Recommend a lengthy, enjoyable paperback novel

[Gadarene]

I'm going to be taking several crosscountry flights in the next couple of weeks, and I'm on the lookout for three or four hefty yet portable (and eminently readable) novels or books of short stories to occupy my time. I definitely gravitate away from the generic bestsellers -- not least because I read extremely quickly, and most of the authors typically found in airport bookstores always seem more skimmable than truly absorbing. I'm not above genre novels as long as the writing is interesting enough to be enjoyable; for example, I had a good time with Jeff Long's The Descent a couple of years ago, and that's nobody's idea of great literature, but I hated The Da Vinci Code enough to put it down after the first chapter (not that it's dense enough for my purposes in this thread). I like wit and humor but not too much silliness, pathos but not sentimentality, thoughtfulness but not interminable philosophical byplay, and oddness and absurdity, but not simply for their own sake. I'm a bit of an Anglophile, but I don't overdo it. I also tend to like stories of ordinary people in out-of-the-ordinary situations or vice-versa.

Here are some of the books I own and love that would fit my needs exactly, if I hadn't already read them multiple times. (And in the absence of any compelling alternatives, I might take one or more of them along with me this time.)

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Brothers K by David James Duncan
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
Passage by Connie Willis
New Grub Street by George Gissing
Fancies and Goodnights by John Collier
The Portable Dorothy Parker
The Most of P.G. Wodehouse
The Night Manager by John Le Carre
A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
On Beauty by Zadie Smith
Galveston by Sean Stewart
Last Call by Tim Powers
Thus Was Adonis Murdered by Sarah Caudwell

You can assume that I'm familiar with all other works by the authors listed above, but that I might not be familiar with similar authors.

So, we're a literate bunch...who can help me out? :)

[Gadarene]

Also, books/authors that I've tried before and not liked (nothing personal to those who do; I just want to present an accurate picture of my preferences and forestall them as suggestions):

J.R.R. Tolkien
Tom Wolfe
The Gormenghast trilogy
Cormac McCarthy
Ian McEwan
Philip Roth

More as I think of them.


(Oh, and I love Kazuo Ishiguro and Jonathan Coe.)

[Sateryn76]

How about something by Larry McMurtry? He and Irving are two of my favorites....

And, even though they have somehow gotten a skeevy reputation, both Stephen King's The Stand and Gone With the Wind are fabulous stories. The are thick and meaty in terms of dropping through the page into the story.

[Gadarene]

I've never read McMurtry. Would you recommend Lonesome Dove?

And I've read The Stand and most of Stephen King's other stuff. Not Gone With the Wind, though. Might have to flip through that at the bookstore to see if it holds my attention.

(One more: hate Don DeLillo; not crazy about Dave Eggers.)

[Kuboydal]

It is my honor to submit A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole for your approval.

[Saltire]

If you're okay with SF, all the books by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are large and thoughtful. Footfall if you want a single book; Mote in God's Eye and The Gripping Hand if you want two connected stories.

If you didn't like Tolkein, this might not work, but the Tad Williams series starting with The Dragonbone Chair is large and really good. If you want SF instead of fantasy, the same author's Otherland series is certainly long and dense. I didn't find the latter as good as the former, but many did.

I know--too much genre. Ah, well, I am what I am.

[Gadarene]

It is my honor to submit A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole for your approval.

Read it and loved it. It's been a while, though; I may have to read it again.


(Continuing the mapping of my preferences: I really like the David Mitchell that I've read -- Black Swan Green and Number9Dream -- and have never, however much I try, been able to get into Haruki Murakami.)

[norinew]

If you like historical novels and haven't read Ken Follett's The Pillars Of The Earth, I'd give it a recommend. There's quite a bit of soap opera and politics in there, but it's a good historical novel, and very readable. It's old enough now (the sequel's out!) to be available in paper back.

If you've avoided Follett (as I had) because he writes "spy stories" this isn't one of them!

