I have the Everyman’s Library edition, which is split into three volumes. I read them back to back but tackling it one 350-400 page book at a time made it seem less daunting.
I've reserved Our Share of Night from the library having heard you talk about it. I'm one of those folk who tend to break up longer books by reading shorter books in between, but I did have a moment with a recent read when I reached the end, a great revelation happened - which had been hinted at in the beginning - and I'd completely forgotten which I cannot deny did dampen the impact. I'm also hearing a lot about Solenoid at the moment. Either way, I hope that you find some new favourites among these books.
thrilled to see you mention Ms. Gordimer. i actually attended two of her readings here in Montreal, got to speak with her, and she actually recognized me the second time and mentioned our earlier conversation. (the earth trembled!)
I am extremely jealous that you not only got to see Nadine Gordimer in person, but got her autograph as well ❤❤❤ She is incredible, and I think your strategy is perfect, take the entire year to read her stories if you need to, the only way to read her wrong is to read her too quickly. Our Share Of Night has been pre-ordered here in the US. Really looking forward to it. Other long books on my TBR this year are Underworld by Don DeLillo (on TBR for 10 years) and A Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan ( on TBR for 5+ years). Great list and great video!
Yes, I feel so lucky to have seen her. Hope you enjoy Our Share of the Night. And those books by DeLillo and Morgan are large and complicated but really interesting! I enjoyed reading them.
This month I finished Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad which I started last year but had to put on hold because I was traveling and didn't want to carry a 2.5 lb book along with me. Afterwards I read the sequel, Life and Fate. So glad that read these books which are considered the War and Peace of World War II. This year I plan to read Hans Fallada's Every Man Dies Alone (another WWII novel) and Gulag by Anne Applebaum. Like you I definitely feel that reading a big book by itself from start to finish is the way to go.
@@davidnovakreadspoetry Stalingrad sets the scene and gives the background of the people who are in Life and Fate. I'm glad I read both, but of the two enjoyed Life and Fate more.
Catch-22 is one of my all time favorite books. It is both very funny and tragic and deeply moving at the same time. There are many memorable characters and great satire. The book holds up to multiple readings.
I think the biggest book I have read is Steinbecks' East of Eden. 704 pages. I loved every one of them! I loved Reading Rainbow! Lavar Burton was an awesome host for the show.
OMG Cartarescu, can't wait to listen what you have to say about it, a librarian recommend me his works that have been translated to Spanish and I loved one of his works called "Nostalgia"
Catch-22 is an hilarious, satirical novel. Once you get a feel for the form you will learn to love its memorable characters, Yossarian, Milo Minderbender, Major Major, etc. and enjoy the situations they all find themselves in. A good choice for a big book. Heller flew combat missions during WWII and he draws on his experiences of military sense and senselessness. Enjoy!
I think I've read Catch-22 but that was twenty plus years ago. I've heard really good things about Solenoid! I've got several big books left over from last year: Anna Karenina, a Ray Bradbury collection and...I don't know what else. I don't think my tablet liked me opening a series of large novels; it locked up. Anyway, this year I've started Pickwick Papers. I ran across Cheever's Stories the other day. I think it's pretty long. That should keep me busy for a while.
Love a big book. In 2022 I read The Evening and the Morning ( prequel to Pillars of the Earth - also very compling) , A Prayer for Owen Meany, Dombey and son, The Crimson and the White and Pickwick Papers. More planned for this year, 'classics ' e.g. Anna Karenina, Bleak House & Little Dorritt plus some new contemporary fiction The Love Songs of W.E.B Bois.
a recent discovery; i really appreciate/enjoy your honest/thoughtful enthusiasm. how about sharing more about yourself with your readers. your accent suggests you might be a Canadian (!) or an American living in London. how do you support yourself and your book buying in what is a very expensive city? who does the housekeeping while you manage to spend all those glorious hours with your feet up, reading? how are your wonderful bookcases organized? thematically? alphabetically - by author or title? sequentially? your curious fans want to know!
