Longest american novel ever written

If you look closely, a lot of books show up on both the worst books of all time list and the best books ever lists. The first nine volumes of the blah story contain 3,277,153 words. The sentence is composed of 1,288 words in the 1951 random. Click here to view the alltime 100 best nonfiction books on. Longest officially released song guinness world records. Its theme of involuntary memory is repeated through the course of following the narrators life, from childhood to adulthood. Writers pick their favorite books, and then prefaced by one uber list, the top top ten. Women and men by joseph mcelroy 850,000 words, 1192 pages.

The 10 greatest books ever, according to 125 top authors. But whichever book you decide was the first novel, the point is that although weve been telling stories for thousands of yearsthe greek epic poem the iliad is nearly 3,000 years old, for examplethe novel is a relatively new literary form. It took up,095 pages spread over 10 volumes, with over two million words, and a french name which is the reason why were not even bothering to write it out for you. Worlds longest novel is nigel tomms the blah story. Reviews were uniformly negative, often bordering on hostile. Hands down, the greatest american novel is catch22.

An enclyclopedia with 11,095 volumes and 22,877 chapters. Sirona, texas by madison cooper 840,000 words, 1,731 pages. What is the longest written story in english literature answers. Conventionally regarded as the longest novel in the english language. Published in 11 volumes and 1080 chapters 1040 chapters by cai dongfan, the last 40 chapters by xu jinfu, this historical novel includes 6 million chinese characters. The list of books and their page counts was supplied by kings office and refers to the american hardcover editions. The longest book ever written the longest book ever written is called yongle dadian.

This 1937 pulitzerwinning epic novelwhich goodreads calls one of the most popular books ever writtentells the story of headstrong leading lady scarlett ohara. Mar 02, 2020 thus begins the longest work of fiction ever written. By far the most beloved love story of all time, pride and prejudice is a great place to start. The shortest novels written by 20 authors you shouldve read. Published in 12 volumes, it is sometimes regarded as a novel sequence. Yep, that is my summer reading, he replied, glancing down at the 1,088page behemoth of a novel. It is the longest novel published in english literaturelanguage.

Ten of the worlds longest books for reading addicts. The main character has a white father and an aborigine mother but longs to become a witch doctor in the rainbow snake tribe, and it follows his life in the dusty northern territory. My french edition of harry potter and the order of the phoenix is the longest book i. Nov 09, 2009 kings latest, under the dome, is his third longest novel ever.

Poor fellow my country by xavier herbert this is the longest australian novel ever written at 850,000 words. Jan 16, 2014 supposedly the fifthlargest novel written in the english language, young began writing this book that has fallen out of popular conversation in 1947 and ended up finishing it in 1964. In this vein, her lone novel irene iddesleigh is also considered one of the worst books ever written, and now you can download it for free over at project gutenberg. Rated the longest novel ever by the guinness book of world records, theres no doubt that prousts masterpiece could quite easily double up as a mightily effective doorstop, with volumes clocking up nearly 1. Obiwan librarian america has a very tenuous relationship with books, and literacy in general. Polgara the sorceress is the longest book i have read in english at 754 pages.

I included only books originally written in english, since it is easier to. Jul 19, 2017 worlds longest novel is nigel tomms the blah story. David, from what you say, i am most happy to respect capsguys russian shelf, but i spent a couple of weeks studying lolita in an american novel course here at the u of mn. Watch more videos for more knowledge what was the longest book ever written. Jul 05, 2014 czech and polish novelists have written booklength sentences since the sixties, and french writer mathias enard puts them all to shame with a onesentence novel 517 pages long, though its status is compromised by 23 chapter breaks that alleviate eye strain, writes ed park in the new york times. Looking at your question you say english literature. If youre unhappy with some of the choices other people have made for this list, go add the books to other more positive lists. 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.

Not wellknown authors, just random regular people you run across online who post their works for free. Nov 17, 2007 conventionally regarded as the longest novel in the english language. I love a long book that i can really get into, so i decided to compile a list of the longest novels ever written. Probably the best very long novel of the last century, its a great american one, too, and a. Darcy, and the situation is set up in the first line. Oct 18, 2016 the 33 greatest graphic novels of all time. The longest officially released song is the rise and fall of bossanova a.

Ranking the best booklength comics ever created is a lot like picking out the greatest grains of sand on the beach. No doubt frank, the number one proust scholar in america from little. Supposedly the fifthlargest novel written in the english language, young began writing this book that has fallen out of popular conversation in 1947 and ended up finishing it in 1964. Politics and war, science and sports, memoir and biography theres a great big world of nonfiction books out there just waiting to be read. The subspace emissarys worlds conquest is currently over. James for her clunky prose and allaround bad writing, but the fifty shades author doesnt hold a candle to amanda mckittrick ros, who is believed by many to be the worst writer in history. A genuinely funny book is one of lifes simplest pleasures, but finding the real standouts is never as easy. An audacious and daring black comedy that was the first debut novel ever to be shortlisted for the booker prize, under the frog tells the dark but surprisingly funny story of two hungarian basketball players, pataki and gyuri, between the end of world war ii and the antisoviet uprising of 1956. One of the longest sentences in american literature is in william faulkner s absalom, absalom.