[Rubystreak]

I highly recommend Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and System of the World, with Cryptonomicon taking place many centuries later in the modern world). It's an amazingly in-depth look at the sprawling lives of two characters, the outlaw Jack Shaftoe and his erstwhile friend/paramour Eliza, which takes place during the baroque era in Europe and America. It's a series that requires an attentive reader and will not blow away from you in no time. If you need a book series that will take many hours and engross you, while also teaching you a lot about a period of history that most Americans don't know a lot about, this is definitely a good choice.

[Silver Tyger]

If you're okay with SF, all the books by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle are large and thoughtful. Footfall if you want a single book; Mote in God's Eye and The Gripping Hand if you want two connected stories.

If you didn't like Tolkein, this might not work, but the Tad Williams series starting with The Dragonbone Chair is large and really good. If you want SF instead of fantasy, the same author's Otherland series is certainly long and dense. I didn't find the latter as good as the former, but many did.


I came in to recommend The Dragonbone Chair.

Hammer's Fall by Larry Niven is also quite good.

Guns of the South by Harry Turtledove is excellent alternative history.

[Thudlow Boink]

I've never read McMurtry. Would you recommend Lonesome Dove?Yes, that would be a good choice.

A couple of years ago, Birdmonster started a similar thread (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=349426), and my recommendation of Michael Malone's Handling Sin seems to have gone over well.

[silenus]

Hammer's Fall by Larry Niven is also quite good.


You mean Lucifer's Hammer, by Niven and Pournelle?

[Sage Rat]

If you get an unabridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo, that's a few thousand pages of kick ass.

[Gadarene]

Just lost a long post. In brief:

I recently finished Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind, which I really enjoyed and which I've heard compared to Tad Williams's stuff, but nothing by Williams has ever really grabbed me in the little I've seen of it.

I'll check out Niven and Pournelle; I read Lucifer's Hammer a long time ago.

I like Ken Follett, and have a copy of Pillars of the Earth that I keep meaning to read.

Unfortunately, I've found The Baroque Cycle altogether too dense and diffuse (simultaneously!) for me, although I appreciate what it tries to do and it seems like I should like it. Cryptonomicon as well.

I love Guns of the South.

I'll check out Handling Sin; I've read something else by Malone before, but I can't remember what it is.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions so far!

[Gadarene]

I've read and enjoyed Count of Monte Cristo.

Also, although I certainly appreciate them, I think some of the longer books that have been recommended might be a little ambitious in terms of portability. :) 400 or 500 pages is good; 1,500 pages may be stretching it.

[AuntiePam]

(Continuing the mapping of my preferences: I really like the David Mitchell that I've read -- Black Swan Green and Number9Dream -- and have never, however much I try, been able to get into Haruki Murakami.)

Cloud Atlas then -- it's long enough to hold you for awhile, and the structure of the story will keep you from getting bored. Not that Mitchell could ever be boring, but the story never flags.

When someone says "page-turner" I think of Aztec by Gary Jennings and Shogun by James Clavell. You'll forget you're on a plane.

I see New Grub Street on your list. I read it just before reading The Forsyte Saga and the books complemented each other nicely. I kept wanting one of the Forsytes to take that poor writer under his wealthy wing and feed him. "Hey! Over there! People are starving!"

Have you read any Emile Zola? Assuming he's in print and widely available, you might like The Dram Shop, Germinal, and The Earth. Or if you need more soap, Manon of the Springs & Jean deFlorette by Marcel Pagnol -- compelling stuff.

Ooh! How about some Leon Uris? Mila 18, Trinity, War and Remembrance, Winds of War? Are they still in print? Big thick books with lots of story.

[Sage Rat]

400 or 500 pages is good; 1,500 pages may be stretching it.
Righto.

How about The Red and the Black (Stendhal) and Invisible Man (Ellison), then. Both in the 400-500 range, I believe.

