I read this earlier today and loved the ideas behind it. Now as I’m sitting in bed reading Colored Television there is a passage where the Jane is talking about teaching Millennials and Gen Zers and how their brains aren’t evolved for the kind of reading experience in big, sprawling, old-fashioned novels. While just a novel, the connection between your Substack today and this passage makes me think about my own reading life and preferences. Especially as someone who is also on Bookstagram and can fall into the trap of “needing content” therefore shying away from larger books.
Good writing, well-developed characters, an immersive world--these are the things that matter. As long as these things are present, I will be happy to be in the book whether it is 200 pages or 800.
Over the past few years, every single time I've opted for a maximalist, door-stopper type book, I've been fully immersed and swept away in the best, most impactful ways. I've started to think of it like going to the gym: I know it's going to feel great once I'm there, and I'll be better for it after I've gone, but for some reason it's still harder to make the choice to grab the bigger book when there's that cute little story I could add to my "read" pile more quickly. And this knowledge always makes me ponder the "why I read" question... ultimately, as a mood-reader, I'm grateful for both kinds of story.
I really appreciate these thoughts! I can tend to be intimidated by tomes but once I commit to one, I always love the experience of reading it. Longer books give the distinct advantage of being completely sucked into another world and *living* there for awhile. I think I need to give The Parisian a try now...
Interesting ideas! I’ve never thought about whether I was a literary maximalist or minimalist before. I’m definitely guilty of complaining that a book contains unnecessary prose, but for me that means it does nothing to either move the story forward or add value to setting the scene/building out the world
I feel like I'm both! One of the reasons I have loved reading so much translated fiction is that so many of these books are shorter works. Maybe it's just what gets translated, but it definitely seems like the preference for 350 page books is an anglophone one. On the other hand, though I don't pick them up often, I love getting immersed in a 500+ page book, and those are rarely the ones I think are too long (Free Food for Millionaires being a notable exception ;)) I'm much more likely to feel a 350 - 400 page book is too long.
I love a tome ... as long as there's a point to the pages - meaning I don't want to read meandering nonsense(?! wow that sounds judge-y), but I am 100% here for a complex story/characters told well. This summer I read Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy (all 1,500 pages) and loved the whole experience. Seth really cares about the story he's telling and doesn't mind taking a page or two to describe a scene in detail so we can really see it. (Can't wait to see what Novel Pairings is going to read next spring!)
This inspired me to prioritize reading Divine Days next year. I do love maximalist details in historical fiction or non fiction, yes give me all the random gossip and clothing descriptions!
Both a literary maximalist and minimalist! A lot of my favorites tend to be the big tomes like The Count of Monte Cristo, David Copperfield, Gone with the Wind, Middlemarch, and The Way We Live Now. But I also love shorter, significant works like Claire Keegan's works which are very short but very impactful, The Little Prince, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. A good book is a good book is a good book :)
I don’t really pay attention to “size” when it comes to books - I’ve loved ones short enough to read in a couple of hours and others that took years. I need to take a look at The Parisian - your photo reminded me to check it out although it’s been on my radar.
Might be my favorite piece you’ve written, Sara! I’m reading Same as it Ever Was at the moment and really enjoying its maximalist storytelling - with all the layered bits.
I think that books around 400 are the perfect length. I have read many books that are around 30 hours in audio. I do not know what that translates into pages as i can only do audio books. I will tackle a 20-30 hour long book if it is a trusted author. Bryce Courtenay is an author that i will not think twice about reading. I know it will have a good balance of character development and plot.
So many thoughts on this! But mostly, I too want to know why a reviewer/critic says a book could be shortened or needed editing. Just throwing it out there feels a bit lazy. For me, it has little to do with length and everything to do with the story or plot. I love being swept away by a well-written immersive novel, but I don't like maximalism a replacement (not sure that's the right word) for a well-developed plot. I feel as if lately, maybe given the over-the-top nature of our world, authors are throwing plot lines at the wall to see what will stick, when what they already had was something pretty great.
Love this, Sara - what a timely discussion!! I find myself always leaning toward the 350-450 page books and having to push myself toward the smaller ones!! If I’m not resonating, I’ll DNF (permanently or until later), but it doesn’t seem to hinder my desire to gravitate toward them.
To me, I think I worry if a book is too short that I’ll be left feeling disappointed with not enough development on plot/characters or musings on themes (which I love). That said, some of my all time favorite books are shorter (Almond, Akwaeke Emezi’s works), so I should probably give them more of a chance!
