On Reading Big Books

How to help BLM: blacklivesmatt...
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Books mentioned:
War and Peace / Leo Tolstoy
A Little Life / Hanya Yanagihara
The Goldfinch / Donna Tartt
The Luminaries / Eleanor Catton
Middlemarch / George Eliot
The Brothers Karamazov / Fyodor Dostoevsky
March of the Mammoths hosts!
Jason ‪@OldBluesChapterandVerse‬ : • March of the Mammoths ...
Lukas ‪@acruelreadersthesis5868‬ : • March of the Mammoths ...
Alex ‪@bigalbooksforever‬ : • March of the Mammoths ...

[@willlexie]

A big book means I have more time to love the characters. When it finished, I have more time to cry at the corner of my room.

[@whatpageareyouon]

HAHAH this was very me for A Little Life 🥲 I just finished the Minae Mizumura I mention in this video and loved it! On part because it was so nice to get swept in everything

[@willlexie]

@@whatpageareyouon Did I read A Little Life? Yes. Did I cry? Yes. Read a year ago? Yes. Does my heart still ache? YES.

[@bignatesbookreviews]

Dope video. I’ve read a little life and brothers, and war and peace and middlemarch are high on my TBR

[@HannahsBooks]

Very thoughtful, Alex. The idea of having a thread to help us lead us through a big book is definitely really helpful. In fact, I often find it really useful to know quite a bit about a big book before I even start, to help me see the larger picture and not get too bogged down in details. Red Comet is my current mammoth, and I am taking my time with it. It is enormous and heavy, and it has really tiny print, too...but it is amazing.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Red Comet seems to be the fan favorite this year! And a nonfic mammoth no less! It’s a really funny instance with my mammoth this year, the Mizumura book, having its own dedicated contextual evidence about Mizumura’s intentions for the book for the first 100 pages of the actual book, her curiosity on blending fiction and nonfiction, I LOVE it! Thanks as always for the kind words Hannah and I hope your mammoth progress is going well so far!

[@NeetuSingh-eo4iu]

I love big books and I feel one gets to spend more time in the setting and with the characters of the book.

[@whatpageareyouon]

It really is strange now to be back to reading 200pg ish books since I finished the Mizumura I mention here, it’s like reading in one breath by comparison!

[@MichaelRomeoTalksBooks]

I love big books. I enjoyed your thoughts on this topic and on the examples you chose.

[@francesdeguzman4214]

Just finished The Luminaries because of this video and I loved it! I have a feeling that I would be less scared of big books now because of this video and your recommendation! ✨

[@whatpageareyouon]

I’m so glad you liked it! I think of what’s on this list, if you haven’t read it already, The Goldfinch would be another great big book pick after Luminaries 🙂

[@nikkivenable3700]

My favorite books tend to be bigger books, as well. I am rarely daunted by page count esp if it's a classic. That said, my favorite big book of all time is Lonesome Dove(not a classic, but may be in the future and deserves to be). I've read all the books you talked about here except War and Peace and I enjoyed the heck out of all of them. Edit: The Brother's Karamazov was supposed to be only a part in a series but Fyodor died before he could do that.

[@whatpageareyouon]

I agree that I think Lonesome Dove will be a future classic! And I didn’t know that about Dostoevsky! Makes a lot more sense with that context. If you’ve also read these mammoths I talked about here and enjoyed them, are there other mammoths you would recommend that I’m missing out on?

[@BookishTexan]

Wait. . . . _The Brother's Karamazov_ is kind of a murder mystery? Nobody told me. . . .

[@whatpageareyouon]

Haha there’s a good portion dedicated to it in a way, but there’s such a hodgepodge of stuff going on that it’s nicely segmented and Dostoevsky surprisingly keeps tabs on all aspects of the story, to me at least!

[@johnclouser1309]

Gone With the Wind, East of Eden, Lonesome Dove, Count of Monte Cristo, Dr Zhivago,

[@ChaoticBibliophile]

Great suggestions! I recently finished The Brother's Karamazov and found the monologues fascinating, but I don't know if it completely came together for me. Aliosha's story arc is definitely the best, and I also really loved the hermit and trial sections. It's interesting how this mania for reading productivity hasn't really sparked more interest in novellas/really short books. Of course there are people (me included) who really love them, but I still see people more comfortable around the 300pp mark.

