sadya Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 Depends on the story. Some need more than 100 pages, others don't, but yet are worth reading. When I go somewhere, I do tend to choose smaller books though because they are easier to carry around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 For me to read something less than or around 100 pages it has to promise something special in its blurb. If it does, I'm in. It's all relative though. I've read some books that could be used as house foundations but they've had the depth of puddles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanna Addison Posted June 11, 2009 Share Posted June 11, 2009 I love some short stories like Edgar Allan Poes: William Wilson. And several of his other stories and, of course, Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes are brilliantly written! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kudz Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 The only books I have read that are under or around the 100-page mark are novellas and I generally don’t like them. To be fair the only ones that I have read are part of a wider series and I just don’t think they add anything to the overall story. They usually feature more minor characters and how can you relate or get to know them in such a short number of pages. It feels like the author is just cashing in and writing them for the sake of it. No, the longer the book the better in my opinion. Although saying that there are a few shorter novels mentioned earlier in this thread which I would like to read at some point so maybe they’ll help change my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunababymoonchild Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 (edited) It depends on the book. I read Friedrich Nietszche last year that was only 117 pages long and struggled to understand him - I do enjoy a good struggle occasionally - so that was worth it for me. It's more the price to page count that bothers me, I don't want to pay £10 or over for a book that's 100 pages or less. I also read The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford which is very short (around 190 pages) and would not have continued had the prose not been amazing. The story itself was rather boring as were the characters. Had I abandoned the book I would not have read the last two chapters where everything came together and finally made sense. And you had to read the previous chapters otherwise the ending would not have made sense. It's a very clever book and the prose is amazing so I'm glad that I did read it. I have also enjoyed Thomas Bernhard's The Voice Imitator which is a book where his short stories are only one page long. I don't generally like short stories but this one was deliciously acerbic. His Goethe Dies is also a book of short stories - four in 96 pages - and while it's not quite as acerbic as TVI it's still very good. John Steinbeck's The Pastures of Heaven is absolutely stunning and a series of short stories. There is joy to be found in shorter books and in short stories, imho, but it definitely depends on the book and the person reading it. Edited November 3, 2022 by lunababymoonchild correct spelling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEV67 Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 On 10/14/2022 at 10:40 AM, lunababymoonchild said: I also read The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford which is very short (around 190 pages) and would not have continued had the prose not been amazing. The story itself was rather boring as were the characters. Had I abandoned the book I would not have read the last two chapters where everything came together and finally made sense. And you had to read the previous chapters otherwise the ending would not have made sense. It's a very clever book and the prose is amazing so I'm glad that I did read it. I'm glad you liked it. I hated it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 (edited) Sub-100 page books are rare, simply because at that length they are often included as short stories, but books of around that length are anything but a turn-off for me. My all-time favourite book is only just over 100 pages long: A Month In The Country by JL Carr. My favourite detective series, Simenon's Maigret, consists of books that mostly come in under 100 pages in my omnibus edition (more when published individually). Wendell Berry is another favourite who keeps things tight, as is Muriel Spark. I could go on - Jane Austen's Lady Susan, Camus' L'Etranger, Orwell's Animal Farm, Stephenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dickens' Christmas Carol, Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, Voltaire's Candide all barely hit 100 pages if at all, but I think the point is made! I do love big, long books too, including the likes of Middlemarch, Wolf Hall, Bleak House, War and Peace and A Suitable Boy amongst my top dozen. In short, I don't see any relation between the length of a book and its quality. Edited November 3, 2022 by willoyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timebug Posted November 3, 2022 Share Posted November 3, 2022 I have a couple of editions of Hemmingways 'The Old Man and The Sea' which clock in at 80 pages and 92 pages respectively. A story I love, so no matter what length it may be printed at, I am 'in' for a read of it. The length of a story does not matter in the least to me, providing that I am interested in it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsmeagain Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 I like bulky 500 pages minimum preferably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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