[OpalCat]

George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. Start with A Game of Thrones and then get hooked like the rest of us and read the rest of them as if they're crack, then join us waiting impatiently for him to publish the next one :)

I'm sure there are people out there who don't like them, but I've never personally met anyone who read them and didn't think they were engrossing and get addicted.

(These books are amazing for their characterization. There are no clear cut good or bad characters, and even the real villains have sympathetic qualities, etc.)

[HazelNutCoffee]

The Secret History by Donna Tartt is my definition of good airplane reading.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowel, non-fiction.

If you favor "elegant trash" as Carl Sagan put it, many of the Doc Savage novellas are back in print.

[Illuminatiprimus]

Unfortunately, I've found The Baroque Cycle altogether too dense and diffuse (simultaneously!) for me, although I appreciate what it tries to do and it seems like I should like it. Cryptonomicon as well. Heresy! The non-Stephenson lover shall be destroyed!!!!!

:p

I was going to suggest him but then noticed who the OP was and remembered that we discussed this topic in person when you were at the LonDope last year. So instead I would recommend:

Iain M Banks' Culture books - if you only want to try one go with Player of Games, and it's probably the best place to start with too.

Alternatively Iain Banks (same person, different genre) is also good, I recently finished The steep approach to Garbadale which I enjoyed a lot.

The Secret History by Donna Tart

Pillars of the Earth is great, if you've got it then read it.

The Jasper Fforde books are good but possibly a bit too easily digested for what you're looking for, but check out the Eyre Affair on Amazon and if it piques your interest then go for it.

Good Omens by Gaimen and Terry Pratchett, if you like American Gods you'll like it too.

The poisonwood bible by Barbara Kingsolver

[davidw]

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea

[twickster]

Another vote for Cloud Atlas.

I've traveled successfully with I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb. Also check out the novels of Robertson Davies, who has written three different trilogies. I especially recommend the Deptford trilogy. (http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/deptford_trilogy.html)

[ryobserver]

A thread on thick, enjoyable novels, and I'm the first to mention Dickens?

I've personally "only" read Bleak House, all 1000 or so pages of it. Unlike a lot of thick books, it's got a good excuse for being so thick: it's actually two novels whose plots barely overlap. Dickens got paid by the word, and it shows, but it shows less than you'd expect.

If you're at all partial to war stories, especially tragic ones, I recommend August 1914 by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. You'll have to gut out the slow start on the home front (spent introducing a rather boring family who will feature prominently in what is planned to be a trilogy); once the story joins the Russian army in East Prussia, things really roll along, through and past the pivotal battle of Tannenberg. The eastern front in WWI hasn't generated a lot of fiction to my knowledge; this one is really a gem.

By the way, there is a part 2 of the trilogy, November 1916, which is 800 pages of damn little. A couple of interesting pen portraits of historical figures (Tsarina Alexandra, Lenin) are not good enough to justify reading the whole thing.

[Gadarene]

AuntiePam: I've always been hesitant about Cloud Atlas because it seems like it might be a little too experimental for me. But I liked Mitchell's other stuff enough that I should probably give it a try. The rest of your recommendations are great as well; I haven't read any of them. And I trust your taste, since you're a fellow New Grub Street fan. :)

Sage Rat: Ellison's book is a favorite. I wikied Stendahl and The Red and the Black sounds interesting, although I'm not always in the mood for 19th century literature.

Opal: I hate to disappoint you, but I absolutely could not get into A Game of Thrones. It just didn't grab me...too epic, too many characters, maybe. And I've never been a huge fan of that vein of fantasy, the warring kingdoms and the court intrigue and all.

HazelNutCoffee: The Secret History is one of my favorite books ever. :)

Bosda: Vowell's book sounds neat, but I think I'm more in the mood for fiction right now.