As a fantasy reader, I don’t bat an eye at a book 500-600 pages long, even when it’s literary fiction, and I think that acclimation has allowed me to love so many chunky literary tomes! Like Ducks Newburyport 😍
I read this earlier today and loved the ideas behind it. Now as I’m sitting in bed reading Colored Television there is a passage where the Jane is talking about teaching Millennials and Gen Zers and how their brains aren’t evolved for the kind of reading experience in big, sprawling, old-fashioned novels. While just a novel, the connection between your Substack today and this passage makes me think about my own reading life and preferences. Especially as someone who is also on Bookstagram and can fall into the trap of “needing content” therefore shying away from larger books.
Good writing, well-developed characters, an immersive world--these are the things that matter. As long as these things are present, I will be happy to be in the book whether it is 200 pages or 800.
Over the past few years, every single time I've opted for a maximalist, door-stopper type book, I've been fully immersed and swept away in the best, most impactful ways. I've started to think of it like going to the gym: I know it's going to feel great once I'm there, and I'll be better for it after I've gone, but for some reason it's still harder to make the choice to grab the bigger book when there's that cute little story I could add to my "read" pile more quickly. And this knowledge always makes me ponder the "why I read" question... ultimately, as a mood-reader, I'm grateful for both kinds of story.
I really appreciate these thoughts! I can tend to be intimidated by tomes but once I commit to one, I always love the experience of reading it. Longer books give the distinct advantage of being completely sucked into another world and *living* there for awhile. I think I need to give The Parisian a try now...
Interesting ideas! I’ve never thought about whether I was a literary maximalist or minimalist before. I’m definitely guilty of complaining that a book contains unnecessary prose, but for me that means it does nothing to either move the story forward or add value to setting the scene/building out the world
I feel like I'm both! One of the reasons I have loved reading so much translated fiction is that so many of these books are shorter works. Maybe it's just what gets translated, but it definitely seems like the preference for 350 page books is an anglophone one. On the other hand, though I don't pick them up often, I love getting immersed in a 500+ page book, and those are rarely the ones I think are too long (Free Food for Millionaires being a notable exception ;)) I'm much more likely to feel a 350 - 400 page book is too long.
I love a tome ... as long as there's a point to the pages - meaning I don't want to read meandering nonsense(?! wow that sounds judge-y), but I am 100% here for a complex story/characters told well. This summer I read Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy (all 1,500 pages) and loved the whole experience. Seth really cares about the story he's telling and doesn't mind taking a page or two to describe a scene in detail so we can really see it. (Can't wait to see what Novel Pairings is going to read next spring!)
This inspired me to prioritize reading Divine Days next year. I do love maximalist details in historical fiction or non fiction, yes give me all the random gossip and clothing descriptions!
Both a literary maximalist and minimalist! A lot of my favorites tend to be the big tomes like The Count of Monte Cristo, David Copperfield, Gone with the Wind, Middlemarch, and The Way We Live Now. But I also love shorter, significant works like Claire Keegan's works which are very short but very impactful, The Little Prince, and Breakfast at Tiffany's. A good book is a good book is a good book :)
I don’t really pay attention to “size” when it comes to books - I’ve loved ones short enough to read in a couple of hours and others that took years. I need to take a look at The Parisian - your photo reminded me to check it out although it’s been on my radar.
Might be my favorite piece you’ve written, Sara! I’m reading Same as it Ever Was at the moment and really enjoying its maximalist storytelling - with all the layered bits.
Loved this book! Claire Lombardo writes complicated feelings so well. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
I tend to read books close to 400 pages but I can fly through an 800 page fantasy novel on my Kindle. It really depends on the quality of the work.
I think that books around 400 are the perfect length. I have read many books that are around 30 hours in audio. I do not know what that translates into pages as i can only do audio books. I will tackle a 20-30 hour long book if it is a trusted author. Bryce Courtenay is an author that i will not think twice about reading. I know it will have a good balance of character development and plot.
So many thoughts on this! But mostly, I too want to know why a reviewer/critic says a book could be shortened or needed editing. Just throwing it out there feels a bit lazy. For me, it has little to do with length and everything to do with the story or plot. I love being swept away by a well-written immersive novel, but I don't like maximalism a replacement (not sure that's the right word) for a well-developed plot. I feel as if lately, maybe given the over-the-top nature of our world, authors are throwing plot lines at the wall to see what will stick, when what they already had was something pretty great.
Love this, Sara - what a timely discussion!! I find myself always leaning toward the 350-450 page books and having to push myself toward the smaller ones!! If I’m not resonating, I’ll DNF (permanently or until later), but it doesn’t seem to hinder my desire to gravitate toward them.
To me, I think I worry if a book is too short that I’ll be left feeling disappointed with not enough development on plot/characters or musings on themes (which I love). That said, some of my all time favorite books are shorter (Almond, Akwaeke Emezi’s works), so I should probably give them more of a chance!
As a fantasy reader, I don’t bat an eye at a book 500-600 pages long, even when it’s literary fiction, and I think that acclimation has allowed me to love so many chunky literary tomes! Like Ducks Newburyport 😍