The longest book I’ve ever read is…
Oh wait…
Are we counting stand alone books or series too? Are we counting the notes at the end that some skip reading but I sometimes do?
Tell you what? I will skip the series and the notes at the end.
So that means it leaves me with a tie!
Three of the longest books I have ever read — all pushing 1200 – 1300 odd pages are
- War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
- The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkein
Each one created a new world for me to explore and navigate on my own.
The war of the world vs the war within
War and Peace is perhaps the only standalone book in the history of the written word that has 600 odd characters shaping the destiny of it’s wide expansive world. I am not so sure since I read it some 14 years ago but I think it begins and ends with the lead and the most memorable characters of all –Pierre Bezukhov.
I didn’t know what to make of him when I first met him but by the end of a couple of months, Pierre was kind of a friend and kindred spirit. The man searched for meaning and belonging all his life and the book is a testimony of his strength; mental, emotional and spiritual through testing times of war and peace — both internal and external.
I have always wondered what made Tolstoy write this book of epic proportions. A horizontal cast of 600, each one with their own quirks and stories and family trees; how did he manage to arrange accommodations for all of them in his memory palace?
Mind boggling, no?
The war within, that explodes into the world
The Brother’s Karamazov by Dostoevsky falls on the opposite spectrum. It’s a book that follows three brothers; completely different from each other. Include a patricide and it blows up into an extended dissertation on crimes and punishments of all kinds; even the ones we inflict on ourselves for a seemingly innocent and non exisiting crime just by overthinking and overwringing an event that in all possibility never even took place.
One of the best sequences of all time that I have ever read takes place in this book when Jesus in all innocence and excitement comes to visit humanity; the same humanity he gave his life to save. Only to be judged as a criminal, imprisoned and left to be forgotten. In simple terms he is told by the all powerful Church : We don’t need you anymore.
The book is not an easy read. Why? Because Dostoevsky isn’t an easy writer. There is no one out there who can claim to dissect the workings of a human mind like he does. The turmoil of life in all it’s beauty and horror is captured by him unlike any other I know. I have often wondered how come he knows my deepest and darkest secrets? It’s like the man can peep into the abyss of a human’s soul! And go on to write about it too! In all it’s vertical and maniacal sweep!
The depth, the depravity, the sacrifice, the love, the despair and the terror of being a human — Dostoevsky splays open all of them in what is probably his best work.
The war that taught Earth the meaning and power of Hope
What can I say about LOTR that hasn’t been said already?
Except that I read the book after I watched what to me is the best movie series of all time. Please! Don’t even bother to compare it with the Marvel Universe.
The movies are a spectacle that can never be repeated onscreen again by any director. It surpasses the imagination of the collective as a whole. So reading the book after the movies was a dicey move for me…but I decided to do it because I knew the book contained characters and stories that never made it to the movies.
Curiosity got the better of me. Am I glad or am I glad! Certain portions of the book are better than the movies. Something I didn’t think was even possible. Especially the part where the Ents come into play.
The aftertaste of this book never fades. Probably because it is one of my favorites. Probably because of the world it creates. A world yet unparalleled not just because of the characters but also because of the lessons it leaves us with. The lingering beauty of the elves, the magic of the wizards, the honesty and truthfulness of Frodo and and the ironclad friendship of Samwise Gamjee, the wisdom of the Ents and the pure terror of the all seeing Eye. And oh …how can I forget my preciousssss!!
LOTR is a book that taught me that hope triumphs everything. That being ordinary is what makes me extraordinary. That I am probably enough just as I am to change the world if I choose to.
The meadow of meets and greets
The books found me at different eras of my life and left me a lot more fuller than I expected myself to be. Some books leave us in tears and some in laughter. But these ones made a difference that cannot be expressed in words alone.
1200 pages seem heavy. A lot to carry around maybe. But in the heart, what is it but just a blip?
In my memory palace, they are share a room. Obviously numbered 1200. Sharing each one’s hallmark with the other, looking out a window into the sunlit meadow where I still sometimes wander alone looking for company among Pierre, Alyosha and Frodo.
Care to drop a tiny pearl from the ocean of your mind?