Best longish book that is worth the time

[Anonymous]

Thinking back to long books that held my attention and still recall pretty well:

Middlesex
Sapiens

Adding a vote to Ken Follett's books mentioned above and Cloud Cuckoo Land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese is incredible. 775 pages.

NP I was reluctant to start this given the length, I ended up enjoying it a lot.

Another long one that I was incredibly moved by (though very difficult subject) was A Little Life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cutting for Stone was excellent.

Have you tried his new book?

I'm a DP and while it was good, The Covenant of Water pales in comparison to Cutting for Stone.

But both fall into the longish-but-worth-reading category for me.

I absolutely hated the Covenant of Water. Felt like trauma porn after a while.

I replied to the first mention of CofW. I ended up enjoying the book, but I have to agree it did feel like trauma porn. Almost gratuitous at time. A Little Life (which I also mentioned) is far more traumatic than CofW, but it felt real and a natural progression.

That said, I did want to know how it ended.

[Anonymous]

Homegoing.
Love Stories of WEB duBois

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cutting for Stone was excellent.

Have you tried his new book?

I'm a DP and while it was good, The Covenant of Water pales in comparison to Cutting for Stone.

But both fall into the longish-but-worth-reading category for me.

I absolutely hated the Covenant of Water. Felt like trauma porn after a while.

I replied to the first mention of CofW. I ended up enjoying the book, but I have to agree it did feel like trauma porn. Almost gratuitous at time. A Little Life (which I also mentioned) is far more traumatic than CofW, but it felt real and a natural progression.

That said, I did want to know how it ended.

I agree with this review of CofW. I also think it was unnecessary long. After reading 500 pages I switched to audiobook (which actually seemed longer to listen to than read) and then read the final 75 pages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, and Middlemarch by George Eliot

I read that as a teen. The only storyline from it that I can remember is Dorothea's. It was kind of horrible and heartbreaking and emotionally impactful. Nothing about the rest of the book can I remember 40 years later, other than the fact it was a massive slog to get through.

+1. I'm starting to think I read Middlemarch too young, given all the adult women here who are raving about it. I was looking for Jane Austen and it wasn't that.

I went back to Madame Bovary recently, after reading it in french my freshman year of college (that was definitely a slog). I appreciated it more in English the second time around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cutting for Stone was excellent.

Have you tried his new book?

I'm a DP and while it was good, The Covenant of Water pales in comparison to Cutting for Stone.

But both fall into the longish-but-worth-reading category for me.

I absolutely hated the Covenant of Water. Felt like trauma porn after a while.

I replied to the first mention of CofW. I ended up enjoying the book, but I have to agree it did feel like trauma porn. Almost gratuitous at time. A Little Life (which I also mentioned) is far more traumatic than CofW, but it felt real and a natural progression.

That said, I did want to know how it ended.

Thanks for this strategy. Am just starting CofW but have also downloaded the audiobook.

I agree with this review of CofW. I also think it was unnecessary long. After reading 500 pages I switched to audiobook (which actually seemed longer to listen to than read) and then read the final 75 pages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cutting for Stone was excellent.

Have you tried his new book?

I'm a DP and while it was good, The Covenant of Water pales in comparison to Cutting for Stone.

But both fall into the longish-but-worth-reading category for me.

I absolutely hated the Covenant of Water. Felt like trauma porn after a while.

I replied to the first mention of CofW. I ended up enjoying the book, but I have to agree it did feel like trauma porn. Almost gratuitous at time. A Little Life (which I also mentioned) is far more traumatic than CofW, but it felt real and a natural progression.

That said, I did want to know how it ended.

I agree with this review of CofW. I also think it was unnecessary long. After reading 500 pages I switched to audiobook (which actually seemed longer to listen to than read) and then read the final 75 pages.

Thanks for this strategy. Am just starting CofW but have also downloaded the audiobook.

[Anonymous]

War and Peace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My unpopular opinion: The Goldfinch

I’m there with you. I’m surprised by how many people didn’t like this one.

Me. I hated it, and would have cut out whole storylines.

[Anonymous]

Avid reader here since I was very young and I can say I've not read one very long book that was worth it. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Paul Auster’s 4321
Lonesome Dove
Gore Vidal’s Lincoln
Underworld
Tana French’s crime novels are longer than many. Also James Ellroy’s.
The Brothers K (the baseball novel. Haven’t read Dostoevsky)
We Are Not Ourselves
The Nix

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My unpopular opinion: The Goldfinch

I’m there with you. I’m surprised by how many people didn’t like this one.

Me. I hated it, and would have cut out whole storylines.

Another thumbs down for The Goldfinch. Almost every character seemed like a stock caricature from central casting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anna Karenina

Agreed. Also Les Miserables

[Anonymous]

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Heartbreaking, but I loved it. To Paradise was also quite good. Her writing style is easy to sink into.