# What's the longest book you've ever read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239 "2004-01-13T06:27:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/1 "2004-01-13T06:27:15Z")
I’ve been doing a mental inventory. I’ve read Stephen King’s _The Stand_, which, IIRC, is nigh unto a thousand pages, and _It_, which I know is well over a thou. _Lord of the Rings_, which was actually originally written as a single book, comes in at 1361 pages. I’ve also read John Julius Norwich’s three volume set, _Byzantium_, which I consider to be a single book. It comes in at right around twelve hundred pages. Oh, yeah, and the Bible- all seventy three books. Even the dry statistical stuff in Numbers. I have the New American Bible here next to me (I’m on my second trip through), and it weighs in at 1390 pages. I’m sitting here right now eyeing St. Augustine’s _City of God_, which I bought a few years back but never got around to reading. Hmmm… \*\*\* gets it off the shelf\*\*\* 1091 pages, not counting the index. Yeah, I think I can handle it. So, Dopers, what’s your greatest feat of literary consumption? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/2 "2004-01-13T06:32:41Z")
There’s no way I’m going to remember page counts, but going by memory of general heft… I finished _Les Miserables_ and _Gone With The Wind_ within months of each other. I started a book on the life of Peter the Great that was quite thick, but didn’t finish that (I was borrowing it and the owner needed it back for a class). Does Jordan’s _The Wheel of Time_ count as one really, really, REALLY big book? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/3 "2004-01-13T06:35:19Z")
Well, there’s _It_ and _The Stand_, by Stephen King. _Lord of the Rings_ _War and Peace_, by Tolstoy, which was about 1400 pages. Plus a slew of 500-700 pagers. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/4 "2004-01-13T06:39:14Z")
Hmmm, I’ve read both _It_ and _The Stand_. I’m going to say _Ulysses_, though. Sure, it’s a couple hundred pages shorter than _The Stand_, (and, by golly, they’re _smaller_ pages, too,) but somehow it seems longer, subjectively. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/5 "2004-01-13T14:27:02Z")
The unedited version of Stephen King’s The Stand is the longest book I’ve read in the shortest period of time. I’ve read the Bible and Les Miz, but not in two sittings. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/6 "2004-01-13T15:04:34Z")
The copy of Atlas Shrugged that I read has around 1100 pages and Lord of the Rings has been mentioned already. I get the feeling I’m forgetting one…oh well. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/7 "2004-01-13T15:17:24Z")
Depends on your definitions of what “one book” is. I’ve read **The Stand** and **Atlas Shrugged** , both of which clock in at over 1000 pages. But does **LoTR** count? How about **Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire?** It is technically one book, spread over 7 volumes, each over 400 pages long. Do textbooks count? I am teaching a class right now that has a text that is over 1400 pages. The record for me is still **A Thousand Nights and a Night** translated by Sir Richard Burton. I have read the whole thing…all 27 volumes. Including footnotes and appendices. That works out to be about 13,500 pages, more or less, in one work. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/8 "2004-01-13T15:31:59Z")
Probably the most I’ve read from any single author has been Colleen McCollough’s _Masters of Rome_ series. _The First Man In Rome_ (1104 pages) _The Grass Crown_ (1104 pages) _Fortune’s Favourites_ (1028 pages) _Caesar’s Women_ (943 pages) _Caesar: A Novel_ (928 pages) _The October Horse_ (1110 pages) And I’ve read all but the last book several times. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/9 "2004-01-13T15:36:09Z")
I read [_A suitable boy_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060925000/qid=1074006822//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i0_xgl14/103-4705902-7328619?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Vikram Seth, which according to Amazon is 1488 pages. It was a bit daunting at first, but it’s such a good book that when I finished it I missed the characters like they were absent friends, and wished there were another 1488 pages left. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/10 "2004-01-13T15:39:48Z")
I’ve read the King books, but what really got me was _Battlefield Earth_. Though I can’t recall the exact page count, I know it is well, well over 1,000 and the type is in a tiny font, which means it’s even longer than it looks. It was sheer agony trying to get through that book. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/11 "2004-01-13T15:42:25Z")
