I’m going to be honest with you here: I am not a fan of very long books.
Not because I can’t read them, and not because I don’t appreciate them. But because I often think…do they really need to be that long?
Give me a solid 300-400 pages and I’m happy; maybe up to 450 if I’m really enjoying it. Anything beyond that and I start getting a bit suspicious. Are we telling a story here or taking the scenic route?
That said, I’m not against a chunky book as a rule. I’ve read the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas, which I think in all is about 3,000 pages. And I do own some absolute bricks – like A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth (which is a casual 1,500 pages), and Alchemised by SenLinYu (which is only about 1,100 pages).
Have I read them yet? No. Will I? Let’s move on.
Because even they look tiny compared to what I’m about to get into.
So…how long is too long?
Before I dive in, here’s a quick note: “longest book” is hard to define.
What if it’s published in several volumes? Does that still count as one story, or a series? What if it’s a collection of stories or poems, does that still count as one?
For this post, I’ve stuck with books that tell one main story, follow the same characters, have the same theme – basically, are just one novel, no matter how many books it might need to tell that story.
And I’m also using word count to determine my list, as page count can be wildly inconsistent depending on edition.
The Ridiculous Ones
Let’s start at the top with the kind of books that make you question everything.
The book that is usually mentioned when talking about long books is Artamène ou le Grand Cyrus, by Madeleine de Scudéry. It is roughly 2.1 million words and over 13,000 pages.
I’m sorry, what? That’s not a book, that’s a lifestyle choice.
And then you’ve got the ones between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 pages. Books like:
– A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell: 1 million
– My Struggle by Karl Ove Knausgård: 1 million
– Zettles Traum by Arno Schmidt: 1.1 million
– In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust: 1.2 million
– Bottom’s Dream by Arno Schmidt: 1.3 million
– Gordana by Marija Jurić Zagorka: 1.4 million
These are a comparatively modest list. Still enormous, but they might fit in your handbag – if your handbag was actually a suitcase.
The “Still Huge but Slightly Less Terrifying” List
Here are some other famously long novels you could read if you’re feeling brave and have a spare year in which to read them.
– The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley: 416,000
– Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: 418,053
– The Stand by Stephen King: 514,827
– The Mysteries of Paris by Eugene Sue: 530,000
– The Recognitions by William Gaddis: 540,000
– Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace: 543,000
– War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy: 561,304
– …and Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer: 600,000
– Jean-Christophe by Romain Rolland: 610,000
– Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand: 654,000
– Les Misérables by Victor Hugo: 655,000
– Remembrance Rock by Carl Sandburg: 673,000
– The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu: 750,000
– Miss MacIntosh, My Darling by Marguerite Young: 750,000
– Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong: 800,000
– Shanghai by David Rotenberg: 800,000
– Sironia, Texas by Madison Cooper: 840,000
– Women and Men by Joseph McElroy: 850,000
– Poor Fellow My Country by Xavier Herbert: 852,000
– Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson: 969,000
At this point, I feel like anything under 500,000 words is basically a short story.
And Then There’s The Blah Story…
I have to mention The Blah Story by Nigel Tomm. This work is over 11 million words long.
Eleven. Million.
However, it is not officially recognised as the longest novel because it doesn’t quite behave like a traditional novel. And honestly, I think we all collectively decided to draw the lines somewhere.
Final Thoughts
Will I read any of these? Well, I have already read Les Misérables so I think my work is done, and it’s now up to you to take up the mantle and get through these absolute tomes.
I do admire the ambition of the authors and the commitment of the readers to get involved with one of these books.
But will I choose a 1,000,000 word novel over a tight 350-page read? Probably not.
That said, there is something I find weirdly fascinating about them. The scale of them, and the thought process that saw an author sit down and think, “Yes, this story needs 3 million words.”
And who knows, maybe one day I’ll finally pick up one of those giant books and see what all the fuss is about.
Just, not today.
Books By Your Bedside 