Illuminatiprimus: How's it going? :) I thought Player of Games was great, and then I read some of his other Culture books and found them slightly less interesting to me. Is there one in particular you'd recommend? I'll also check out his non-genre stuff. I've read Good Omens and the Fforde books (which would actually be perfect for me), and never read The Poisonwood Bible.

davidw: Thanks! I've read the Murakami, but I'll check the rest out.

twickster: For some reason I've never gravitated towards Lamb before. I've tried Davies in the past and have felt very shamed that he didn't grab me; I should try him again.

ryobserver: I dunno if I'll be in a Dickens or Solzhenitsyn mood, but I'll definitely keep them in mind! I've started Bleak House before but never finished.

[AuntiePam]

The Hummingbird's Daughter by Luis Alberto Urrea

Excellent choice.

gadarene, don't be afraid of Cloud Atlas. My brain ain't all that big and I might not have "gotten" everything he was going for, but I loved it.

How about some time travel? Replay by Ken Grimwood, Doomsday Book by Connie Willis, or A Shortcut in Time by Charles Dickinson. They're not very fat though -- you'd have to get all three.

[twickster]

twickster: For some reason I've never gravitated towards Lamb before.
I was skeptical about it as well -- but read it at the insistence of a friend, and got completely drawn in. Excellent airport/airplane/hotel room reading.

[HazelNutCoffee]

Yeah, Lamb's easy reading.

We Need To Talk About Kevin is also a riveting read. Everyone I've recommended it to has read it and been deeply disturbed.

[Der Trihs]

If you like sci-fi :

Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg. It has two sequels, but stands on it's own.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

The Ring of Charon by Roger MacBride Allen ( has a sequel, The Shattered Sphere )

1632 by Eric Flint; beginning of a series featuring a modern town thrust into the Thirty Years War.

Fantasy :

Changer by Jane Lindskold.

Through Wolf's Eyes and sequels by Jane Lindskold. The first stands well enough alone that you can read it alone and enjoy it.

Touched By the Gods by Lawrence Watt-Evans.

[robby]

The Source (http://www.amazon.com/Source-Novel-James-Michener/dp/0375760385/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212112190&sr=8-1) by James Michener (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_A._Michener).

My old paperback edition was 1,088 pages. I remember this because when I was 13 years old, I read the whole book in one (long) day. Granted, it was my second reading.

It's a great book.

[Reno Nevada]

How about Lois McMaster Bujold? You can get the Vorkosigan Saga packaged as several omnibusses, each containing 2 or 3 novels. I recommend starting with Cordelia's Honor and reading them in internal chronology order, but there is debate on that subject.

[Cat Whisperer]

If you like sci-fi :

Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg. It has two sequels, but stands on it's own.<snip>
I just re-read them all, and loved them once again. Robert Silverberg rocks, man! I recently read some of his short stories too, and they rocked even more.

I'm currently reading the Ender series by Orson Scott Card. I recommend them, too. Orson Scott Card also rocks.

[Kilvert's Pagan]

I was going to recommend English Passengers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Passengers) by Matthew Kneale, although it may not be long enough to meet your criteria. Entertaining, clever, funny, and sad all at once - with 20 different narrators.

[Jophiel]

You may enjoy Douglas Adams' Dirk Gentley novels if you haven't read them. Either Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency or The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul. Both are humorous, witty and thoughtful (not to mention take place in England). They're also more story-driven in my opinion than the Hitchhiker's Guide books and I actually like them more as complete books because of that although the HHGTTG series has many notable "moments".

[Mahna Mahna]

Add me to the chorus singing the praises of Cloud Atlas. While it is a little experimental, it's far more conventional than it would seem at first and a wonderfully enjoyable read.

You may also want to look into some Tom Robbins if you haven't tried him out yet - Jitterbug Perfume sounds like it might fit the bill, as it's quite witty and excellently written, and IMO a good intro to his body of work.

[Silver Tyger]

You mean Lucifer's Hammer, by Niven and Pournelle?

=-.-=; Right. I was at work, what can I say? (And of course, I'm still not at home, so I can't peruse my bookshelves.)

The Light of Other Days by Asimov and Barnes (I think) was quite enjoyable.