Thanks so much! So glad you're enjoying my videos. I have made some videos in the past which answer most of your questions. Most notably I made a recent bookshelf tour concerning how I organise my books: th-cam.com/video/I641F9K3Cbg/w-d-xo.html and a few years ago I made a video giving some general information about myself: th-cam.com/video/FcJJR7ADqMM/w-d-xo.html
Our share of night sounds excellent! I have one of her short story collections on my shelf. Tomb of Sand is probably my biggest book on my tbr I want to read this year. I determined to read it before it becomes too intimidating and I let it linger for years!
I've enjoyed her short story collections without wholly loving them so hope I connect with the novel more strongly. That's great you'll be reading Tomb of Sand. It is absolutely fascinating if challenging.
I have several, larger books I want to read in 2023, I've not made my Goodreads reading challenge as high as last years. I'm definitely a reader that reads one book right through, I get distracted if I start one in between. I feel finishing a large book always gives you a sense of achievement. Its all, great fun. Love your channel, look forward to more content 😉🙂
I also struggle to get through a big book if I have several shorter books on the go at the same time because they seem easier. I dont quite know how it happened but I've ended up reading 4 big books at the same time this week and bizarrely it has helped me get through them quicker than I would normally, perhaps because when everything is big, then nothing is? 🤷🏻♀️ Our share of night is on my tbr for February, very excited to get to it, maybe it'll be on the international booker list too!
I agree with you on how to tackle big books. I hope you enjoy all the ones you get to ☺️ I am taking part in the Mega Dickens Along this year so most of my big reads will be from that but I also have A Suitable Boy that I would quite like to get to in 2023 too if I can.
I used to watch the heck out of Reading Rainbow! I work this year at the LA Comic Con and got to see LeVar Burton in person! It was a childhood dream come true
Big books I want to read in the near future: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, Four generations under one roof by Lao She, A fine balance by Rohinton Mistry and A suitable boy by Vikram Seth. I would also like reread The Makioka Sisters by Tanizaki Junichiro for the fourth or fifth time. All of these are on my bookshelves or my Kindle but there are others I would like to read but do not own like The Grapes of Wrath. Another project would be to read the whole of the Rougon-Maquart cycle by Émile Zola (20 rather long novels altogether).
I consider big books to be a thousand pages or over. 500 pages is just average. That said, the Genet bio has been on my shelf for over 10 years unread. I love Catch 22. I needed a study guide to help me through. See the movie after you read the book. It's not great, but makes more sense if you've read the book. I hadn't heard of Our Share of Night, but it's on my list now. I'm currently reading the Chronicles of Barsetshire. 6 books. Not big books in themselves but altogether a challenge. Cheers.
Last year I read Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections, which I found fascinating, and now I am close to finishing Rex Warner’s Julius Caesar (actually two books in one: The Young Caesar and Imperial Caesar) that is also superb! Both books are around 600 pages, and worth the effort.
Although I definitely prefer long novels, none of these catch my eye. After Demon Copperhead, I've been looking around for my next adventure. I don't recall if you read "The book of Jacob" (Tokarczuk). What did you think of it? Any other recent biggies that stand out?
Catch-22 is one of my most favourite books ever. Hilarious, terrific characters, and not difficult at all. I have reread it a few times. Maybe it was the right book at the right time, but I loved it. The book was banned in South Africa during the apartheid years (presumably because of its anti-war stance?) and a friend of mine smuggled it in for me from Swaziland.
If you end up liking Solenoid or at least the writing style I recommend you check out Nostalgia by Cărtărescu. Brilliant piece of literature, this book digs up so many subtle feelings and hidden memories that the thought of rereading it is almost terrifying.
I was reading Catch-22 in 1963 whilst pregnant. It had me laughing but then I went into labor and never did finish it! Parts of it remain with me still.
I read Catch 22 in high school and as I recall I enjoyed it. I have Solenoid and plan to get to it soon. I’m currently reading Tale of Genji by Shikibu the Washburn translation, On my list to read A Suitable Boy by Seth, The Way we Live Now Trollope, The Poisonwood Bible Kingsolver and Babel Kuang. And finally the LOA edition of novels and short Stories of Elizabeth Spenser. I plan to dig in and go for it and hope I don’t get distracted
I have some rather large books I could try to get through. I'm mostly a nonfiction reader. There's an audiobook biography of Grant that's about 49 hours long, one of Gorbachev that's 50 hours long, and some others that are around 20 hours long. I'm not sure if I'll get to them, but we'll see.
