Big Books I Need to Tackle

[@michaelrobertson3369]

I highly recommend joining Eric's book club. My reading has flourished this year due to the experience of reading along with others and discussing lots of books. Eric's insightful commentary on the monthly read always deepens my connection with the text and it's so interesting to hear everyone's perspective. I have been recommended dozens of interesting books by other book club members and the Friday reading catch up discussion is a highlight of my week. I really appreciate that Eric is doing all the hard work of finding and recommending good books, which frees me up to get on with reading good things.

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Thanks so much, Michael! 😊

[@elizabethmoloney6967]

"Blended reading" with audio and physical reading i find the way forward for the chunky big boys!

[@karinasuarez9981]

Hello Eric! I hope you can read all the big books that you’re planning to read this year. I wanted to thank you for the encouragement to inspired me to read Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates that was such a moving experience. Probably one of the longest book I read in English, but so compelling that I was immersed in Norm Jean’s heartbreaking story. My reward was to watch your wonderful interview to Oates with such interesting reflections. Muchas gracias amigo lector (thanks my reading friend) 😊❤️ 📚

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Ah, that's wonderful! I'm so glad you found "Blonde" so compelling and you enjoyed watching my interview with her.

[@BookChatWithPat8668]

Hi Eric. I am going to be reading The Brothers Karamzov in the near future. I am waiting for the newer Michael Katz translation to arrive. I have been reading a lot of really big books lately. I just recently finished Les Miserables with Classics and Company here on BookTube. At 1400 pages, that may be the longest novel I've ever read! This year, I have also re-read David Copperfield and Middlemarch, so I guess you could say that I am on a big book binge! All of your selections look great! I do the same as you--I read these giant tomes both in physical form and in audio.

[@marcevan1141]

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on "The Brothers Karamazov. " I found it an endlessly fascinating reading experience.

[@joniheisenberg]

So happy you featured “Her Side of the Story”!

[@kimswhims8435]

I do the audiobook and physical copy too for quite a few books, not just the mammoths. Haven't planned on reading those ones but I have deliberately added bigger books to my reading this year. I've read two so far, The memoir, My Name is Barbra and Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright, 2024 winner of the Stella Prize, she could also win The Miles Franklin Prize this year.

[@donaldcohen5196]

Just started Roberto Balano’s The Savage Detectives and it’s quite something.

[@stevenpace1849]

This summer I'm going to tackle R. F. Delderfield's novel To Serve Them All My Days. It's 638 pages and should keep me enthralled. I read The Brothers while in college. It's time for a re read. As I remember, it kept me up many nights. I'm looking forward to Caledonian Road. Happy reading from Chicago.

[@susanneill7142]

I loved Delderfield’s book!

[@susanneill7142]

I just finished Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (loved it)! There are always plenty more I want to read, mostly classics but new ones as well. I love your channel! Thanks!! 😊

[@KierTheScrivener]

I loved Forbidden Notebook on your reccommendation and eagerly awaiting the audiobook of Her Side of the Story. I mostly read big classics, I am excited to read The Brothers Karamazov but currently working through Trollope's books, my next big read is Phineas Redux.

[@Phillybookfairy]

I have some really big books on my tbr. I didn’t enjoy Cloud Cuckoo Land and I switched between audio and the book and would get lost where I was (is there a trick to this?) and then I’d lose interest or skipped something ugh!!! A nightmare. I was able to with other books that had a more linear normal timeline but that one threw me off. I am reading The Book of Love by Kelly Link it’s a lil over 600 pages I also want to read The Covenant of Water and Tomb of Sand and Nights of Plague they are all over 600 I believe - since I’m ahead of my reading schedule I feel like I should take the time and read these bigger books but it’s so hard to lug around a big book, I’m thinking e-version possibly for out and about. Not sure yet!

[@eyesonindie]

Wonderful books! Thank you so much for sharing. This year, I'm hoping to read the full Septology by Jon Fosse (I know its more than one book, but I have it all in one volume, so I count it as one!!). Also Ducks, Newburyport, which is one of those books I anticipate loving so I want to find the exact right time to read it! But I should just dive in! I also have two Alexis Wright books on my shelf that I'm excited for: Praiseworthy and Carpentaria. And finally, I really need to get into my complete collection of Clarice Lispector stories!

[@EricKarlAnderson]

That’s a fantastic line up! 📚 I need to return to Septology as well since I’ve only read the first volume. And Ducks is such a joy! I’d like to get to reading Alexis Wright as well.

[@GeraldineRowe]

My husband is encouraging me to read Cloud Cuckoo Land as he enjoyed it so much. Didn't realise it was a chunkster (we have it as an ebook). I've recently finished The Bee Sting but I whizzed through it as it was such a good read.

[@dawndobbins9398]

Just bought a copy of Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates - really looking forward to reading it. Currently reading The Love Songs of WEB Dubois - fabulous writing. Have Caledonian Road on Kindle to read. You’ve introduced me to so many books I wouldn’t have thought about.

[@EricKarlAnderson]

That’s great to hear! Those are both top quality novels.

[@barbarablonsky7521]

Although I have read Anthony Doerr’s books, Cloud Cuckoo Land is hardly on the level of the other books you have listed. It attempts to be “ literary”, but does not reach the level of real quality. For a long book, it is a quick and easy read. It would probably be fun to listen to it narrated.

[@ΛΕΜΟΝΙΑΤΑΣΟΥΛΑ]

The brothers Karamazov is my favourite novel ever. I'm curious to know which will be your favourite brother, mine is certainly Ivan.

