For the past three months, I have been reading Vikram Seth's epic novel about post-Independence India, A Suitable Boy. I am loving it and completely in awe of Seth's talent but it is a mammoth book. In fact, I think it's the longest book I have ever read. My edition has 1474 pages and I am currently on 1083.
So things will go quiet on the blog whilst I enjoy the last 400-ish pages. I've been reading this book for so long now that it will be strange not to spend time with the characters any more. I am so impressed by Seth's ability to create so many fully dimensional characters and link them in different ways.
Before I started blogging, I used to read a lot of chunky books like this as I love a good epic. But now I catch myself thinking about the gap between reviews appearing on my blog and how long it will take to read a longer book. And sometimes it puts me off starting them, even if I know it shouldn't. So this week, I'm burying myself in this book even if it takes ages to read and even if there are no posts on my blog for a week or so. No pressure, just reading the way I want to read.
Do you read chunky books, or does the pressure of blogging put you off?
Yikes! Are you getting carpal tunnel from holding it?? Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteOnly time will tell :P
DeleteSam,
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't worry about the blogging if you're engaged in the books! We know you'll be back soon; although, some we may worry a bit! Honestly, the long novels really intimidate me. Sometimes I feel like I won't ever finish. I keep avoiding War and Peace because of the commitment it requires. I think it's awesome that you like them as much as you do. Can't wait to see what you have to say when you finish!
Long novels only intimidate me if they are by authors I find scary! I haven't read War & Peace but Anna K wasn't as much as a commitment as I had thought - yes it was long but it was easy to read. I am loving A Suitable Boy at the moment :)
DeleteYou know, I did read a lot more chunky books (including A Suitable Boy) before I started blogging. I still love them, but tend to think twice about starting one now. There may be a New Year's resolution in the making here...
ReplyDeleteOoh, what did you think of Suitable Boy? The pace is really picking up now I am at the end.
DeleteIt's been nearly ten years and I've forgotten specifics, but I do remember being totally immersed in A Suitable Boy for most of a summer. It slowed down a bit somewhere past the halfway point, but overall I really enjoyed it!
DeleteI have to confess I have a pile of big books which I haven't read yet as I do worry about having enough reviews for my blog...a book with 800+ pages would just take the extra time to read and it does make me think twice before picking them up now! However, once I do pick up those books I usually enjoy spending the extra time with characters - as long as the book is good! :-)
ReplyDeleteI worry about the same even though I know that I shouldn't. I want to try to make more time for longer books as they are sometimes the best.
DeleteI love chunky books and have quite a few of them. I have War and Peace, The Portrait of A Lady, Nicholas Nickleby, Barnaby Rudge, Little Women, etc. Most of the those books are around 500-650.
ReplyDeleteDid you enjoy War & Peace? I've read Anna Karenina and really enjoyed it but I'm not quite ready for War & Peace yet!
DeleteI haven't read it yet, it is on my list though for the classics challenge. I think it is halfway down the list so it will be quite awhile before I read it. I have heard it is a good book though.
DeleteUnfortunately I have been influenced by my blog. I try to fight it, and I think we should. Some books need all those pages, and there are a few that have been on my list for a long time (Pillars of the Earth, I'm talkin' about you.)
ReplyDeleteI try to hide it too, but my reading habits have undeniably changed since starting blogging. Pillars of the Earth is on my list too!
DeleteI think for me it's more the temptation of newer books rather than shorter books. There are so many new and fun YA books that are basically guilty pleasure reads for me, and they take me away from starting the chunksters. I think my reading attention span may have changed since I started blogging too, because I like to read a lot of books at once and shift from one to the other depending on mood. The last really long book I read was 11/22/63. Have fun finishing this one!
ReplyDeleteNew books are tempting to me, too - Netgalley is a problem for me! I also have a bit of a library problem that stops me from reading the books that I already own. I want to read 11/22/63 soon, I've heard good things about it.
DeleteSince I have just started to use reading glasses for some of my reading (sigh), the tiny font would daunt me more than the many pages. Although a 1500 page book would give me pause even with large print. I love those long stories that can really immerse you in the world, and used to prefer meatier books, especially historical novels. But I've come to appreciate things I can read in a day or weekend--easier to check another off as completed and get a review written. That said, I just started Anna Karenina for my Back to the Classics challenge. A mix of both works best, I guess.
ReplyDeleteTiny font daunts me, simply because it takes so long to make any progress through the book. Historical novels are a favourite of mine too. Hope you enjoy Anna K, I loved that book!
DeleteNow that you mentioned it I have to confess that when I was younger with more time to read I did read more of those monumental historical sagas and I also have to confess that is the daunting size of A Suitable Boy that has always put me off starting. I think the last time I had time for the big epics was when my daughter was young and I was doing the at home Mum thing.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I appreciated how much time I had to read when I was at school/uni compared to now. I do get the long summer holiday as a teacher so that's always a really good reading time.
DeleteI have to admit chunky books put me off. Generally because they are older and therefore the style is different. I have read Vanity Fair, Tai Pan and recently Anna Karenina. All enjoyable, but could've done with a good edit! ;)
ReplyDeleteOut of your list, I've only read Anna K. Vanity Fair for some reason has never appealed to me.