I’m about to hit the halfway mark for The Shards and it’s a gas so far. I need to tackle bigger length books, maybe one every two months might be a workable challenge for this year.
Thank you for the encouragement. I’d like to read Himalaya by Ed Douglas but as it’s non-fiction closely related to my work, I’ve not been drawn to it in my down time.
Catch-22 is pretty brilliant I have to say. I love long books but they do feel like the sort of thing you have to carve out a different kind of reading time to tackle.
I loved A Suitable Boy - Just checked and my paperback copy is 1400 + pages, but it flows well and reads so easily that it never felt like a mammoth read at all.
Our Share of Night is on my TBR. I’ve enjoyed her other books. I still have Les Miserables, War and Peace, and Ducks Newburyport glaring at me from the shelves. 😊💙
I am really, really intrigued by The Shards, but I am also running out of shelf space and it’s £25… that cover though, ugh so good. A few biggies I want to read this year include: Ohio, by Stephen Markley Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr …plus one of a few Barbara Kingsolver novels I’ve managed to acquire! There really is nothing like being immersed in a really long, amazing book.
I have a bit of a logjam on my bookshelves in the Ls and Mcs so part of my solution is to, in February, finish Min Jin Lee's very long FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES and PACHINKO and see if I can pass along/donate at least one of them; ditto Alison McLeod's TENDERNESS, which you've covered here.
I have a small stack of big books lined up to read, 2 of which are on your list. The biggest books I read last year also happened to be my least favourite of the year but I made myself finish them even though it felt a bit like torture. I'm more optimistic about this year's selection though.
I’m currently listening to two big books. A Fine Balance. I started it on audio last January and kept leaving it to read shorter books. I hope to read it before I’m 100 yrs old. Deluge by Stephen Markley. I loved Ohio. I wish I had a text copy to tab different characters to keep them all together in my head. The audio is 40hrs. 🍀👋☘️📕📖📚☕️
Catch 22 is one of my forever favourites - I don’t recommend the film at all but the little publicised channel 4 mini series with George clooney is actually very good
Between March and April I am attempting to read North and South Les Mis War and Peace Rebecca The Stand and I am hoping that I also can try for one more big book 📚
Trouble with watching Eric's videos is you end up adding more books to your TBR. I'm currently reading Lady Joker vol2 by Kaoru Takamura - combined with volume 1 its well over 1000 pages.
I'm going to reread "The Colony of Unrequited Dreams" by Wayne Johnston. It made quite an impression on me the first time - I want to see if the story still holds up. Next is "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes. It's the epic story of Australia's founding which was published by in the 80's. I don't mind 'big books' as I feel like I'm getting my monies worth.
When I read IT by Stephen king I thought it would take forever but from the first to the last page I was hooked, The Shinning was the same. Even though they were long books I was sad when they ended
I’m not a fan of Bret Easton Ellis but The Shards sounds like it may be something. Our Share of Night sounds amazing and is on my list too. And Solenoid is… well, incredible.
Hmmm I have a collection of Nadine Gordimer's stories that I haven't looked at in many years. Might be time to reacquaint myself! My big book pile includes David Copperfield, Vanity Fair and Termination Shock.
I like to read about about 20 pages of big books in serval sessions over time and then when it gets down to a normal books size, 300 pages, I finish it in 2 or 3 days. This way 500 or 700 pages feel less intimidating.
Our share of night is a tour de force. Mariana's writting has only gotten better and better (and as you said, weirder, so all her own) with time. I think reading her short stories has kinda prepared you for what you will find in this novel, that took me about a week to finish (because I had to work, otherwise...). Enjoy, and please comment on it when you are done reading it
Catch-22 is so unbelievably funny and sad. The first 100 pages aren’t hard but they feel a little tedious. Then the story of Major Major Major Major hits, and after that it’s impossible to put the book down.
read usa by john dos passos, it goes on forever but you get lost in it, its an expiremental but accessible, and you will want to spend time with characters in it
Catch-22 is pretty simple: If you want to get away from war then you're not crazy, and if you want to stay - and fly more missions - then you're crazy. It sounds like a joke, but the fact is that the regulation governing sanity is designed to weed out the homicidal maniacs, who aren't moved by war's brutality. As for the others, one hopes the hardships are spread relatively equally, and, as in life, some people cope better than do others. [I don't think there any spoilers there]. The movie, starring Alan Arkin, is pretty good, but if memory serves there's a newer version - maybe a mini-series? - starring Geoge Clooney.