[@whatpageareyouon]

That’s so true! I’m surprised about the opposite effect of no reading tips and tricks for seeking out smaller books to enjoy that are just as rewarding as those 300pg-ish books. I’m glad you liked BK!

[@booksoverbreakfast]

I’m reading Les Misérables for the mammoths this month. I decided to break it down to 42 pages a day. I’m enjoying reading it slowly. It also takes the pressure off of trying to get through really quickly

[@whatpageareyouon]

That’s definitely a mammoth! 😳 I hope it’s going well so far! Did you watch the movie? I never knew of the story until the movie but I watched it in theaters while I had a really bad flu that I pretended I didn’t have at the time lol so now when I’m sick it’s all I can think about 😂

[@booksoverbreakfast]

@@whatpageareyouon hahaha! I love the musical so I know the general plot but I’m still surprised how close to the book it is! There’s also a mini series which I’m planning to treat myself to after I finish.

[@MarcNash]

I've always struggled with big books, mainly because when you commit to them, it precludes reading anything else, o if you do read shorter books in parallel, it makes getting through the big book far longer. So to tackle his, I'm reading a big book each month his year except for Non-Fic November and in July just as a break when I have other commitments. So far so good!

[@whatpageareyouon]

I’ve curiously found my journey through big books easier when I do read smaller books in between doses of the big book! But I think I’d prefer your strategy more-I’d like to more carefully make a conscious effort to read a big book in relation to a larger sense of time while it exclusively preoccupying my thoughts (at least my reading thoughts haha) as opposed to how the smaller books in between my reading experience may interrupt my experience if I may unconsciously begin comparing my likeness to what I’m currently reading in my rotation. I hope your reading plans continue to go well! Almost always a big book appears at my end of year top reads, I’ll look forward to your top end of year reads having to choose between so many mammoth-y books!

[@MarcNash]

@@whatpageareyouon Ha thanks Alex!

[@Sarahac8]

I discovered your channel right as I was finishing The Brothers Karamazov and looking for a good review and then I found yours. Really enjoying your content. Planning to start East of Eden soon so that will be my big book for March! (:

[@whatpageareyouon]

Ah thank you! I’ve been meaning to eventually get into the American classics like Steinbeck and Faulkner. I hope your mammoth is going well so far! 🙂

[@morganeua]

I have Infinite Jest sitting on my TBR and I think it will be the biggest book I've ever read... If I get to it...

[@whatpageareyouon]

haha you're braver than I!

[@SevenFootPelican]

I just finished reading The Brothers Karamazov in one week! I also read Atlas Shrugged and some other big books (A People's History of the United States, etc.) this year as well.

[@whatpageareyouon]

I read it in a similar pace! I found myself taking more time with Alexei's part so I'm not sure if that's what caused me to like it most. Is there a particular section you liked most?

[@OldBluesChapterandVerse]

Wonderful video, Alex! Would you believe I’ve still never read Dostoevsky? He is the king of intimidating me.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Haha he’s just all talk (literally! 😉)

[@TIAMAT_Inc]

Here to leave love for BIG BOOKS ❤️ I read A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara on your recommendation and it killed me. I loved it. Am now on a search for that type of feeling again. Every book I have read since has left me underwhelmed.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Ugh it’s a curse!! 6 years later and I too still haven’t read anything quite the same 😭 here’s hoping when a book does come out that feels like it can compete with A Little Life that it’s just as long! I loved seeing how Willem, Jude, JB, and Malcom evolved into such different people with their own sense of growth 💫

[@lindescherrenburg8092]

ugh same, please did you find something as good or close to it now?

[@TIAMAT_Inc]

@@lindescherrenburg8092 no 😞

[@lyddie465]

i read infinite jest late last year / early this year and the audiobook was 55 hours long. i despised it but it honestly liberated me. i've been reading big chunky books one at a time, about a chapter a day. currently reading the dead are arising, malcolm x's biography by les payne and tamara payne. loved north and south last year. so many big books are favourites of mine, but i am always worried that conquering a tome will mean that my like of the book is really biased because of effort bias. would love a review on the book you're reading for march of the mammoths

[@whatpageareyouon]

Yes!! Effort bias is totally a thing I think, I think it’s even a thing for some non readers in my life, as they almost always tell me any books they managed to finish is one they liked, which I guess may even be the true nature of books and reading (??) being that sometimes I forget that readers are always the customer, and that it’s up to writers to hope readers finish their book-unlike booktube where we all mostly see books to the finish line and then ruminate over it. Big books especially are interesting, I can’t imagine being a publisher and thinking “500 pages? Ok, you can write 300 more pgs if you want” lol. I’m glad to hear about your Infinite Jest experience too haha, but actually really, what is it all about? Years later I literally have no idea 😳