DeleteThe small text would put me off to be honest, I would just struggle. The size of the book doesn't though.
ReplyDeleteBut as a book blogger, I think if there is not a regular amount of posts on the blog, all our readers will go away in droves! Probably not the case, as we are all busy reading!
I think we should all aim to read at least one chunky book a year?
The small text is the more annoying issue. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels the pressure of blogging sometimes, although I try hard not to change my readings habits too much.
DeleteI read more than one book at a time if there's a chunky one happening, and have shorter ones on the go that I can pick up and put down if I just have a small window to read, where the big books need longer chunks of time. I did this before I started blogging, and I still do it. Having said that, I got jammed with Anna Karenina this time around and I'm still trying to motivate myself to get back and finish it.
ReplyDeleteIt's only with this readathon that I've read more than one book at once and to be honest, it's not really for me. I'm going to go back to monogamous reading after this! It is well worth finishing Anna K, I read it quite quickly as I was reading nothing else and couldn't put it down near the end.
DeleteI read A Suitable Boy 12 years ago when I first moved to the UK and wasn't able to work. It's a lovely story (one of my favourites) and so I'm hoping that you're loving it too. It isn't an easy book to read. And by that of course I mean that it's flipping difficult to actually read a nearly 1500 page book! Congrats on how much you've done so far :)
ReplyDeleteChunky books are hugely intimidating for me. My days of reading 1000+ page books are over. I get a bit nervous if the book is over 350 pages!
I think it will end up being one of my favourites too, although I prefer the family sections to the purely political ones. Glad you enjoyed it too :)
DeleteIt is the weight and also the small fonts that puts me off. I think when I get the new Kindle, that may help but I do have a few chunky books at home that I need to read.
ReplyDeleteIf the books are broken up in several parts and books, I think it will be easier for you. In fact I gave away my copy of A Suitable Boy similar like yours before I read it, when I found the 3-book edition.
Hang in there Sam. I'll be cheering you on. The last part is good.
I love my kindle, I've had it for almost two years now and don't regret buying it. Just don't get addicted to Netgalley like I did!
DeleteI like my copy of Suitable Boy as its quite clearly been loved in the past and has a name in the cover plus annotations sometimes. Three volumes would have been psychologically easier though!
Small print drives me nuts. I am not a blooger. If I try to read something with very small print, I can feel my eyes starting to cross, that's painful.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why publishers use small print - I'd rather have a book with more pages than a book with tiny print.
DeleteI have found myself turning away from larger books because of pressure (my own perceived) from reviewing. I also have sooo many I want to read...but I'm learning to juggle them so I can work the longer ones in too. I have to tell you though, that print would drive me bonkers...it almost looks like the print and fine papers of those Literature anthologies we had to pay a fortune for in college :(
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm the one who puts pressure on myself too. Every now and again I try to take a stand against it by disappearing to read a really long book that I already own and isn't a review copy!
DeleteMy sister had the Norton anthologies in uni. If she recommended something to me from them, I would just buy the regular copy as the paper was like tissue!
I have quite a few mammoth books on my keeper shelf and in my TBR piles. Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series are always huge reads but so wonderful. Then you have Sharon Kay Penman who also writes long books but they are wonderful too. It makes it worth the time put into one when the writer's voice is so good.
ReplyDeleteI've not heard of Sharon Kay Penman, I'll have to look her up. I agree that long books are worth it if the writer's voice is good.
DeleteI've always loved a good chunky book! Your question has me wondering though..have I avoided them since I started blogging? Hmmm, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteI love a nice long book, but the pressure of blogging does put me off. And since moving to New York, I'm even more put off by the prospect of having to carry the damn thing around everywhere for as long as it takes me to read it. My back can only take so much punishment. :p
ReplyDeleteThat is a mammoth book! I do occasionally read them - last truly huge one I read was Vikram Chandra's Sacred Games but even though good, definitely started to feel done well before the end. And despite it's enormous size, don't really remember anything meaningful about it...
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain and pleasure. I'm halfway through Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Only 700 pages to go. Don't mind, but I'll definitely follow it up with a shorty.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you are enjoying the book still! I agree, the font IS tiny, so it's really much more like 1700 pages than 1474. It is EXHAUSTING. But it's very good, so that makes it ok :-)
ReplyDeleteI do think my reading has changed since blogging, which makes me really sad. Or maybe I'm blaming blogging when in actuality, it's all the other things in life that are taking up my time? I now work, commute to work, go grocery shopping, cook my meals, clean (sometimes) and generally have more demands on my time than I did pre-blogging. So it's hard sometimes. But I HAVE read two massive books this year, which makes me feel a little better. Maybe I'll aim for two a year going forward, though I am anti-reading goals now.
I love chunksters especially from the likes of Tolstoy, Dickens, Ayn Rand. The way I look at it is they just put all their thoughts in one great big tome whereas the likes of JK Rowling put them into seven.
ReplyDeleteI admit to being daunted by books that are huge and/or have tiny print as well. It doesn't mean I wouldn't read it but it does put me off sometimes. I don't think I'm the fastest reader, so I don't get through even say a 500 page book that quickly. Well done for how you are getting through this one. I do feel pressure re blogging sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI'm imprssed. But I was neer scared of chunky books until I started blogging and the work load at home and office got too much.
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