I've read Genet and Catch-22 and loved both of them. Solenoid sounds fascinating! I would never read anything by Bret Easton Ellis again, though. He's such a sleazy, pathetic, reactionary guy.
Did you know LeVar Burton has a podcast? I grew up with Reading Rainbow too, and even though he’s mostly narrating horror(!!) on the podcast, his voice is so comforting. I can’t wait to see what you think about Solenoid. I picked it up after seeing Sean (@TravelThroughStories) review it, and it was beautiful on a sentence level, and one of the most fascinating books I’ve ever read. Also interested to see what you think of Our Share of Night. Willow (@BooksandBao) gave a great review, and I don’t read much horror but I’m intrigued!
Currently reading “Ohio” by Stephen Markley, which comes in at 484 pages! Not usually a fan of Americana Lit but Mercedes over at MercysBookishMusings has been gushing about this ever since she read it so I had to give it a try. It’s powerful stuff; have you heard of it?
I read “War and Peace”last year and am so happy I did!
That's a giant I still need to tackle!
I have the Everyman’s Library edition, which is split into three volumes. I read them back to back but tackling it one 350-400 page book at a time made it seem less daunting.
I've reserved Our Share of Night from the library having heard you talk about it. I'm one of those folk who tend to break up longer books by reading shorter books in between, but I did have a moment with a recent read when I reached the end, a great revelation happened - which had been hinted at in the beginning - and I'd completely forgotten which I cannot deny did dampen the impact. I'm also hearing a lot about Solenoid at the moment. Either way, I hope that you find some new favourites among these books.
Hope you enjoy it! And yeah, I totally get breaking up reading a huge title with shorter books but it does run that risk.
Thank you! 😊📚
War and Peace is on my list for this year! I read Anna Karenina last year and loved it so I'm hoping I'll feel the same way about War and Peace 🤞🏼
Hope you enjoy it as much! True classics!
thrilled to see you mention Ms. Gordimer. i actually attended two of her readings here in Montreal, got to speak with her, and she actually recognized me the second time and mentioned our earlier conversation. (the earth trembled!)
I am extremely jealous that you not only got to see Nadine Gordimer in person, but got her autograph as well ❤❤❤
She is incredible, and I think your strategy is perfect, take the entire year to read her stories if you need to, the only way to read her wrong is to read her too quickly.
Our Share Of Night has been pre-ordered here in the US. Really looking forward to it. Other long books on my TBR this year are Underworld by Don DeLillo (on TBR for 10 years) and A Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan ( on TBR for 5+ years).
Great list and great video!
Yes, I feel so lucky to have seen her. Hope you enjoy Our Share of the Night. And those books by DeLillo and Morgan are large and complicated but really interesting! I enjoyed reading them.
This month I finished Vasily Grossman's Stalingrad which I started last year but had to put on hold because I was traveling and didn't want to carry a 2.5 lb book along with me. Afterwards I read the sequel, Life and Fate. So glad that read these books which are considered the War and Peace of World War II. This year I plan to read Hans Fallada's Every Man Dies Alone (another WWII novel) and Gulag by Anne Applebaum. Like you I definitely feel that reading a big book by itself from start to finish is the way to go.
I read _Life and Fate_ before _Stalingrad_ became available and since have debated if I should go back.
@@davidnovakreadspoetry Stalingrad sets the scene and gives the background of the people who are in Life and Fate. I'm glad I read both, but of the two enjoyed Life and Fate more.
I finished reading Solenoid a few days ago and was really amazed by the beautiful writing. I hope you like it.
I'm reading it now; it's excellent!
Catch-22 is one of my all time favorite books.
It is both very funny and tragic and deeply moving
at the same time. There are many memorable characters and great satire. The book holds up to multiple readings.
Thanks, I'm even more excited to read it now.
