It’s about perseverance and momentum, in my experience, but that’s all worthless if you aren’t enjoying the book. I’ve read a number of 1,200+ pagers and it’s only a slog if you aren’t enjoying it. In my opinion, you need to be making progress everyday, or you’ll forget too much and feel lost by the middle or end of the story. You should be waking up each day looking forward to reading 50+ pages. It took me 22 days to read The Count if I recall, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I managed to read Les Miserables in 6 months by going back and forth between the book and the audiobook.

Start from the beginning, use a bookmark.

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On a serious note, everyone will read books differently. Large books sometimes will take me years, I will pick them up when I’m bored and read a bit and put them back down. Some books I will power through until I’m finished, some I will never finish.

The most important things I had to learn is that I can choose to not finish a book. An old girlfriend taught me a that lesson by recommending some terrible books to me that just weren’t for me.

For you my advice is just start reading it, it doesn’t matter if you finish, you will find your own pace and decide for yourself.

I’ve been reading gravitys rainbow for 7 years. Don’t put pressure on yourself, just enjoy when you will and put it down when you can’t.

I think I’d plan to read it twice (unless I hate it): The first time, just read and keep reading. Don’t keep putting the book down to run to the dictionary or despair about how it’s going. Just push through. The second time, try to stay tuned into the meaning and subtext. I’m hoping to use that technique with Ulysses. Famous last words, perhaps…

I think you are misunderstanding.

These books were the weekly TV series of their day.

Published in magazines one chapter at a time

Each chapter ends on a cliff hanger leaving you desperate for the next episode.

So just as people enjoy binge watching, these novels should also be fun.

Thats not to say all long books are fun, but Dickens and Dumas and…? should keep you entertained

Please post ‘Should I read X book’‘What do I need to know before I read X’ questions, in our Weekly Recommendation Thread.

Don’t be intimidated by it based on size! Commit to reading maybe just 100 pages and if you’re not enjoying it there’s nothing wrong with putting it down and choosing something else!

If you enjoy a book, really enjoy it, the length won’t matter as much. I had a really hard time committing to short mediocre books, but find that I’m perfectly fine with a long book as long as I’m enjoying it. Basically my advice is to try and change how you approach it! I just finished “A Little Life” and at first it seemed like a really long book, but I was surprised how much I was enjoying it and it just flew by!

I didn’t expect count of Monte cristo to be so gigantic so put it off a while but once you start reading… there’s no reason to be worried. It’s very good it’s not hard to read and it’s interesting. I only have a slightly hard time keeping track of characters sometimes

There’s really nothing special to it. I have read many books short and long, and the length has very little to do with how I approach them. While it’s not 100% identical, consider that you have probably read more pages in your lifetime, or maybe even in one series, than Count of Monte Cristo contains in its entirety. You have done it once, so there’s really no reason you shouldn’t be able to do it again.

For bigger books, I like ebooks. It’s easier to carry and you can look up words that are unfamiliar. If you have a copy on your phone, you’ll always have it with you no matter where you go.

Other than that, just being consistent and focused. I try to avoid Reddit because I can get sucked in forever when I’m supposed to be reading!