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Reading Very Long Books


Brian.

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Personally I agreed with JK about her point about eradicating women's rights, after all, when did you last read about issues with male only toilets/changing rooms etc, it always seems to be the female designated areas which get the headlines.  However she could have used slightly better phrasing.  We have unisex toilets where I work, but  there are still also male and female toilets as well, so I guess that keeps everyone happy.  But the issue always seems to be about male to female situations, rather than female to male ie a person born female but now identifying as male, wishing to use male toilets/changing rooms. 

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For me, it was her equating being the victim of domestic violence as her reasoning for not wanting female identifying individuals to use women only toilets. I experienced significant domestic violence in my past, but it had sod all to do with what loo I used!  

For someone who is such a good writer at times, I felt she was incredibly clumsy in what she was stating, and it all had a whiff of 'how dare anyone question it?' about it.  

 

I agree that the topic always tends to focus on the ladies toilets, which is actually surprising really. Ongoing debates on the subject are a must, I just hope they become less divisive and less causing of hurt. 

 

Back to big books...... I really enjoy throwing myself into a series, immersing myself into a world, getting to know the characters and their exploits. I think a big book offers me the same experience. 

 

Regarding tearing a books into smaller sections, I did wince when I read that, but then thought that if it is a crappy copy of the book, does it really matter, so long as it gets read? I am in two minds on that one. There is still an echo of that wince in my reading soul! 

Edited by Chrissy
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Just to reiterate, Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith is certainly not a transphobic book. 

There is no transgender character in this book and it does not feature at all. 

I mention it as many on GoodReads claim, without having read it, that this book is transphobic. 

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16 hours ago, Chrissy said:

Regarding tearing a books into smaller sections, I did wince when I read that, but then thought that if it is a crappy copy of the book, does it really matter, so long as it gets read? I am in two minds on that one. There is still an echo of that wince in my reading soul! 


Just to be clear, I have never actually done this but then I don't have arthritis in my hands. If your hands are sore and the book doesn't come as an e-book and the difference is either you separate it into smaller chunks or you don't read it, then I say go for it. Obviously not - as I said - with a library book and you would not want to dismantle a first edition/collector's item/Folio edition but an ordinary paperback? Well yeah, sore hands isn't pleasant. 

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I've not read any of the books from the Strike series, itsmeagain, but have only heard good things about them. They are on my 'I'll get around to reading them one day' list of books. I have many lists of books that vary from 'I MUST possess immediately', through to 'only if the world collapses and these are all that are left'!

 

ETA Making the physical book smaller. If the choice is to read a book pain free, or not to read it - its a straightforward tear it! Some books are truly chunky monkeys, and e readers aren't always the most comfortable to handle either. 

Edited by Chrissy
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5 hours ago, Chrissy said:

I've not read any of the books from the Strike series, itsmeagain, but have only heard good things about them. They are on my 'I'll get around to reading them one day' list of books. I have many lists of books that vary from 'I MUST possess immediately', through to 'only if the world collapses and these are all that are left'!

 

ETA Making the physical book smaller. If the choice is to read a book pain free, or not to read it - its a straightforward tear it! Some books are truly chunky monkeys, and e readers aren't always the most comfortable to handle either. 

She's a superb weaver of intertwining threads into a composite whole. 

A master story teller. 

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When reading a long classic, say Bleak House, I just try to read a chapter a day. Some of these books have 70 chapters or more. I think The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling had well over 100 chapters but they were quite short, so I might have read two chapters a day for that one. That means some books take me a couple of months to get through, but I usually read several books concurrently.

 

I have recently bought Clarissa by Samuel Richardson. It is huge. I also want to read War and Peace this year. So I doubt I will get to many other classics this year.

 

I read Ulysses by James Joyce last year, which was a real struggle. Not only was it very long, not only did I not understand most of it, not only was I bored by some of the bits I did understand, but the chapters were long. I just read ten pages a day, stopping on the first full stop on the tenth page.

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1 hour ago, KEV67 said:

When reading a long classic, say Bleak House, I just try to read a chapter a day. Some of these books have 70 chapters or more. I think The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling had well over 100 chapters but they were quite short, so I might have read two chapters a day for that one. That means some books take me a couple of months to get through, but I usually read several books concurrently.

 

I have recently bought Clarissa by Samuel Richardson. It is huge. I also want to read War and Peace this year. So I doubt I will get to many other classics this year.

