I need to read far more.
What is the longest book you’ve ever read? What are your thoughts on long books? Do you prefer them over shorter ones? Let me know in the comments!
Sophski out.
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Sofearless 
You should read Clarissa – one of my all-time faves. Great list here!!
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I just checked it out on goodreads, I cannot believe it’s over 1,500 pages! But since it’s a classic, I’m sure I’ll be in good hands. 🙂
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I was really skeptical because it’s all written in letters but it’s so well done, I flew through it. Enjoy!
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Great list !
I’ve read only Count of Monte Cristo, and it took me many months to complete 😀 Very entertaining novel.
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It is quite long, so I’m not surprised but I’m glad you enjoyed it. ☺️ and thank you!
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So many books! Wow! Just realized classics are really long lol. I’ve gotten lazy in my reading. Anything over 300 pages makes me internally cringe. I blame all those YA books I’ve spent the past year reading. Need to get back into the classics as well…
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I just remembered that some release in volumes as well which is probably why they run quite long! YA books have made me sluggish other than THUG & ATBP, so I will only read the ones that you highly recommend because I seem to enjoy them. Classics are long, but fun and enjoyable, don’t forget! 😀
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True! Middlemarch took me forever to read but it didn’t actually feel long because I was so here for the drama lmao
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Brits know how to drama best believe. 😉
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You have some great ones on here! The Game of Thrones series is probably the longest I’ve ever read though The Stand is up there & I’m working myself up to Anna Karenina. I do sometimes have a mental block on longer books that I need to get over!
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Oo, yay! I had no idea that you had read the series too, you probably know all about the prophecies too then. 😀 I hope you have better luck with Anna Karenina, it might be up your street, and I will admit even though it’s long, it is easy to get through. 🙂
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This is an amazing read for me, I am not a book reader that’s why it was fascinating to read esp how you have summarized so eloquently. 👍👍
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Aw, thank you, Aquib 🤗 that means a lot coming from you. Keeping you in my duas. 🙂
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Les Misérables is the longest book I ever read- the musical led me to this book.
Nicholas Nickleby is the latest long book I read.
The next classic I will be reading is David Copperfield.
Love the classics
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I’m guessing you must have enjoyed the musical to go and read the book… I hope you enjoyed it, the book covers more. 🙂
Did you enjoy Nicholas Nickleby, I’m still torn as to whether I should read it and I hope you have better luck with David Copperfield, if you enjoy Dickens, you’ll probably like it… Oliver Twist is Charles Dicken’s best work for me.
Glad to discover another classics bookworm. 🙂
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I did not enjoy the musical- not strong enough of a word- I loved it- I am obsessed with the musical.
I loved Nicholas Nickleby. Long book- but worth it.
Read Oliver Twist and loved it.
Also read Great Expectations, Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Don Quixote- loved all of them
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It was really good, I loved the On My Own song which was so heart-breaking.
Alright, I will have to try Nicholas Nickleby a shot one day… and that’s quite a list there! I didn’t finish Don Quixote, but I’m excited to read Hunchback of Notre Dame one day.
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It took an entire year just to know “On My Own” was heartbreaking- it started out as a sad song.
“On My Own” helped me realize “I’m Not That Girl” was a heartbreaking song. Wicked was part of my life before Les Mis. “On My Own” plus memorizing the lyrics to “I’m Not That Girl” made me realized that girl was more than a sad song. So musicals do rely on each other at times
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I just searched the lyrics to “I’m Not That Girl” and I have to say that they are incredibly powerful. I felt every emotion, so much so that I’m wishing I hadn’t. I watched Wicked the musical when I was around 14 and, to this day, it remains my favourite musical. I guess I will have to go and watch it again one day!
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I’ve always wanted to read A Suitable Boy… my mom displays her edition in her bookshelf and ever since I was little I would stare at it longingly… Thanks for reviving my want to pick it up!