I think the biggest book I have read is Steinbecks' East of Eden. 704 pages. I loved every one of them! I loved Reading Rainbow! Lavar Burton was an awesome host for the show.
I still need to read East of Eden. And yes, Burton was great!
OMG Cartarescu, can't wait to listen what you have to say about it, a librarian recommend me his works that have been translated to Spanish and I loved one of his works called "Nostalgia"
Yeah I've been meaning to read him for ages.
Catch-22 is an hilarious, satirical novel. Once you get a feel for the form you will learn to love its memorable characters, Yossarian, Milo Minderbender, Major Major, etc. and enjoy the situations they all find themselves in. A good choice for a big book. Heller flew combat missions during WWII and he draws on his experiences of military sense and senselessness. Enjoy!
Thanks for the encouragement!
I think I've read Catch-22 but that was twenty plus years ago. I've heard really good things about Solenoid! I've got several big books left over from last year: Anna Karenina, a Ray Bradbury collection and...I don't know what else. I don't think my tablet liked me opening a series of large novels; it locked up. Anyway, this year I've started Pickwick Papers. I ran across Cheever's Stories the other day. I think it's pretty long. That should keep me busy for a while.
Love a big book. In 2022 I read The Evening and the Morning ( prequel to Pillars of the Earth - also very compling) , A Prayer for Owen Meany, Dombey and son, The Crimson and the White and Pickwick Papers. More planned for this year, 'classics ' e.g. Anna Karenina, Bleak House & Little Dorritt plus some new contemporary fiction The Love Songs of W.E.B Bois.
I also love big ,fat books! I love Elizabeth George!
a recent discovery; i really appreciate/enjoy your honest/thoughtful enthusiasm. how about sharing more about yourself with your readers. your accent suggests you might be a Canadian (!) or an American living in London. how do you support yourself and your book buying in what is a very expensive city? who does the housekeeping while you manage to spend all those glorious hours with your feet up, reading? how are your wonderful bookcases organized? thematically? alphabetically - by author or title? sequentially? your curious fans want to know!
Thanks so much! So glad you're enjoying my videos. I have made some videos in the past which answer most of your questions. Most notably I made a recent bookshelf tour concerning how I organise my books: th-cam.com/video/I641F9K3Cbg/w-d-xo.html and a few years ago I made a video giving some general information about myself: th-cam.com/video/FcJJR7ADqMM/w-d-xo.html
Oh, Our share of Night was fantastic. I so enjoyed reading it. It reminded me of Stephen King meets Lovecraft.
So glad that you picked a romanian author - Cărtărescu. (me being from Romania) 😊
I've been curious to read him for ages.
Our share of night sounds excellent! I have one of her short story collections on my shelf.
Tomb of Sand is probably my biggest book on my tbr I want to read this year. I determined to read it before it becomes too intimidating and I let it linger for years!
I've enjoyed her short story collections without wholly loving them so hope I connect with the novel more strongly. That's great you'll be reading Tomb of Sand. It is absolutely fascinating if challenging.
Just finished Our Share of Night the other day and I absolutely loved it
That’s good to hear!
I have several, larger books I want to read in 2023, I've not made my Goodreads reading challenge as high as last years. I'm definitely a reader that reads one book right through, I get distracted if I start one in between. I feel finishing a large book always gives you a sense of achievement. Its all, great fun. Love your channel, look forward to more content 😉🙂
Sounds like a sensible plan. And yes, it definitely feels like an achievement finishing a big tome.
Thank you! 😊📚
'Solenoid' is gonna blow your mind.
That’s awesome, catch-22 is on my list to read this year as well!!
Great! Hope you enjoy it!
I also struggle to get through a big book if I have several shorter books on the go at the same time because they seem easier.
I dont quite know how it happened but I've ended up reading 4 big books at the same time this week and bizarrely it has helped me get through them quicker than I would normally, perhaps because when everything is big, then nothing is? 🤷🏻♀️
Our share of night is on my tbr for February, very excited to get to it, maybe it'll be on the international booker list too!
I agree with you on how to tackle big books. I hope you enjoy all the ones you get to ☺️
I am taking part in the Mega Dickens Along this year so most of my big reads will be from that but I also have A Suitable Boy that I would quite like to get to in 2023 too if I can.