 

I read Ulysses by James Joyce last year, which was a real struggle. Not only was it very long, not only did I not understand most of it, not only was I bored by some of the bits I did understand, but the chapters were long. I just read ten pages a day, stopping on the first full stop on the tenth page.

You actually read Ulysses? As incomprehensible as Atlas Shrugged to me. 

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11 hours ago, itsmeagain said:

You actually read Ulysses? As incomprehensible as Atlas Shrugged to me. 

Indeed, just don't ask me what happened or what it's about.

TBF, I did like some bits in it, such as the pub scenes, and the brothel scenes, and Leopold Bloom breaking into his own home.

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The part of reading very long books that I find difficult is actually starting! I think it's knowing that I'm probably going to have to dedicate a lot of time to reading it (for example, 'shall I read this super long book, or shall I read three shorter books in the same amount of time...') and (a pre-lockdown issue) knowing that I'd have to read it at home because it's too big to carry around. I always end up forgetting about the length once I'm into it though. Like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I put off starting it for ages because it was such a physically big book, but once I started I didn't want it to ever end!

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On 01/05/2021 at 12:57 PM, lunababymoonchild said:


I was advised to read The Dubliners first.

Yes, you also have to read the Odyssey, and another book that explains what Ulysses is all about and why it's so good,

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 03/05/2021 at 6:06 PM, Hayley said:

The part of reading very long books that I find difficult is actually starting! I think it's knowing that I'm probably going to have to dedicate a lot of time to reading it (for example, 'shall I read this super long book, or shall I read three shorter books in the same amount of time...') and (a pre-lockdown issue) knowing that I'd have to read it at home because it's too big to carry around. I always end up forgetting about the length once I'm into it though. Like Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I put off starting it for ages because it was such a physically big book, but once I started I didn't want it to ever end!

 

I am like this. A few years back I started Little Dorrit, and would only read it at home because carrying it around was a nightmare. I was reading other books as well and whenever I picked it up (would go days without doing so) I would completely forget what was happening in the story. I got to page 9, if I remember correctly and gave up. Haven't picked it up since but it is on my tbr. 

 

 

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  • 9 months later...
On 12/12/2020 at 12:53 AM, willoyd said:

This is partly why I've started recording the number of pages read each year, not just number of books. Page sizes vary, I know, but it means that a 900-page book feels just the same as 3 x 300-page books, not just '1' book completed, or tackled.

 

I’ve just started keeping track of the books I read – I haven’t done this for a while now -  only this time I am keeping note of their page count too, which I have never done before.

 

On 29/04/2021 at 3:37 PM, Chrissy said:

Back to big books...... I really enjoy throwing myself into a series, immersing myself into a world, getting to know the characters and their exploits. I think a big book offers me the same experience.

 

I love working my way through a series for this exact reason, and although I usually intersperse them with other books, I am currently reading the DI Helen Grace series by M. J. Arlidge back-to-back and not only am I racing through them, but it is allowing me to get to know the characters in a much better and quicker way.  It is, very much, like reading one big book.

 

I really am enjoying reading the series in this way and I may do it with other series in the future.

 

On 30/04/2021 at 7:51 AM, Chrissy said:

I've not read any of the books from the Strike series, itsmeagain, but have only heard good things about them. They are on my 'I'll get around to reading them one day' list of books. I have many lists of books that vary from 'I MUST possess immediately', through to 'only if the world collapses and these are all that are left'!

 

I own copies of all the Strike books that have been released so far but haven't read any of them yet.  I believe the sixth book in the series is out later this year though, so I’m hoping to read them in the run up to its release date.

 

On 03/05/2021 at 6:06 PM, Hayley said:

The part of reading very long books that I find difficult is actually starting! I think it's knowing that I'm probably going to have to dedicate a lot of time to reading it (for example, 'shall I read this super long book, or shall I read three shorter books in the same amount of time...')

 

I don’t have a problem reading longer books, in fact I love reading a nice big chunky book because it really does allow you to get to know the characters better, and the books are usually much more fleshed out than their much smaller counterparts.  I can see how some people might struggle with them because they can be daunting to pick up, but it really is quite satisfying once you complete them.

 

I think these days there is too much emphasis put on how many books you read in a year, and it is one of the things I hate about sites like Goodreads, or more specifically what I hate about the Goodreads challenge that everyone seems to participate in.  It feels like too much of a competition to see who can get the most books read.  Personally, for me it is about quality not quantity.  I will pick up a book because I want to read it, regardless of the length.

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