Yes. And it drives me crazy.
Shogun, by James Clavell, he must use the phrase “at length” about 150 times.
Any book by Nevil Shute, he uses the word “presently” like it’s the only word he knows. It’s insane how often it pops up. Every other page sometimes.
The Count of Monte Cristo, just bc it’s so long. I love being able to say I’ve read it.
This year I did the /r/52book challenge. I made my goal to read at least 50 pages everyday. Once you start doing that, most books you fall into and end up reading more than 50. But at 50/day, you can finish a 350-400 in a week or less. I’m on book 63 now. I’d say on average I read 60-80 minutes each day.
I had the same thought but it doesn’t go on too long and denial is a helluva thing. For real.
I don’t usually participate in these threads because I get downvoted, despite my unpopular opinion being the point of the post. I didn’t like Crime & Punishment. In fact, I fucking hated it. I don’t think I’m smart or cool, I actually assume I must be too dumb to understand what’s so great about it. But it doesn’t change that I genuinely think it was the single worst book I’ve ever read.
Shogun. Amazing story. Far too long.
I finished Shogun in 14 days, which at 1,151 pages I think is pretty damn good.
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.
Children of Men. The book, by PD James is just not nearly as good as the movie. It has the same premise but, I would say, a different vibe and a focus on religion that really isn’t in the movie. The ending is also completely different. Charon took a great concept with meh execution and really made it sing on film.
I read a lot and without sounding like a douche consider my reading comprehension very high. I gave up on Blood Meridian. I’ve enjoyed other Cormac books, but I had no idea what was happening in BM. Whole pages would go by where I didn’t know what, if anything, had happened. Some books just aren’t on your wavelength. I envy people who seem to like it and get it. Just not for me.
My Brilliant Friend (Ferrante)
The Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas)
Homegoing (Gyasi)