What is the longest mystery novel ever written answers. Oct 12, 2003 from don quixote to american pastoral, take a look at the 100 greatest novels of all time the 100 greatest nonfiction books the 2015 version of the 100 best novels. What is the longest written story in english literature. Top 10 longest novels in the english language listverse. King talked to time about his top 10 biggest books, reflecting on the circumstances under which they were written and the critical reception that they received. The longest novel ever published was written in the 1600s.

Most of the longest novels ive ever read were written by regular people in their spare time. Miss macintosh, my darling by marguerite young 750,000 words, 1198 pages. Jul 18, 2017 an audacious and daring black comedy that was the first debut novel ever to be shortlisted for the booker prize, under the frog tells the dark but surprisingly funny story of two hungarian basketball players, pataki and gyuri, between the end of world war ii and the antisoviet uprising of 1956. The longest novel in a single volume that i have ever read is a suitable boy by vikram seth. It is supposedly the worlds longest published novel in english at 2. Time magazines alltime 100 best nonfiction books 101. From don quixote to american pastoral, take a look at the 100 greatest novels of all time the 100 greatest nonfiction books the 2015 version of the 100 best novels. The best romance novels ever written prowritingaid. I am still rereading it 50 years after buying it as a year old. Aug 21, 2016 in his 1960 novel bramy raju the gates of paradise, written as a retelling of the childrens crusade of 1212, and containing in its entirety, remarkably, only two sentences, in a wonderfully excessive example of the elegant variation every english teacher looks for with the advice that you should always mix sentence lengths because reading sentence after sentence of equal length rapidly. Kings latest, under the dome, is his third longest novel ever.

However, the greatest american novel for a book club discussion is the little known replay by ken grimwood. Ray 1 pages hannahs shortest novel is also one of his best. The longest novel is artamene ou le grand cyrus, originally published 164954 in ten parts, each part in three volumes. Once youre done reading about the worlds longest novel, check out some of our more recent articles or have a look at our notable posts, listed in the right sidebar. Oct 30, 2014 but whichever book you decide was the first novel, the point is that although weve been telling stories for thousands of yearsthe greek epic poem the iliad is nearly 3,000 years old, for examplethe novel is a relatively new literary form.

Back in 2009, we asked some leading lights of comedy and literature to nominate the. Swiss comedians andreas storm and catherine stormer featured the book in their stage program and called it the worst book ever written in german tongue. The history behind irene iddesleigh will no doubt remind you of the aforementioned fifty shades. It was published in 1975 and won the miles franlkin award. If you like what you see, subscribe to our rss feed. Which is the longest novel ever written, in any language. In his 1960 novel bramy raju the gates of paradise, written as a retelling of the childrens crusade of 1212, and containing in its entirety, remarkably, only two sentences, in a wonderfully excessive example of the elegant variation every english teacher looks for with the advice that you should always mix sentence lengths because reading sentence after sentence of equal length rapidly. This is a list of the novels over 500,000 words published through a mainstream publisher. Set in the postcivil war american south, the novel follows a young african.

This task ended up being much more complex than one would think a list of longest books. 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. A glorious mess in a career of glorious messes, pynchons longest and. We pick the 100 best and most influential written in english since 1923, the beginning of time. The subspace emissarys worlds conquest is currently over 3,500,000 words.

A dance to the music of time by anthony powell this one is a little iffy, because its sometimes regarded as a novel sequence and not one novel. Aug 17, 2015 the 100 best novels written in english. A sentence often claimed to be the longest sentence ever written is in molly blooms soliloquy in the james joyce novel ulysses 1922, which contains a sentence of 3,687 words. At 852,000 words it remains the longest australian novel ever written. Apr 29, 2012 hello, according to wiki in the sources, the longest book ever written is in search of lost time by marcel proust, with 4,211 pages and about 1,200,000 words. What is the longest sentence in english literature.

The lists were all compiled in an edited collection, the top ten. Breeze avenue is part of grossmans american letters trilogy, the first two volumes of. Whats the longest novel not a encyclopedia ever written. It is the longest japanese novel and also one of the longest ever written. Thus begins the longest work of fiction ever written. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but how much is a million words worth. Meet the college junior behind the longest fan fiction ever. Now you can read the worst novel ever written for free. All records listed on our website are current and uptodate. Michael and kelley bostwick beat the current record by more than 10 hours to regain their title. The 7 longest books in american history america fun fact of the. And in his spare time, he writes the longest work of fan fiction ever composed. Nevertheless, here is a list of the worlds top 10 longest books in. At over 1 million words, it is a contender for the longest englishlanguage novel ever written.

Moby dick is not an impossible read but its certainly more challenging than what many people are used to. 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. Proust is no match for these two fanfics the daily dot. The 7 longest books in american history america fun fact. Ben dooley september 3, 2007 4 books mentioned 14 3 min read. He studies computer science and computer maintenance. The longest sentence in english literature is published in four volumes of nigel tomms novel the blah story volume 16, 17, 18 and 19. American liberalisms necessary fictions are explored by seth mandel at commentary, who notes that if the facts mattered to wendy davis, we wouldnt be having this conversation in the. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. Stephen cranes account of a young mans passage to manhood through soldiery is a blueprint for the great american war novel. Hello, according to wiki in the sources, the longest book ever written is in search of lost time by marcel proust, with 4,211 pages and about 1,200,000 words.