I used to watch the heck out of Reading Rainbow! I work this year at the LA Comic Con and got to see LeVar Burton in person! It was a childhood dream come true
Big books I want to read in the near future: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, Four generations under one roof by Lao She, A fine balance by Rohinton Mistry and A suitable boy by Vikram Seth. I would also like reread The Makioka Sisters by Tanizaki Junichiro for the fourth or fifth time. All of these are on my bookshelves or my Kindle but there are others I would like to read but do not own like The Grapes of Wrath. Another project would be to read the whole of the Rougon-Maquart cycle by Émile Zola (20 rather long novels altogether).
I am tackling Moby-Dick for the first time this year!! Reading it over a 4 month period in order to savor it!
I consider big books to be a thousand pages or over. 500 pages is just average. That said, the Genet bio has been on my shelf for over 10 years unread. I love Catch 22. I needed a study guide to help me through. See the movie after you read the book. It's not great, but makes more sense if you've read the book. I hadn't heard of Our Share of Night, but it's on my list now. I'm currently reading the Chronicles of Barsetshire. 6 books. Not big books in themselves but altogether a challenge. Cheers.
Last year I read Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections, which I found fascinating, and now I am close to finishing Rex Warner’s Julius Caesar (actually two books in one: The Young Caesar and Imperial Caesar) that is also superb! Both books are around 600 pages, and worth the effort.
I really enjoyed The Corrections as well. And I've not come across Warner's books before - they sound fascinating!
Although I definitely prefer long novels, none of these catch my eye. After Demon Copperhead, I've been looking around for my next adventure. I don't recall if you read "The book of Jacob" (Tokarczuk). What did you think of it? Any other recent biggies that stand out?
I didn't get to The Books of Jacob but still want to at some point. I heard such mixed reviews of it.
really looking forward to The Shards...good list :)
I have Solenoid and Our Share of Night. Very much looking forward to them.
Hope you enjoy them!
Our Share of Night it's a incredible book! I love it. Eager to know your opinion!
Thanks! I'm even more eager to read it now.
I'm glad that you're reading a Romanian book. 👆🙌🏽
Never managed to finish Catch-22, good to know others found it difficult.
Catch-22 is one of my most favourite books ever. Hilarious, terrific characters, and not difficult at all. I have reread it a few times. Maybe it was the right book at the right time, but I loved it. The book was banned in South Africa during the apartheid years (presumably because of its anti-war stance?) and a friend of mine smuggled it in for me from Swaziland.
Oh wow, didn't know about its being banned in S Africa. How interesting!
I just got the DVD!
I have the shards on hold at the library! I didn’t realize it was so long though 😮
If you end up liking Solenoid or at least the writing style I recommend you check out Nostalgia by Cărtărescu. Brilliant piece of literature, this book digs up so many subtle feelings and hidden memories that the thought of rereading it is almost terrifying.
Okay thanks. I remember hearing great things about it.
I was reading Catch-22 in 1963 whilst pregnant. It had me laughing but then I went into labor and never did finish it! Parts of it remain with me still.
Have only read Edmund White's Jean Genet biography and couldn't put it down. It was so fascinating and so knowledgable.
👍
I read Catch 22 in high school and as I recall I enjoyed it. I have Solenoid and plan to get to it soon. I’m currently reading Tale of Genji by Shikibu the Washburn translation, On my list to read A Suitable Boy by Seth, The Way we Live Now Trollope, The Poisonwood Bible Kingsolver and Babel Kuang. And finally the LOA edition of novels and short Stories of Elizabeth Spenser. I plan to dig in and go for it and hope I don’t get distracted
Ah great, some of those others are on my TBR list too. And I loved The Poisonwood Bible.
I have some rather large books I could try to get through. I'm mostly a nonfiction reader. There's an audiobook biography of Grant that's about 49 hours long, one of Gorbachev that's 50 hours long, and some others that are around 20 hours long. I'm not sure if I'll get to them, but we'll see.
I’m about to hit the halfway mark for The Shards and it’s a gas so far. I need to tackle bigger length books, maybe one every two months might be a workable challenge for this year.
I'm reading it now too. He certainly builds a great sense of tension and mystery!
