If you write a book according to the usual criteria, one person may like it, the other may dislike it, but when you write ten volumes, no one will say that the book is in eight. Clarissa samuel richardson one of the longest novels in the english language, but unputdownable. The southern belle fights for the love of her life and for the preservation of her familys plantation in the midst of the civil war and the reconstruction era. I included only books originally written in english, since it is easier to. Clarissa, or, the history of a young lady by samuel richardson. These books are rather long but never tedious, and will take the reader on unparalleled journeys which will likely be remembered for the rest of his or her lifetime. Rated the longest novel ever by the guinness book of world. I was usually not really into chapter books, but a series of unfortunate events made me change my mind.
How do you compress the longest novel ever written in english into just three tv episodes. The longest novel in a single volume that i have ever read is a suitable boy by vikram seth. Poor fellow my country by xavier herbert this is the longest australian novel ever written at. A sampling of other lengthy novels page counts are approximate because of multiple editions. All records listed on our website are current and uptodate. The english translation is remembrance of things past or in search of lost time. Its recorded by guinness as the longest book ever written.
Proust produced the first volume of his volume masterpiece in 1912 it was first published in 19. Top 10 longest novels in the english languagetop 10 longest novels in the english languagei love a long book that i can really get into, so i decided to compile a list of the longest novels ever written. Among the longest english novels ever written more than a million words, the book has secured a place in literary history for its tremendous psychological insight. At first glance, it might resemble a regencyera comedy of manners a. By the way, if youve read it, i must congratulate you.
Word count is a more important criteria for longest than page count, as the size of the page an. Yep, that is my summer reading, he replied, glancing down at the 1,088page behemoth of a novel. For a full list of record titles, please use our record. Anthony powell, a dance to the music of timepublished from 1951 to 1975, as a partial tribute to proust. Sneaky people by thomas berger this is arguably one of the funniest crime novels ever written. The best short books youll ever read readers digest. The average novel usually runs between 80,000 to 150,000 words. Its the only book of this list that i have read a little from. The house on mango street by sandra cisnerosthis modern classic, about a latina girl growing up in chicago, has been translated and taught all over the world. Top 10 longest books in the world 2018 update articles. The novels mentioned above are some of the longest books ever written, which allow the reader to stay immersed in the stories and live the characters for a great amount of time. But clarissa, the longest novel ever written in the english languageand among the first told entirely through letters exchanged by its charactersfell victim to its girth and became a neglected classic. British author samuel richardsons onemillionword clarissa, written in 174748, was boiled down to three 60minute episodes for tv.
As i did more research, i realized that there were many issues i had to take into consideration when deciding what to include on this list. The history of thought from ancient times to today 1998 is a book of intellectual history written by martin seymoursmith 19281998, a british poet, critic, and biographer. Regarded as the longest novel ever written in australia, this book consists of over 850,000 words in total, many times more than even the large compendiums written by such authors as j. But clarissa, the longest novel ever written in the english languageand among the first told entirely through letters exchanged by its. Published in 12 volumes, it is sometimes regarded as a novel sequence. With this in mind, i did some research and came up with thirty of the longest fantasy series ever published.
It is a guinness world record, therefore you can see the original title sorry for not including it here, but come on 11k characters. Clarissa is fourth in our list of the best novels written in english and the first to address. I first read a list of longest novels on the writing pages which referenced a wikipedia article. I have to admit im with jane sir charles was my favorite. Whats the longest novel not a encyclopedia ever written. Okay, the book came in tiptop shape, and the story is a masterpiece, totally five stars. The second part of his work won international awards as soon as it was published and with them, an international reputation. I think the main contender for longest book in the c18th was samuel richardsons clarissa, and then. Buy clarissa harlowe or the history of a young lady. Samuel richardsons clarissa, which was first published in 17471748, is an absolute literary feat and one i have been meaning to read since i was a teenager, but the sheer length of the book despite having read novels such as les miserables and the count of monte cristo and others which, although not as long as clarissa, do number over a thousand pages made me keep postponing it until i had the time. I enjoyed her, but after awhile, i started to hate her. And how did the bbc accomplish this herculean task.
Samuel richardsons clarissa harlow and sir charles grandison both beat it and. In case you cant tell by the wordy dual titles, this next novel can be an 18th century one. A fter pilgrims progress and robinson crusoe, the next landmark in english fiction is a towering monument of approximately 970,000 words, clarissa, the longest novel in the english canon. The longest novel is artamene ou le grand cyrus, originally published. The book has over 3,277,227 words which counted in pages are 7312. Once youre done reading about the worlds longest novel, check out some. At over 1 million words, it is a contender for the longest englishlanguage novel ever written. Set in the postcivil war american south, the novel follows a young african. This led me to wonder about the longest books ever written. Poor fellow my country by xavier herbert this is the longest australian novel ever written at 850,000 words. To samuel johnson, it was simply the first book in the world for the. Seths suitable boy is the longest conventional novel in english since clarissa, and allegedly, according to a wikipedia participant, though source is not properly cited, the longest novel in the english language published in a single volume. This 1937 pulitzerwinning epic novelwhich goodreads calls one of the most popular books ever writtentells the story of headstrong leading lady scarlett ohara. We hope you will get interested in some of them and actually read them of course if you have a lot of free time in your daily schedule.
It is the longest japanese novel and also one of the longest ever written. Ten of the worlds longest books for reading addicts. A shame, too, bemoaned florida state university english professor sheila ortiztaylor, given gender and power themes that resonate today. Conventionally regarded as the longest novel in the english language. Fsu professor condenses classic giant clarissa for. These books are excellently written, and have a great emotion set for the story at the very beginning.
Though the epistolary novel a novel in the form of letters written by one or more characters was most popular before the 19th century, alice walker became a champion of the style with her 1982 pulitzer prize and national book awardwinning novel the color purple. Much of the writing is, in grossmans words, differentiated and obfuscated. Before seths novel, others turned to samuel richardsons clarissa as the longest novel with over a million words. Clarissa, or, the history of a young lady i loved this. An example of an epistolary novel one written as a series of documents such as letters or diary entries this huge book was published in 1748, telling a tragic story of a heroine constantly set back by her family. The longest novel in english clarissa is the longest novel in englisha fact loved by some readers, tolerated by most, and mocked by others.
Tolstoys napoleonic epic literally weighs in at 3lbs, 14oz. The voluminous tale of virtuous clarissa and her aristocratic rogue of a suitor, lovelace, encompassed 1,550 pages and captivated englands 18th century readers. So glad i did because i loved all three of these novels. Ive read a great deal of fiction and this the longest novel ever written, i believe, is better than much of it. List of longest novels wikipedia granted, these are only novels, so were excluding nonfiction from the answer. Like the works of james joyce and marcel proust, clarissa is meant for those who like reading, and it also is a work that demands rereading. Lets not detract from this amazing literary achievement, especially as the content is recognized. Professor condenses classic giant clarissa for modern. The longest novel is artamene ou le grand cyrus, originally published 164954 in ten parts, each part in three volumes. At 1,536 pages, clarissa, or the history of a young lady is one of the longest novels ever published. Much to my surprise, other people have wondered the same thing and answered this question for me. When i was young and had lots of time, i set myself on a quest to find and read the longest novel ever written. Fsu professor condenses classic giant clarissa for modern readers. Top 10 longest novels in the english language listverse.
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