[Northern Piper]

I would nominate almost any of Edward Rutherford's books: Sarum, London, Princes of Ireland, Rebels of Ireland, and Forest.

They're big books, but essentially a collection of short stories with recurring historical families and characters, so there's continuity, but each chapter is a stand-alone - perfect for long airplane trips and waits in terminals.

(The only one I didn't like was Russka, but that was because I find Russian history just too depressing for words.)

[Lynn Bodoni]

I reread Kiln People by David Brin frequently. Technology has developed a way to duplicate a person, right down to the memories and thoughts at the time of duplication. However, the duplicates only live for about 24 hours. Still, the duplicates (or dittos) can be used to do things like study or research a term paper, household chores, or have sex with either another ditto or a real person. The dittos' experiences can be uploaded into the original, should s/he so choose. Brin explores the possible changes on society as a result of this new technology. It's not just SF, it's a mystery too.

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett is excellent. I enjoy all of Pterry's books, but this is the one I give to people.

I love Barbara Hambly's works. She writes fantasy and mystery, mostly, but she does have a few other books out too.

[devilsknew]

Read Harry Harrison's entire, Bill, the Galactic Hero (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill%2C_the_Galactic_Hero) series to give your obviously huge and overtaxed brain a snackbreak.

[bathsheba]

If you like chick-lit and I do see "The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger" on your list, try Midwives by Chris Bohjalian. I read it on a plane once. It was light enough to qualify as plane reading but kept me engrossed.

[Manduck]

Vanity Fair. Sometimes you will find yourself forgetting that the characters aren't real people.

[Illuminatiprimus]

If you didn't like the Culture books then I suggest the Algebraist, I think that is Bank's best non-Culture book.

Another one, Dissolution by CJ Sansom set in 16th century England at the time of the reformation. It's one part murder mystery, two parts historical drama (and if you like it there are some sequels which are also good).

Do you like Gore Vidal? I've only read one of this books, Julian, but I really enjoyed it (historical drama set in the late Roman period, massively scathing wit).

Otherwise I think the poisonwood bible would be a goodun, it's meaty and should keep you going for a while.

[Martini Enfield]

The original Dune is long, epic, and generally not bad, IMHO.

The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy: A Trilogy in Five Parts is one of my perennial favourites, as is the Red Dwarf omnibus...

[zagloba]

Ella Leffland's The Night, Death and the Devil is a 700 page novel based on the life of Hermann Goering. It's very readable and true to the known facts, but allows Leffland the novelist's ability to speculate on inner thoughts and the undocumented events that make up much of the life of even the most famous (or infamous, in this case).

[Siege]

Sarum by Edward Rutherford tells the history of Salisbury, England over about 1,000 pages through the eyes of a few families. I'm rereading it now and in it you catch glimpses of Britain being separated from the continent at the end of an ice age, the building of Stonehenge and why it was built, the Roman occupation of Britain and Boaddica's revolt, and Viking raidss, and that's just in the first half of the book. Later in the book, Salisbury Cathedral is build by a descendent of the man who designed Stonehenge. I've double-checked your requirements, and I think it should do.

[CalMeacham]

If you liked Watership Down, you have a taste for fantasy. I'd recommend The Once and Future King by T.H. White -- Superb treatment of King Arthur that manages to be faithful to Medieval conceptions and modern sensibilities. It's the basis for both the musical Camelot and Disney's "Sword in the Stone", but neither manages to quite capture the spirit of the book. It's a GREAT read, and it's estill in print. (Actually, Disney's movie is based on White's The Sword in the Stone, a free-standing book that he extensively rewrote when he made it the first book of TOAFK. You'd have to look harder to find it.)

If you like it, go on to his The Book of Merlyn, which was supposed to be the last "book" of TOAFK, but was excised, and not published until after White's death. I think you can still get this one, too.





Do you like Gore Vidal? I've only read one of this books, Julian, but I really enjoyed it (historical drama set in the late Roman period, massively scathing wit).