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It’s such a wonderful book, the characters are so charming and endearing, so I hope you eventually pick it up from your mums bookshelf. ☺️
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I read The Count of Monte Cristo as a child and later in my 20s, so that’s one of the longest. Stephen King’s It is another one, I think it clocked in at just over 1,000, and Under the Dome had to be pretty close to that. I recently re-read the entire Dark Tower series, and I think a couple of those come in at right around 1,000 pages
Book length really isn’t something I go out of my way to try to remember. I average about 60 books per year so don’t even try to keep track of how long they are. I really don’t care how long or short a book is, only that it’s good and keeps me wanting to read. When I come across a book that I can’t get into after 10 or 25 or at most 50 pages, regardless of how long or short it is, I move on. Life is too short for bad books.
If you haven’t read George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss yet, I highly recommend it. Protagonist Maggie Tulliver is a spitfire of a strong female character who predates Scarlett O’Hara by about 75 years, and if you like Scarlett, I think you’ll love Maggie. It’s also generally accepted that the book is Eliot’s most autobiographical.
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Wow, that’s quite a daunting book to read as a child but it’s great to see that you enjoyed it enough to reread it. I… had no idea that It is over a 1,000 pages? I’m too terrified to try horror from King other than Carrie because The Shining was on such a terrifying level of scary that I can’t bring myself to it. Series’s do tend to be quite lengthy.
That is a good criteria to apply and I wish I had applied that to The Secret History, but I also ended up loving Middlesex and that didn’t get interesting after 50 pages. If it’s a long book, I would try at least a 100 pages, but I agree that for short books averaging 300-500 pages, a 50 page criteria should be applied (I am going to try it out next time). I am quite surprised because when I see what you are reading on Goodreads, they tend to be over 400 pages, so I’m still in awe and shock that you’re averaging 60 books, so props to you, you need to tell me how you do it!
George Eliot (I loved Middlemarch), autobiographical and a Scarlett-esque heroine? Sold. And very, very, very excited to read it that I will have to bump it up on my TBR. Thank you very much for the recommendation!
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You’re welcome. I read The Mill on the Floss in a college History of the Novel seminar. I was so impressed by Maggie Tulliver that, when I bought a black Ford Ranger some months after reading the book, I nicknamed it Maggie!
I’ve always been a fast reader. My secrets for reading as many books annually as I d include 1) Always take a book to the bathroom even when brushing my teeth; 2) Listen to audiobooks during my 1.5 hour daily commute; 3) Always take a book on lunch break; 4) Always take a book along when there’s a likelihood of being stuck in traffic or having to stand in line (or as y’all call it, queue up or stand on queue); 5) Keep a book on hand when watching t.v shows that have commercial breaks.
Good luck. I hope you enjoy The Mill on the Floss as much as I did.
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That is so cool to name your car after a literary character, she really must be awesome! I’ve bumped it up to my TBR, but I will most likely read it early January. I cannot wait!
1) Wouldn’t work for me, I can’t stand still so I walk around the house while brushing my teeth but I salute you on your ability to multi-task 2) not the best listener, but I read on transport and for some odd reason, I always seem to enjoy my book more reading while commuting and I wonder if that’s down to time being precious? 3) great idea! And balance that with socialising with colleagues 4) will need to try that! 5) always do that! It’s like a race against time, but for some odd reason it feels like such a fun and exciting challenge.
And thank you, I’m sure I will do! 🙂
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Wow… so impressive. I should read Gone with the Wind, since I would like to one day consider myself a scholar of Southern literature…
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It’s a hefty book, but I think it captures its history very well although from a very warped and distorted view of slavery in America that you will end up thinking ‘how could they be so deluded?’ 🤦🏽♀️
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Awesome list! Les Mis is fantastic and count of monte cristo is one of my favourites too! GOT is great and would definitely end up on my list too (like how you laid out how long it all is as well!) I still need to read gone with the wind and vanity fair. And yeah I completely agree that Levin is a philosophical bore and that Anna should have had more pages!
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Yay, so happy to see that you’ve read and enjoyed some of these. 😀 Gone with the Wind and Vanity Fair have similar heroines but the story is different, I will warn you that you might dislike Scarlett lol. Boy, did Levin go on, Anna deserved better. ❤️
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That’s awesome that you’ve read so many of these long classics! I requested some things by Vikram Seth from my library; thanks for putting him on my radar! One of the longest books I’ve read several times is This Is All by Aidan Chambers, which is a collection of this young woman’s pillow books that are meant for her unborn child, about her life and anything and everything that she felt like writing about. I’ve also gotten halfway through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and this post has reminded me I should get back into it, lol.
