Wild swan: +1542
While I contemplate whether or not I’m up to the challenge of reading A Suitable Boy (my copy has a staggering 1474 pages!), I would be interested to hear how other readers have fared with this enormous book. How long did you spend reading it? Did you read it all and enjoy it? It sounds both challenging and fascinating: the literary equivalent of climbing Everest, perhaps.
It would also be great to read your thoughts about other weighty works on your bookshelves :-)
Latest response
Most popular response
While I contemplate whether or not I’m up to the challenge of reading A Suitable Boy (my copy has a staggering 1474 pages!), I would be interested to hear how other readers have fared with this enormous book. How long did you spend reading it? Did you read it all and enjoy it? It sounds both challenging and fascinating: the literary equivalent of climbing Everest, perhaps.
It would also be great to read your thoughts about other weighty works on your bookshelves :-)
Wow – sounds like a challenge indeed (or a good excuse for a week off work!)
I’d love to read it – I have to admit that my library contains very few Indian writers. I’d love to take a look at White Tiger too when I get a chance. I’d also be really interested to know if anyone out there has read it, and what they thought of it!
I gave up about a quarter of the way in and was bored by the tenth page or so. The repeated transcription of lengthy letters between the characters is representative of how unnecessary (and indulgent?) I found much of the book.
Lengthy books I’ve enjoyed: I’m nearing the end of Black Man by Richard Morgan. It’s fairly hardcore sci fi though, so miles away from A Suitable Boy.
Interesting to read completely different responses to A Suitable Boy (and I’ve made a note of the other book recommendations for future reference – thanks!).
Toni, do you tend to read Seth’s novel as and when you feel like it, or have you tried adopting a kind of systematic approach (e.g. 50 pages a day)? Your copy of the book must have such a history! Olivia Manning’s Balkan Trilogy and Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy are some of the weighty works that follow my dad around on his travels.
Infinite Jest… with an almost infinite number of pages! ;) The title is intriguing – will look it up.
I recently finished Bleak House (more than 900 pages in the Penguin edition, if my memory serves me correctly), my copy of which also includes introductory material, author’s notes, and footnotes… At times it seemed that every time I finished a chapter, half a dozen more were added to the end of the book. Fantastic read, though.
First Post
RSS News
Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Vimeo
LinkedIn