[@curtjarrell9710]

I want to read Brothers K... at some point. I'v started reading the Edith Grossman translation of Don Quixote and am enjoying it.

[@NovelFindsByKassi]

Oh wow, Cloud Cuckoo Land was a recent read for me (read in 2024). It was such an amazing book. I'm currently reading The Thorn Birds, another tome, and I'm really impressed with just how easy it has been to read right through it. ::hugs::

[@DefaultName-nt7tk]

Brother Karamazov is an excellent choice. Make sure that the audio and written copies have the same translation. I was surprised to realize the discrepancy when I read and listened to the Idiot and the Possessed. 😊

[@michelleaustin2859]

If it's over 500 pages and really tiny print then I agree it's a bit of a task, although I think a lot of big books now they're formatted in a way that makes them look easier, classic books are harder because the text is so dense. I think publishers now just don't like to print books in that sort of tightly packed way any more as they know it puts people off. Also I find my brain gets used to reading dense long books if I'm into a phase of reading a lot of them. It's kind of like exercise, when you first get on a static bike your knees start screaming and then they get used to it. Reading something long and maybe difficult is kind of the same for your brain. If you've been reading shorter easier things the switch up is going to feel hard.

[@tmtb80]

Planning to do tge audio of The Brother's Karamazov. In fact, ive been planning to for a couple of years now.

[@CharlieBrookReads]

Yeah for the new Ingrid Persaud!! Alice loves Cloud Cuckoo Land. (I do want to get to it too at some point.) I agree combi reading is such a great way of getting more out of the book if you can. Love a big book. I hope you enjoy all the ones you get to Eric.

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Thanks Charlie! 📚

[@ReadingIDEAS.-uz9xk]

Just on page 831 of the Count of Monte Cristo. Still some way to go. Happy reading.

[@anyonymswede]

It would be fun if you could recomend good thin books.

[@stevies-readies]

just started alexis wright's praiseworthy and it's a doozy. the tone is unlike anything i've read -- the mix of absurdity and fury already feels volatile just 70 pages in and i'm curious to see how it unfolds (or explodes)

[@andrewglasson4583]

I have just finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo and before that I was reading The Biography of X by Catherine Lacey. Waiting to get Sarah Perry's new one Enlightenment from the library

[@billyd10]

I am surprised that you have not read Cloud Cuckoo Land yet. For some reason I could swear that I had bought the book at your recommendation. The book is really incredible. It is a wonder how he weaves four stories together. From Constantinople in 1453, to a Chinese prisoner of war camp during the Korean War to modern day Boise Idaho, to a very future date on a spaceship. They all come together. The character development is perfect. All of the characters are believable and fully realized. One of the characters is gay and I feel that this was one of the best and most sympathetic portrayals of a gay man I have ever read. This coming from a straight author. I read this book before I read All The Light We Cannot See and even though I did really enjoy All The Light, I really liked Cloud Cuckoo Land much more. There are a great number of pages, but the book reads very quickly. The chapters are short, and the plot line is very fast paced. This is one of my favorite books. I am very anxious to hear your impression.

[@EricKarlAnderson]

Oh wow, that’s great to hear! I’m sure I’ve mentioned it previously as a book I’d like to read but not one I actually read yet. I’m glad you found it so powerful and effective in that way.

[@kathrynhalton6782]

So I watched your video this morning and then found a pristine copy of Cloud Cuckoo Land in the charity shop this afternoon for £1. It must be fate 😍

[@EricKarlAnderson]

It is! Hope you enjoy it.

[@bluelagoon5235]

I read The Brothers Karamazov last year. Overall, I really enjoyed it, despite the fact that it took me two months to complete. What surprised me most was how dramatic (and even gossipy) that book is. Yes, there was a lot of heavy-handed symbolism, and Dostoevsky really, really likes the Orthodox church, but I really enjoyed the pure *drama* of it all!

[@teneshaanderson4761]

Caledonian Road is excellent

[@rosemarybrandl7895]

I finally started War and Peace.

[@TomManship-f5j]

Caledonian Road really was very bad. One of those books where you wonder how it was published

[@ReinReads]

Curious what you take issue with that makes this novel unpublishable. Not all books are for everyone so it being rated over 4 stars everywhere I’ve seen it doesn’t mean anyone has to like it. But not worth being published would tend to mean there are significant issues with it.

[@willieluncheonette5843]

" Just a single man, Fyodor Dostoevsky, is enough to defeat all the creative novelists of the world. If one has to decide on 10 great novels in all the languages of the world, one will have to choose at least 3 novels of Dostoevsky in those 10. Dostoevsky’s insight into human beings and their problems is greater than your so-called psychoanalysts, and there are moments where he reaches the heights of great mystics. His book BROTHERS KARAMAZOV is so great in its insights that no BIBLE or KORAN or GITA comes close. In another masterpiece of Dostoevsky, THE IDIOT, the main character is called ‘idiot’ by the people because they can’t understand his simplicity, his humbleness, his purity, his trust, his love. You can cheat him, you can deceive him, and he will still trust you. He is really one of the most beautiful characters ever created by any novelist. The idiot is a sage. The novel could just as well have been called THE SAGE. Dostoevsky’s idiot is not an idiot; he is one of the sanest men amongst an insane humanity. If you can become the idiot of Fyodor Dostoevsky, it is perfectly beautiful. It is better than being cunning priest or politician. Humbleness has such a blessing. Simplicity has such benediction."