Seiichi Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 But I've never even seen a book shorter than 100 pages (not including my alphabet books as a child.) Can anybody recommend me some? If you don't mind reading a "children's" book, then you could try The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery...if you haven't read it already. The other book I have in mind, at 112 pages, is Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixtyfoothigh Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 (edited) I can't guarentee all of these are under 100 pages. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka Death in Venice by Thomas Mann The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch by Alexsander Solzhenitsyn Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons John Livingstone Seagull: A Story by Richard Bach The Fatal Eggs by Mikhail Bulgakov And you can read collections of short stories. S x Edited March 12, 2009 by sixtyfoothigh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrysalis_stage Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I can't guarentee all of these are under 100 pages. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman And you can read collections of short stories. S x Yes, I'm currently enjoying those two myself, although they are part of two short stories collection books. Imo they bring forward topics that don't always need lots of pages; succinct stories that make you use your imagination more. Animal farm by George Orwell is around 100 pages and was a great read too. So to answer the question I do love short stories, the page numbers don't put me off and just because I am reading one it doesn't mean I'm bored with long books, I just prefer that paticular book's topic at the time. Although I do agree when you have a busy schedule and you want to carry on reading but not commit too much time to remembering a long story, short stories are ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDR124 Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Yes, I'm currently enjoying those two myself, although they are part of two short stories collection books. Imo they bring forward topics that don't always need lots of pages; succinct stories that make you use your imagination more. Animal farm by George Orwell is around 100 pages and was a great read too. So to answer the question I do love short stories, the page numbers don't put me off and just because I am reading one it doesn't mean I'm bored with long books, I just prefer that paticular book's topic at the time. Although I do agree when you have a busy schedule and you want to carry on reading but not commit too much time to remembering a long story, short stories are ideal. Short and long or very long texts are just as the style or the way into which something is written (language used and other technicalities) ways into which the story is told. I think a writer knows, or should know, the best way to convey his feelings, his messages (when they are present): and that's account to the lenght too. I absolutely agree with you Chrysalis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naivion Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 well me personaly i much prefer long books of 600 pages but i think there are some good short story's, but i do mostly agree with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busy91 Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 No not at all. I just finished Stephen King's new Novella, which I know is less than 100 pages (it was on my Kindle), and it was great, well developed, suspensful...a real page turner. I usually don't--but I'm not put off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Short books can still be life-changing... Richard Bach's "Illusions" is just over 100 pages, and one of the most beautiful things I've ever read. Guess that, like LoopyLoo, my problem is one of price: I didn't have a problem buying three promising but very short books on my last spree as they were all discounted at 2.99 - so less than half the price of books at least twice as long, which is fair enough - but I do have a problem with high-street bookshops trying to charge me the same for books of 100 and 1000 pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrysalis_stage Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Short books can still be life-changing... Richard Bach's "Illusions" is just over 100 pages, and one of the most beautiful things I've ever read. Guess that, like LoopyLoo, my problem is one of price: I didn't have a problem buying three promising but very short books on my last spree as they were all discounted at 2.99 - so less than half the price of books at least twice as long, which is fair enough - but I do have a problem with high-street bookshops trying to charge me the same for books of 100 and 1000 pages. I agree, I don't understand why people are allowed to charge a book of less than 150 pages the same price as a book with over 500 pages?! It's very strange. I will only get them if I can get them discounted online, charity shop etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueK Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I'm quite fond of short stories and I have a collection of books of short stories which, funnily enough rarely make it the charity shops. I think there is an art to writing one of say, 50-100 pages that can give a good plotline and some good characterisation. Daphne du Maurier's books come to mind, like The Birds, Don't Look Now etc - usually stories that leave you with a slight chill. I also have Penguin books of First World War and Russian short stories and lots of ghost ones by M R James, Rex Collins and Henry James etc. They are great to take on holiday too if you don't want to get involved in a great long novel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nollaig Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I don't understand why people are allowed to charge a book of less than 150 pages the same price as a book with over 500 pages?! Yeah I agree, I virtually never buy short books for this reason. It makes no sense, it OBVIOUSLY costs less to print shorter books (less paper and ink!) so why charge as much, or more? Books being short doesn't put me off reading them, but expense does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I agree. I often see short books I'd like to buy but I just can't justify paying that much for so little (even if the quality of the story is terrific). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixtyfoothigh Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I buy a lot of books from charity shops and places like Fopp or The Works where you can get books at a really good price... but that being said, if I wanted to read a book badly I'd pay more for it even if it was more expensive. I bought a copy of We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (side note: brilliant brilliant book) for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 Agreed with most people; I enjoy short stories, but the prices are ridiculous, and I'm usually put off < 100 page books with a hefty price-tag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 12, 2009 Share Posted March 12, 2009 I've noticed that most of the Penguin Classics cost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anisia Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I actually prefer the shorter books for when I travel to Uni and back as they're also easier to carry around and read in the bus I don't really look at the number of pages though when I buy a book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eurydice Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 i have quite a few books that are around 100 pages. most are just short stories of a series i am reading...like Back up by Jim Butcher which is only 70 i think. i just finished Jonathan Livingston Seagull that is around 100 and it was really good. (btw the only book my dad ever read.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 If it's cheaper I'm not put off, but at the same price as a longer book I'd probably be more likely to go for the longer one, unless the shorter sounded really good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrainFreeze Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Personally I think it's a good writer who can pull off a great story in less than 100 pages. If they can have a beginning, a middle, an end and a punchy story that keeps me interested and entertains me, they must write really well in my opinion. Stephen King has a couple of books that are a collection of short stories and one of my favourites is a book called Like A Charm which is edited by Karin Slaughter and has 16 short stories. The first and last stories are also written by Karin Slaughter and the other 14 are written by other authors. Admittedly, each one does lead onto the next but even as individual storys, they are all really well written and enough to keep you individually interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDR124 Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 A good short novel (few pages more than 100) is The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. If you haven't read it yet I suggest you to read it: you can easily do in one sitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucybird Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Oh I second the Reluctant Fundamentalist...I'd be interested to see what people think too it's a bit different in how it's written Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorelei Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 I like my books with the more pages the better, I like to get into the story and for it to last me a few days so I never feel drawn to short books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 On the other hand (adding to my previous post re: extortionate price of short books), they are pretty good to slowly tempt one's lost mojo into coming back. If I'm in a bit of a reading rut I may well begin a book that's 500 pages and by page 50 think, "Oooh look at the pretty daffodils"; while at page 50 of a book that's 90 pages long I'm likelier to kick myself into that last burst of concentration. Returning to the price tag, the prime culprits are poetry and drama - spending Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruth Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 A good short novel (few pages more than 100) is The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. If you haven't read it yet I suggest you to read it: you can easily do in one sitting. It's on my tbr...I want to get around to it soon. I'm not put off my less than a hundred pages - it's all about quality, not quantity. Breakfast at Tiffany's is less than a hundred pages, and it's a fab book. Some of Annie Proulx's short stories are fab too, and they are all less than a hundred pages (some less than ten). Sometimes it's quite nice to pick up a book and know that it's going to be a short read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beef Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Interestingly I was thinking about this the other day, I have only read a few books that short but found them enjoyable, but I do find that I enjoy longer books more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 I don't mind short books and have a few books containing short stories too....my favourite being Isaac Bashevis Singer's Short Stories. Sometimes I think it's nice to have something quick to read that can be finished in one sitting. As long as the story is quite direct in reaching its point then I find short stories and books fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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