I’ve read _The Stand_, _Atlas Shrugged_, _The Mists of Avalon_ (along with _The Forest House_ and _The Lady of Avalon_), _The Bible_… But the longest book I’ve read was _Bleak House_ by Charles Dickens - if it wasn’t the longest, it sure felt like it. So long you begin to cheer for the bad guys, hoping they will kill the blasted Little Nell and the book will end! Ummm, and I’ve never finished _Lord of the Rings_. It just has too many names starting with “E”!! I couldn’t keep the characters straight!! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/12 "2004-01-13T15:47:54Z")
Like **jjimm** , mine is _A Suitable Boy_. I started it a couple of days before the end of a vacation – it turned out to stretch the vacation feeling on for quite a while, since it took me a couple of weeks to finish it when I was only reading for an hour or so a day. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/13 "2004-01-13T17:00:07Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I read [_A suitable boy_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060925000/qid=1074006822//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i0_xgl14/103-4705902-7328619?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) by Vikram Seth, which according to Amazon is 1488 pages. > > It was a bit daunting at first, but it’s such a good book that when I finished it I missed the characters like they were absent friends, and wished there were another 1488 pages left. I know how you feel about that one. I thought About a Boy was great. Although the ending was a bit meh, I thought. I’ve currently got a great book called “Raj” about the rise and fall of the British Empire in India. Its weighing in at about 2000 pages… ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/14 "2004-01-13T17:03:48Z")
> [@Angua](#): > > I know how you feel about that one. I thought About a Boy was great. Although the ending was a bit meh, I thought. > > I’ve currently got a great book called “Raj” about the rise and fall of the British Empire in India. Its weighing in at about 2000 pages… :smack: :smack: :smack: _A Suitable Boy_ is what I meant. Not About a Boy. I think my brain’s shot to pieces at the moment. I probably need more sleep. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/15 "2004-01-13T17:22:32Z")
I’d have to say **LotR** , and the complete **Don Quixote** , both volumes in one edition. After that probably **Silmarillion**. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/16 "2004-01-13T17:42:49Z")
I’ve also read _Lord of the Rings_. And _Battlefield Earth_. I’d forgotten all about that. I suspect it’s a defense mechanism… ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/17 "2004-01-13T18:50:23Z")
The longest single volume I’ve read was The Unabridged Jack London, which included all his Arctic novels and stories. It was 1143 pages. I’m currently reading James Clavell’s Shogun, which will take the crown at 1200+ pages. Of course I’ve read Lord of the Rings, but I don’t consider that a single book. I’m bowing to the publishers’ wisdom on that point. Has no one here read David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest? I hear it’s quite a monster. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@The\_Asbestos\_Mango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Asbestos_Mango)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/18 "2004-01-13T21:12:18Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Depends on your definitions of what “one book” is. I’ve read **The Stand** and **Atlas Shrugged** , both of which clock in at over 1000 pages. But does **LoTR** count? How about **Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire?** It is technically one book, spread over 7 volumes, each over 400 pages long. Do textbooks count? I am teaching a class right now that has a text that is over 1400 pages. The record for me is still **A Thousand Nights and a Night** translated by Sir Richard Burton. I have read the whole thing…all 27 volumes. Including footnotes and appendices. That works out to be about 13,500 pages, more or less, in one work. You win. Does anyone have a page count for _Illuminatus_? 'Cause I’ve read that, too. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/19 "2004-01-13T21:24:33Z")
Which is longest: Lord of the Rings, War and Peace, Gone with the Wind, Anthony Adverse, Les Miserables, Remembrace of Things Past? I’ve read them all at least once–some multiple times–and a lot of other very thick books (I like baggy Victorian monster-novels), but page numbers differ from edition to edition, so it’s hard to judge size on that basis. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239/20 "2004-01-13T22:18:37Z")
I have to say that Ulysses is the longest book I’ve read, because it’s such difficult reading. But I suppose The Stand had more pages, and so did (may God forgive me) Shogun, possibly the biggest waste of my time ever. Les Miserables, The Lord of the Rings, and the subject of my MA thesis, the longest poem in English, The Faerie Queene. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-longest-book-youve-ever-read/224239.md?page=2)