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A Suitable Boy is very, very long, so I can’t say whether you’ll like it or not, but it would be really interesting to see what your thoughts on it would be, especially from American perspective (American, if I remember correctly and I apologise if I have that wrong).
I’ve just looked up This is All and the blurb looks wonderful and there’s even a mention of Shakespeare? Thanks for that rec, it sounds right up my street. I just checked up on Jonathon Strange as well, it’s a medieval fantasy, that sounds exciting! But maybe not so much as you haven’t finished it. XD
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Yes, I’m American, living in Indianananananananapolis ATM. 😀
I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Aidan Chambers. He really writes so well as different voices. I was honestly shocked when I read This Is All and learned at the end it was an old white dude writing (he’d written several more books before that, all on various aspects of young adulthood). He also wrote Postcards from No Man’s Land which is a phenomenal war story and uses flashbacks really well. For This Is All, Cordelia (MC) writes about everything truly and I just ate it up. I do want to add a warning that there is a kidnapping and assault plot line which I thought was handled well/honestly, and still very much real (toxic/fragile masculinity) since the book’s publication over a decade ago. I also really quite love the ending, one of the best ambiguous endings I’ve ever read. I’m looking forward to your thoughts on the book, if you happen to get to it.
Ha, Jonathan Strange is great and I definitely want to finish it. It’s just very dense. I’ve also seen the adaptation and that was awesome! But a bit easier to consume, lol, in hour long cinematic chunks.
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I just had a look on google, Indianapolis is very beautiful, very metropolitan. I didn’t expect that!
Hmm, that’s really interesting. I wonder whether Aidan Chambers drew inspiration from his own youth and experiences or delved deep into research to understand his audience better. Or perhaps it’s just that lucky charm: intuition. I love war stories, I wonder if he wrote about actual battles? For some odd and surprising reason, I find them very interesting. Oh no, not ambiguous endings! But I’ll take your word for it being one of the best, that’s reassuring, as long as it’s not head-scratching and frustrating one like Little Fires Everywhere!
Cinema does tend to be easier to watch, but it doesn’t always give the depth that books provide. Consider The Hunger Games, if we didn’t read the book, we would have not been sure what to make Katniss whilst watching the film!
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Yeah, Indy is a pretty cool city! I’ve lived here about three years and there’s a lot of fun things to do / neighborhoods to explore.
It’s a little bit of both from what I’ve read of interviews with Aidan Chambers. He takes inspiration from his own life, especially the early blunders of young love and his experiences with religion and figuring out one’s passion in life, and what he doesn’t know or couldn’t possibly know first hand, he tries to talk to those people and really listens. It’s been awhile since I’ve read Postcards so I’m not sure if he included actual battles. And the ending is ambiguous in that the answer to a question is left open-ended but not in a frustrating way (at least for myself) and IDK I just really liked it 😀 (Because there’s an answer that I think just fits so nicely!)
That’s very true about cinema vs book! And I’ve been wanting to reread The Hunger Games for ages.
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That’s interesting! It looks like an amazing and picturesque place, the architecture is just stunning, so I’m sure there’s lots to explore and just gawk at in awe.
Now, THAT’S what you call a good, well-researched and responsible author. I’m liking him already. Ah, so, an ending that induces the reader to reflect. It sounds like it would be subject to interpretation and that’s exciting because you’ll get to see so many different viewpoints. It sounds like a book club read.
I hope the magic holds on your reread if you do decide to! 🙂
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From your list i only read the Song of Ice & Fire series. I must say it didn’t feel as long as it really was because i was just so engrossed in it.
That one aside, the longest standalone I’ve read is The Stand by Stephen King. Again, it was just so good, that i didn’t realize just how many pages it had 🙂
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I totally agree! There are so many storyline and characters and politics to be invested in! And a whole load of drama. 😉
I’ll have to check out The Stand one day, glad you enjoyed it!
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