the 1000+ page book thread for literati BOCers
Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:19 pm
Hello, are you currently reading/have read (or even intend to read) a book that is 1000 pages long or longer?
I'm on a bigass one called Shogun about an english Pilot of a rebel Dutchstranded in Japan. Although I'm on page 250, I barely feel like the book's even the least bit gotten going really. That doesn't mean to say it's bad or unengaging. It's just taken a long time to really set the characters and introduce the major ones and really develop them before the plot gets going. Plus seeing as it's set around the time of the Armada in the 1600s, it would naturally take a long time to explain the incredibly complicated situation regarding the Jesuits etc
so which epics have Twoismers tackled? Are they any good etc??
I'm on a bigass one called Shogun about an english Pilot of a rebel Dutchstranded in Japan. Although I'm on page 250, I barely feel like the book's even the least bit gotten going really. That doesn't mean to say it's bad or unengaging. It's just taken a long time to really set the characters and introduce the major ones and really develop them before the plot gets going. Plus seeing as it's set around the time of the Armada in the 1600s, it would naturally take a long time to explain the incredibly complicated situation regarding the Jesuits etc
so which epics have Twoismers tackled? Are they any good etc??
Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:26 pm
The Lord of the Rings, 1500 pages-- I'm sure I don't need to describe this one to you.
The Bible, usually around 1200 pages -- Probably don't need to offer any information on this one either.
I'd recommend reading them both, by the way, if only to acquaint yourself culturally with two of the most-read books ever read.
The Bible, usually around 1200 pages -- Probably don't need to offer any information on this one either.
I'd recommend reading them both, by the way, if only to acquaint yourself culturally with two of the most-read books ever read.
Last edited by saturdayindex on Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:26 pm
A lot of Terry Goodkinds books are massive like that, but they are an amazing read all the way through. Sword of Truth for life!!!
Re: the 1000+ page book thread for literati BOCers
Fri Jul 03, 2009 11:02 pm
saurus wrote:Hello, are you currently reading/have read (or even intend to read) a book that is 1000 pages long or longer?
I'm on a bigass one called Shogun about an english Pilot of a rebel Dutchstranded in Japan. Although I'm on page 250, I barely feel like the book's even the least bit gotten going really. That doesn't mean to say it's bad or unengaging. It's just taken a long time to really set the characters and introduce the major ones and really develop them before the plot gets going. Plus seeing as it's set around the time of the Armada in the 1600s, it would naturally take a long time to explain the incredibly complicated situation regarding the Jesuits etc
so which epics have Twoismers tackled? Are they any good etc??
Shogun is a fantastic book. Stick with it.
Probably listed this before, but Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts is an amazing, and fairly long read. Think it's just under 1000 pages, but hey, whatever.
Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:40 am
well, I'm gonna read Stephen King's IT
Re: the 1000+ page book thread for literati BOCers
Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:14 am
Mexicola wrote:saurus wrote:Hello, are you currently reading/have read (or even intend to read) a book that is 1000 pages long or longer?
I'm on a bigass one called Shogun about an english Pilot of a rebel Dutchstranded in Japan. Although I'm on page 250, I barely feel like the book's even the least bit gotten going really. That doesn't mean to say it's bad or unengaging. It's just taken a long time to really set the characters and introduce the major ones and really develop them before the plot gets going. Plus seeing as it's set around the time of the Armada in the 1600s, it would naturally take a long time to explain the incredibly complicated situation regarding the Jesuits etc
so which epics have Twoismers tackled? Are they any good etc??
Shogun is a fantastic book. Stick with it.
Probably listed this before, but Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts is an amazing, and fairly long read. Think it's just under 1000 pages, but hey, whatever.
I think I've mentioned this before too, but several people have mentioned this to me as their favorite novel of all time, and I've been meaning to read it, but forgot what the title was.
Re: the 1000+ page book thread for literati BOCers
Sat Jul 04, 2009 8:58 am
Mexicola wrote:Probably listed this before, but Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts is an amazing, and fairly long read. Think it's just under 1000 pages, but hey, whatever.
What is it about?
And by the way, the only books with 1000+ pages i've read would be the LotR and the Bible too. Or do the Chronicles of Narnia count as one book?
I'm reading a lot, but most of them have around 300 / 400 pages..
Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:21 am
Shantaram is a semi-autobiographical story. The blurb below kind of describes the book, but doesn't really do it justice. Just trust me, if you start reading this book you won't want to do anything else for a couple of weeks at least.
"In 1978, gifted student and writer Greg Roberts turned to heroin when his marriage collapsed, feeding his addiction with a string of robberies. Caught and convicted, he was given a nineteen-year sentence. After two years, he escaped from a maximum- security prison, spending the next ten years on the run as Australia's most wanted man. Hiding in Bombay, he established a medical clinic for slum- dwellers, worked in the Bollywood film industry and served time in the notorious Arthur Road prison. He was recruited by one of the most charismatic branches of the Bombay mafia for whom he worked as a forger, counterfeiter, and smuggler, and fought alongside a unit of mujaheddin guerrilla fighters in Afghanistan. His debut novel, SHANTARAM, is based on this ten-year period of his life in Bombay. The result is an epic tale of slums and five-star hotels, romantic love and prison torture, mafia gang wars and Bollywood films. A gripping adventure story, SHANTARAM is also a superbly written meditation on good and evil and an authentic evocation of Bombay life."
In a similar vein I'd also recommend Papillion and Henri Charriere and As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me by JM Bauer.
Papillon was famously made into an excellent movie with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. Tells Charrieres story of his wrongful conviction for murder and subsequent exile to a penal colony in South America. He makes his first escape attempt after just 42 days. The next few years are extraordinary, with him making several escapes - some more successful than others - his time in solitary confinement, living with a native tribe, and eventual escape to Venezuela.
As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me is another true story of a German soldier, Clemens Forell, captured by the Russians near the end of World War 2. He is exiled to a Siberian Gulag where he and several thousand other prisoners are slowly worked to death. He escapes and then walks the 8000 mile route across the frozen tundra to try and get home, with the Russian authorities, bounty hunters, etc all trying to catch him.
"In 1978, gifted student and writer Greg Roberts turned to heroin when his marriage collapsed, feeding his addiction with a string of robberies. Caught and convicted, he was given a nineteen-year sentence. After two years, he escaped from a maximum- security prison, spending the next ten years on the run as Australia's most wanted man. Hiding in Bombay, he established a medical clinic for slum- dwellers, worked in the Bollywood film industry and served time in the notorious Arthur Road prison. He was recruited by one of the most charismatic branches of the Bombay mafia for whom he worked as a forger, counterfeiter, and smuggler, and fought alongside a unit of mujaheddin guerrilla fighters in Afghanistan. His debut novel, SHANTARAM, is based on this ten-year period of his life in Bombay. The result is an epic tale of slums and five-star hotels, romantic love and prison torture, mafia gang wars and Bollywood films. A gripping adventure story, SHANTARAM is also a superbly written meditation on good and evil and an authentic evocation of Bombay life."
In a similar vein I'd also recommend Papillion and Henri Charriere and As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me by JM Bauer.
Papillon was famously made into an excellent movie with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. Tells Charrieres story of his wrongful conviction for murder and subsequent exile to a penal colony in South America. He makes his first escape attempt after just 42 days. The next few years are extraordinary, with him making several escapes - some more successful than others - his time in solitary confinement, living with a native tribe, and eventual escape to Venezuela.
As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me is another true story of a German soldier, Clemens Forell, captured by the Russians near the end of World War 2. He is exiled to a Siberian Gulag where he and several thousand other prisoners are slowly worked to death. He escapes and then walks the 8000 mile route across the frozen tundra to try and get home, with the Russian authorities, bounty hunters, etc all trying to catch him.
Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:30 am
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson - oh sorry, just checked and it's only 915 pages. Great book though. Also still ploughing through The Universal History Of Numbers by Georges Ifrah (3 volumes...).
Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:38 pm
I tried moby dick once...and I might be a culture killer, but that book is really fucking boring.
Now I'm trying one of equal calibre, Robinson Crusoe
Now I'm trying one of equal calibre, Robinson Crusoe
Sat Jul 04, 2009 5:07 pm
Atlas Shrugged
Sat Jul 04, 2009 7:16 pm
88marquis wrote:A lot of Terry Goodkinds books are massive like that, but they are an amazing read all the way through. Sword of Truth for life!!!
Hells yeah! I love Terry Goodkind's series 'The Sword of Truth'!
Highly recommended.