[@lyddie465]

@@whatpageareyouon what is IJ about!! and apparently he cut it down by 600 pages!! 600!! omg. i can't even imagine. i think for me, taking it one day at a time, one chapter at a time, really helps. i've read dune this year too (which i also didn't enjoy) but little steps each day help me feel less attached to that effort bias. thank you for your videos as always

[@venticoldbrewser5593]

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is my favorite big book. Great writing, thought provoking symbolism and metaphors, memorable characters, and gets better when I re-read it after a few years.

[@whatpageareyouon]

I read excerpts of it for school and really enjoyed it! Eventually want to get to the whole book too

[@AnaWallaceJohnson]

Big books are a great workout for your forearms 😄😄 but seriously, love a big book and the ruminations on them after

[@whatpageareyouon]

Haha aren’t they? I think fondly back to me reading in crowded coffee shops, pulling out a big book and having my headphones in really sparks the “yes I’ll be here for a while I’m sorry you likely can’t wait out to have my table” lol

[@ItsJayceChandler]

I love big books. Last night, I was just researching which translation of War & Peace I should read. Last week I was doing the same for Proust. I read Constance Garnett's Anna Karenina, and while I didn't mind it, I want to try a more modern approach. I think I'll go with Anthony Briggs translation of W&P. Which translations of Tolstoy have you read?

[@whatpageareyouon]

I read the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation of W&P and the Oxford Classics edition of Anna Karenina because I heard it was the most accessible! I hope you fair better than me with Proust too! I liked Swann’s Way but it was a bit exhaustive for me, not sure when I’ll continue onto the second book of the series

[@salssalsa]

The Luminaries has been turned into a series btw, I have no idea if it’s good but since you said you’d be interested in watching the movie I’m leaving this info here

[@whatpageareyouon]

Oh yeah!! I remember the talks of it in its early stages, I completely forgot about it! Thank you 💫

[@AJ_Dunn]

I love big books, but I really have to prepare myself for them since I only read one book at a time. I have to be ready to be devoted to only one book for a length of time.

[@whatpageareyouon]

It’s really funny because I find it easier for me to read a chunkster as I rotate between reading other books, I think I trick my brain into thinking I can reward myself by going back to reading the big book after I finish a smaller book in between? Lol that’s me making it too complicated but I finished the Mizumura I mention in this video and it’s actually one I couldn’t put down! Even with 800 pages lol

[@AJ_Dunn]

@@whatpageareyouon that's how I felt about Ducks, Newburyport.

[@thebibookboy794]

A Little Life is my FAVORITE BOOK!!!

[@1book1review]

I like reading big books, when I have time to read them in big chunks and they are captivating. If I can only read a few pages a day I feel halfway through the book I am annoyed with it, mostly because I want to read something else and that is not fair to the book. So I put off bigger books for vacation or quiet work weeks.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Reading in doses are definitely the way to go for me too, as well as location based reading. I miss reading in coffee shops and spending afternoons there, something about reading in public, or like on vacation, helps me gauge a sense of time more and how conscious I actually spend time reading!

[@petermorgan202]

Very excited for DeLillo’s Underworld, but it seems strange that there’s less of a culture for Mammoths of Nonfiction.

[@whatpageareyouon]

Very true! Lukas especially @ a cruel readers thesis has made me aware of a breadth of nonfic mammoths I could maybe consider in the future. The hot choice right now seems to be Red Comet, the Plath biography, which is also persuading me! I haven’t read any DeLillo yet but I remember his novella releasing last year (?) and thought I might start there

[@petermorgan2753]

@@whatpageareyouon Really enjoyed the audio version of the Sontag biography. Also: Secrets of the Temple. I never thought a history of the Federal Reserve would be thrilling to me but!

[@CJReads]

The Luminaries is on my TBR but I’m genuinely scared of it lololol. I’m so quick to dnf lately I don’t want it to be a victim of that 😩

[@KabobHope]

Let me know how that one goes for you. I'm not a big book person, but The Luminaries sounds intriguing.

[@whatpageareyouon]

The first 200 pages will be a good indicator for you if you’ll like it! If it’s not your vibe by then I’d say that’s when you can put it down 🤓