Thank you for the encouragement. I’d like to read Himalaya by Ed Douglas but as it’s non-fiction closely related to my work, I’ve not been drawn to it in my down time.
Catch-22 is pretty brilliant I have to say. I love long books but they do feel like the sort of thing you have to carve out a different kind of reading time to tackle.
Definitely! They require a different mode of engagement like long distance running.
I read Our Share of Night last year. Im from Argentina, like the writer. Great book!
Ah great, I’m so eager to read it.
@@EricKarlAnderson Its one of those you can and want to binge, like you said on one of your last videos.
My favorite Gordimer stories are from the collections Loot and Jump.
I'll seek those out in particular. Thanks!
I agree with your views on reading big books from start to finish at one go... 😊
I was hoping to see A Suitable Boy on that list...
I loved A Suitable Boy - Just checked and my paperback copy is 1400 + pages, but it flows well and reads so easily that it never felt like a mammoth read at all.
@@philnasmith9755 I agree... A book totally worth the time.... I'm currently reading A little life and that's a huge book too...
Our Share of Night is on my TBR. I’ve enjoyed her other books. I still have Les Miserables, War and Peace, and Ducks Newburyport glaring at me from the shelves. 😊💙
Les Mis and War & Peace are two big classics I need to tackle at some point too. 😅📚
I am really, really intrigued by The Shards, but I am also running out of shelf space and it’s £25… that cover though, ugh so good.
A few biggies I want to read this year include:
Ohio, by Stephen Markley
Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr
…plus one of a few Barbara Kingsolver novels I’ve managed to acquire!
There really is nothing like being immersed in a really long, amazing book.
Probably best to wait for the paperback of The Shards then. And I've always been curious about Ohio and I've been meaning to read Doerr's novel too.
I have a bit of a logjam on my bookshelves in the Ls and Mcs so part of my solution is to, in February, finish Min Jin Lee's very long FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES and PACHINKO and see if I can pass along/donate at least one of them; ditto Alison McLeod's TENDERNESS, which you've covered here.
I have a small stack of big books lined up to read, 2 of which are on your list. The biggest books I read last year also happened to be my least favourite of the year but I made myself finish them even though it felt a bit like torture. I'm more optimistic about this year's selection though.
Good luck! Hope you enjoy this year's selection more. 📚
I'm reading Our Share of Night right now, still mysterious at the moment but the writing is 👍
That's great to hear!
I would really love to read priority of the orange tree but it’s a honker!
I’m currently listening to two big books.
A Fine Balance. I started it on audio last January and kept leaving it to read shorter books. I hope to read it before I’m 100 yrs old.
Deluge by Stephen Markley. I loved Ohio. I wish I had a text copy to tab different characters to keep them all together in my head. The audio is 40hrs.
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Hello!The Genet book sounds great to me
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Doesn't matter, are they available online for free ?
Catch 22 is one of my forever favourites - I don’t recommend the film at all but the little publicised channel 4 mini series with George clooney is actually very good
Ah, interesting! Thank you!
You beat me to it Amy! I was going to mention the mini series too (I need to return to it to be honest...)
Between March and April I am attempting to read North and South Les Mis War and Peace Rebecca The Stand and I am hoping that I also can try for one more big book 📚
Trouble with watching Eric's videos is you end up adding more books to your TBR. I'm currently reading Lady Joker vol2 by Kaoru Takamura - combined with volume 1 its well over 1000 pages.
😅📚📚📚📚 And I'd love to read Takamura's book at some point.
I'm going to reread "The Colony of Unrequited Dreams" by Wayne Johnston. It made quite an impression on me the first time - I want to see if the story still holds up. Next is "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes. It's the epic story of Australia's founding which was published by in the 80's. I don't mind 'big books' as I feel like I'm getting my monies worth.
Great plan! And good point about value for money! 😊📚
My list is: Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, Kin by Miljenko Jergovic and Attention by Joshua Cohen
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When I read IT by Stephen king I thought it would take forever but from the first to the last page I was hooked, The Shinning was the same. Even though they were long books I was sad when they ended
Yeah, King is such a thrilling writer.
