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. I enjoyed her, but after awhile, i started to hate her. A shame, too, bemoaned florida state university english professor sheila ortiztaylor, given gender and power themes that resonate today. I was usually not really into chapter books, but a series of unfortunate events made me change my mind. The longest novel is artamene ou le grand cyrus, originally published 164954 in ten parts, each part in three volumes. 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. I think the main contender for longest book in the c18th was samuel richardsons clarissa, and then. The longest novel in a single volume that i have ever read is a suitable boy by vikram seth. Clarissa, or, the history of a young lady i loved this. In case you cant tell by the wordy dual titles, this next novel can be an 18th century one. Ten of the worlds longest books for reading addicts. I have to admit im with jane sir charles was my favorite. This led me to wonder about the longest books ever written.
Once youre done reading about the worlds longest novel, check out some. 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. Conventionally regarded as the longest novel in the english language. I included only books originally written in english, since it is easier to.
Buy clarissa harlowe or the history of a young lady. To samuel johnson, it was simply the first book in the world for the. How do you compress the longest novel ever written in english into just three tv episodes. Anthony powell, a dance to the music of timepublished from 1951 to 1975, as a partial tribute to proust. The average novel usually runs between 80,000 to 150,000 words. Clarissa is fourth in our list of the best novels written in english and the first to address. Set in the postcivil war american south, the novel follows a young african. For a full list of record titles, please use our record.
These books are excellently written, and have a great emotion set for the story at the very beginning. Much to my surprise, other people have wondered the same thing and answered this question for me. Much of the writing is, in grossmans words, differentiated and obfuscated. A sampling of other lengthy novels page counts are approximate because of multiple editions. Here is the list of some of the longest books ever. 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. Its the only book of this list that i have read a little from. 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. The best short books youll ever read readers digest. 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 longest novel in english clarissa is the longest novel in englisha fact loved by some readers, tolerated by most, and mocked by others. Fsu professor condenses classic giant clarissa for modern readers. 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. At first glance, it might resemble a regencyera comedy of manners a. 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. Before seths novel, others turned to samuel richardsons clarissa as the longest novel with over a million words. 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 first read a list of longest novels on the writing pages which referenced a wikipedia article. 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. The voluminous tale of virtuous clarissa and her aristocratic rogue of a suitor, lovelace, encompassed 1,550 pages and captivated englands 18th century readers. It is the longest japanese novel and also one of the longest ever written.
Rated the longest novel ever by the guinness book of world. This is a list of the novels over 500,000 words published through a mainstream publisher. The english translation is remembrance of things past or in search of lost time. Clarissa samuel richardson one of the longest novels in the english language, but unputdownable. When i was young and had lots of time, i set myself on a quest to find and read the longest novel ever written. Word count is a more important criteria for longest than page count, as the size of the page an. So glad i did because i loved all three of these novels. The longest novel is artamene ou le grand cyrus, originally published. Tolstoys napoleonic epic literally weighs in at 3lbs, 14oz. With this in mind, i did some research and came up with thirty of the longest fantasy series ever published.
At over 1 million words, it is a contender for the longest englishlanguage novel ever written. 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. It was published in 1748, by english writer samuel richardson and estimates put the term count as 984,870. 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. Clarissa, or, the history of a young lady by samuel richardson. Samuel richardsons clarissa harlow and sir charles grandison both beat it and. Poor fellow my country by xavier herbert this is the longest australian novel ever written at. Proust produced the first volume of his volume masterpiece in 1912 it was first published in 19. 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. Top 10 longest books in the world 2018 update articles. 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. But clarissa, the longest novel ever written in the english languageand among the first told entirely through letters exchanged by its. All records listed on our website are current and uptodate. Okay, the book came in tiptop shape, and the story is a masterpiece, totally five stars. 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. Ive read a great deal of fiction and this the longest novel ever written, i believe, is better than much of it. Armen shekoyan, an armenian writer committed to producing the worlds longest novel, says. Top 10 longest novels in the english language listverse.
Its claimed to be the longest single volume novel ever published in english. Poor fellow my country by xavier herbert this is the longest australian novel ever written at 850,000 words. Also, do we consider books written only in one particular language or all. Yep, that is my summer reading, he replied, glancing down at the 1,088page behemoth of a novel. Sneaky people by thomas berger this is arguably one of the funniest crime novels ever written. The word count of 969,000 words is true for the first edition of clarissa, but later editions.
Published in 12 volumes, it is sometimes regarded as a novel sequence. List of longest novels wikipedia granted, these are only novels, so were excluding nonfiction from the answer. Its recorded by guinness as the longest book ever written. Professor condenses classic giant clarissa for modern. Whats the longest novel not a encyclopedia ever written. The second part of his work won international awards as soon as it was published and with them, an international reputation. 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.
By the way, if youve read it, i must congratulate you. At 1,536 pages, clarissa, or the history of a young lady is one of the longest novels ever published. It wasnt ever the longest book ever written, though it does enjoy a strong. It is a guinness world record, therefore you can see the original title sorry for not including it here, but come on 11k characters. British author samuel richardsons onemillionword clarissa, written in 174748, was boiled down to three 60minute episodes for tv. And how did the bbc accomplish this herculean task. I dont know whether clarissa is it, but it must come close. 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. Fsu professor condenses classic giant clarissa for. The book has over 3,277,227 words which counted in pages are 7312. This 1937 pulitzerwinning epic novelwhich goodreads calls one of the most popular books ever writtentells the story of headstrong leading lady scarlett ohara.