If you like Julian, which I recommend, too, then try Creation --- the nephew of Zoroaster travels to India and meets with Gautama Siddhartha's disciples, then on to China to meet Confucius (!) More engaging and interesting than it sounds, believe it or not.

[Angel of the Lord]

The Company series, by Kage Baker. Start with In the Garden of Iden. Stop with The Life of the World to Come and make up your own ending. Maybe read The Children of the Company sometime before or after The Graveyard Game.

Decent length reads in and of themselves, and especially awesome and long when combined.

I'd also recommend Emma Bull's The War for the Oaks and Robin McKinley's Sunshine. Mostly because I really enjoyed those, and we seem to have similar tastes given the above lists. They're lighter reads, though.

[Lunar Saltlick]

Solomon Gursky Was Here - Mordecai Richler (his best novel, and a relatively long one at about 500 pages).

A Hero of Our Time - Mikhail Lermontov (shorter novel, good for one x-country flight; really rips along).

Slayground and Butcher's Moon - Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark. The two novels go together (BM taking place several years after Slayground). A total of about 500 pages for the two. Writing as Richard Stark, however, Westlake's prose is incredibly tight, and it won't take long to get through these two.

[MarcusF]

If you like intelligent historical fiction you could try the both the Lymond and Niccolo series by Dorothy Dunnett. Well written and impecably researched they introduced me to areas of 16th and 15th century history I hadn't even thought about.

With six and eight books in the two series and each book of a very solid length, you would have a lot of reading there. :D

[dalej42]

Herman Wouk: The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. Two amazing works of historical fiction set during World War II.

[Meurglys]

I'm thoroughly enjoying Hy Brasil (http://www.amazon.com/Hy-Brasil-Margaret-Elphinstone/dp/1841952478/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212154247&sr=1-7) by Margaret Elphinstone just now. It's set on the little visited island of Hy Brasil (well, it was known as Friesland when it was a British colony) where a travel writer of sorts goes there to write the first the first guide to the island and gradually discovers layers of secrets, some dating back centuries...

I've read a couple of her other books as well and enjoyed them; Voyageurs & Light. And I've just bought another couple of her books in case they go out of print...

[Lightray]

Since you're a bit of an Anglophile, I'd recommend Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark. It's an alternate history England during the Napoleonic Wars where "English magic" makes a revival. Intricate but not too dense, and the plot keeps a pretty good pace.

[Dung Beetle]

I just read The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers and I'm running about recommending it to people. I think it would be perfect. [close] Author Tim Powers evokes 17th-century England with a combination of meticulously researched historic detail and imaginative flights in this sci-fi tale of time travel. Winner of the 1984 Philip K. Dick Award for best original science fiction paperback, this 1989 edition of the book that took the fantasy world by storm is the first hardcover version to be published in the United States. In his brief introduction, Ramsey Campbell sets The Anubis Gates in an adventure context, citing Powers's achievement of "extraordinary scenes of underground horror, of comedy both high and grotesque, of bizarre menace, of poetic fantasy."

The colonization of Egypt by western European powers is the launch point for power plays and machinations. Steeping together in this time-warp stew are such characters as an unassuming Coleridge scholar, ancient gods, wizards, the Knights Templar, werewolves, and other quasi-mortals, all wrapped in the organizing fabric of Egyptian mythology. In the best of fantasy traditions, the reluctant heroes fight for survival against an evil that lurks beneath the surface of their everyday lives.

Actually, it's more interesting than that review makes it sound. It reminds me of Jack Finney's time travel stuff…hey, have you read Jack Finney?

[ShadowFacts]

Let me suggest Towing Jehovah by James Morrow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Morrow) , although it's not 500 pages, it sounds like it's up your alley.

I'll also suggest Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Lethem). Also perhaps not quite as long as you want, but it's really unique.

Finally, in the "weird things happening to ordinary people" category, I'll nominate House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Z._Danielewski) . This book is a complete mindfuck. I've never read anything quite like it.