@@EricKarlAnderson He is the master
I’m reading Fall on Your Knees-close to 700 pages. It’s a masterpiece.
YES! I loved that novel. I keep meaning to read more of her work.
I am fifteen pages from the end. Her latest novel Fayne -seven hundred pages is a take on the Victorian novel.
I’m not a fan of Bret Easton Ellis but The Shards sounds like it may be something. Our Share of Night sounds amazing and is on my list too. And Solenoid is… well, incredible.
I'm hoping to read Solenoid in Feb. I'm so eager to dive in!
The Shards is my next read.
I’ve read Solenoid, The Shards and Our share of night… 3x five star reads.
Ah great! Glad I’ve picked doorstoppers with such good prospects.
@@EricKarlAnderson Well, it’s all a matter of taste. Not sure if Solenoid will be your flavour. It is weird.
Hmmm I have a collection of Nadine Gordimer's stories that I haven't looked at in many years. Might be time to reacquaint myself! My big book pile includes David Copperfield, Vanity Fair and Termination Shock.
What a great TBR pile! Hope some become new favourites.
I like to read about about 20 pages of big books in serval sessions over time and then when it gets down to a normal books size, 300 pages, I finish it in 2 or 3 days. This way 500 or 700 pages feel less intimidating.
Our share of night is a tour de force. Mariana's writting has only gotten better and better (and as you said, weirder, so all her own) with time. I think reading her short stories has kinda prepared you for what you will find in this novel, that took me about a week to finish (because I had to work, otherwise...). Enjoy, and please comment on it when you are done reading it
Thanks so much! I'm even more excited to read it now. I'll be sure to post about it when I do.
Catch-22 is so unbelievably funny and sad. The first 100 pages aren’t hard but they feel a little tedious. Then the story of Major Major Major Major hits, and after that it’s impossible to put the book down.
of time and the river by thomas wolfe has been largest one i’ve read so far (1025 pages)
read usa by john dos passos, it goes on forever but you get lost in it, its an expiremental but accessible, and you will want to spend time with characters in it
I wish I had watched this before I passed by that $1 edition of Gordimer’s stories today.
Catch-22 is pretty simple: If you want to get away from war then you're not crazy, and if you want to stay - and fly more missions - then you're crazy. It sounds like a joke, but the fact is that the regulation governing sanity is designed to weed out the homicidal maniacs, who aren't moved by war's brutality. As for the others, one hopes the hardships are spread relatively equally, and, as in life, some people cope better than do others. [I don't think there any spoilers there]. The movie, starring Alan Arkin, is pretty good, but if memory serves there's a newer version - maybe a mini-series? - starring Geoge Clooney.
I've mentioned to you that I'm reading War and Peace. I'm in Part 2 of book 1 woo hoo!
Keep going!
@@EricKarlAnderson Thank you, Eric!
another question: lol: is there any subject or book you will not read?
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Just finished The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk. While fascinating, at almost 1000 pages, it was just too long.
I've read Genet and Catch-22 and loved both of them. Solenoid sounds fascinating! I would never read anything by Bret Easton Ellis again, though. He's such a sleazy, pathetic, reactionary guy.
you may be the only youtuber who reads exclusively boring books :)
Good luck with your body and brain work out.
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Did you know LeVar Burton has a podcast? I grew up with Reading Rainbow too, and even though he’s mostly narrating horror(!!) on the podcast, his voice is so comforting.
I can’t wait to see what you think about Solenoid. I picked it up after seeing Sean (@TravelThroughStories) review it, and it was beautiful on a sentence level, and one of the most fascinating books I’ve ever read. Also interested to see what you think of Our Share of Night. Willow (@BooksandBao) gave a great review, and I don’t read much horror but I’m intrigued!
I didn't know that about Burton's podcast. I'll look it up. Thanks!
And yes, those great book tubers encouragement really inspired me to pick them up.
Currently reading “Ohio” by Stephen Markley, which comes in at 484 pages! Not usually a fan of Americana Lit but Mercedes over at MercysBookishMusings has been gushing about this ever since she read it so I had to give it a try. It’s powerful stuff; have you heard of it?
I have heard of it but not read it yet. Lots of people seem to be reading Ohio at the moment. I guess because of Mercedes encouragement. She's great.