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I’ve always heard The Count of Monte Cristo, Les Miserables, and War and Peace were the big 3 in literature. I read 2 of them but as I researched I found that Middlemarch should have been counted in as one of the biggies too. What large books have you read?

I’ve read quite a few, but not allways classics.
I did read The Lord of the Rings the trilogy, Gone with the Wind , The Alexandria Quartet, Ulysses and others.

Often it is not the size, but the content that makes it hard to read.

I just finished reading City of God by Augustine of Hippo as an ebook.
That was a hefty read all right.

I have read The Lord of the Rings and The Brothers Karamazov.

Piyangie wrote: "I have read The Lord of the Rings and The Brothers Karamazov."

Both great books.

Rosemarie wrote: "Piyangie wrote: "I have read The Lord of the Rings and The Brothers Karamazov."

Both great books."

Indeed, Rosemarie. I loved them both.

Augustine’s City of god has defeated me a couple of times. Maybe the longest book of all is Proust’s In search if lost time. I spent five and a half months reading it, it has some amazing writing.

I have read:
The Lord of the Rings
Kristin Lavransdatter
Gone with the Wind
Lonesome Dove

I have located in my pretty bookcase (not the plain one)

Tales and Sketches
Lonesome Dove
A Sense of History: The Best Writing from the Pages of American Heritage
The Complete Stories and Poems
Anna Karenina

I have 26 books between 500 and 799! which I call 'Thick'

Lesle wrote: "I have located in my pretty bookcase (not the plain one)

Tales and Sketches
Lonesome Dove
[book:A Sense of History: The Best Writing from the Pages of American Heritage|..."

After I read War and Peace I want to read Anna Karenina. Do you have any recommendations for a good translation?

The biggest classics I've read are:

Les Miserables
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Lord of the Rings
The Iliad & The Odyssey
Don Quixote

I liked Don Quixote, even though they did have a lot of unpleasant adventures at times.
One of my favourite big book series is Joseph and His Brothers by Thomas Mann.

Nothing like a hefty book.
a few of my favorites:
War and Peace
The Brothers Karamazov
The Lord of the Rings
The Odyssey
The Iliad
November 1916
Once An Eagle
Fathers and Crows
Against the Day

I want to read the Brothers Karamazov this year. I’ve heard good things of Fyodor Dostoyevsky! Did you like Crime and Punishment as well?

I did, very much so.

I am a big fan of Dostoevsky, especially The Idiot and The Brothers K.

Rosemarie wrote: "I am a big fan of Dostoevsky, especially The Idiot and The Brothers K."

I have not yet read The Idiot, but I loved The Brothers Karamazov. And I'm even more in love with Dostoevsky. His writing can only be described in one word - brilliant!

I just finished Anna Karenina. I don't know if it falls under the hefty classics. My copy have just 800 pages including introductory and explanatory notes.

I bought the edition of Anna Karenina because it was leather bound and very pretty. Bad I know.

Not sure if this means anything but the translation for my edition won a Literary Award:
PEN Translation Prize for Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky (2002)

I have read Vanity Fair which was pretty hefty!!

Lesle wrote: "I bought the edition of Anna Karenina because it was leather bound and very pretty. Bad I know.

Not sure if this means anything but the translation for my edition won a Literary Award:
PEN Transla..."

Now that is a treasure to have, Lesle. :-). In Russian and French classics, translation is very important to keep true to the tone and colour of the original text.

I never really thought about translation for a book before being part of this group.

I would pick up a version and say "Oh that is too thick!" this one looks better as it is thinner and get that one :>(

Right now I'm reading Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. It's certainly a hefty book but soo interesting!

I am glad you are enjoying it, Doreen, since I plan on reading it later on this year.

Rosemarie wrote: "I am a big fan of Dostoevsky, especially The Idiot and The Brothers K."

I agree, The Idiot is absolutely one of my favourite Dostoevsky book. I love Demons too.

Here are the Hefty's I own:

Tales and Sketches at 1493
Lonesome Dove at 843
A Sense of History: The Best Writing from the Pages of American Heritage at 832
The Complete Stories and Poems at 821
Anna Karenina at 800

As you can see I tend to leer away from the Heftys!

I just finished Gone with the Wind. Longer than Wuthering Heights but just as captivating.

Doreen, there are so many good books in my TBR pile or wish list it is hard to decided which way to turn!

I glad you enjoyed your Hefty reads!

Good afternoon!

Hefty Classics I own:

War and Peace 1,111 pages
Anna Karenina 803
The Way We Live Now 802
The Count of Monte Cristo 1,276
Lonesome Dove 857 Shakespeare: Complete Plays 1,196
Les Miserables 908

Quite a nice pile Jim!

I loved War and Peace, Les Miserables, and the Count of Monte Cristo. Definitely in my top 5 favorite classics for sure! Enjoy them Jim!

i do regulary switch after reading som fantasy (first two book from Wheel of time) I took the all time classic Les misérable by Hugo

Pascal, I read different books for a break too. Sometimes my mind needs a rest.

Pascal welcome to the group!
I have to agree, sometimes the ones you have to think about or study, I cannot do back to back.

i try to switch between Fantazy (or Sifi) some classics (like Tolstoi's War and Peace or Th Mann's Magic mountain) and serious non-fiction history (Ian Kershaw or Dalrymple)

Claire wrote: "Often it is not the size, but the content that makes it hard to read."

I found Moby-Dick or, The Whale to be tough on both counts, its somewhat long (544 pages) and it can be kind of hard to read. Last time I tried, I never finished it, but I really need to go back and give it another go!

Beside the big white fish book, some other big books I've read were

The Lord of the Rings (1209 pages)
The Illiad of Homer (704 pages)
The Odyssey (560 pages)

I've also got The Brothers Karamazov sitting on my night stand, taunting me to start reading all 976 pages of its Russian angst. ;-)

I loved The Brothers Karamazov! And anything by Thomas Mann.

I want to read more of Dicken's novels. I just bought David Copperfield, Bleak House and Nicholas Nickleby. Would anyone like to do a buddy read with any of these?

I found this site which has some of the longest novels ever written which may be of interest to some.

Thanks for that, Patrick. I have actually read a few of them.
A Dance to the Music of Time is a series of interconnected novels, with each novel being not too long.
A Man without Qualitieswas a lot more entertaining than I thought it would be. The main charcter is a charming guy who drifts through life and encounters a lot of interesting characters along the way, including lots of women.

Here's another site too.

It’s been a while since I’ve read them but... The Count of Monte Cristo, Les Miserables, and The Lord of the Rings.

Mary a nice set of three Hefty's!

I have Vanity Fair, The Musketeers, Gone with the wind, read them slowly on and off for like a year or two.

Helen that works! never thought of spreading it out that far while you read others!

Good suggestion. Thanks!

Reading Vanity Fair right now and absolutely loving it.

Doreen, I have not read that one. Happy you are enjoying it.

Vanity Fair is a lot of fun. People think that Victorian novels are boring, but once you start reading them you realize that they are not boring or intimidating to read.

Patrick wrote: "I want to read more of Dicken's novels. I just bought David Copperfield, Bleak House and Nicholas Nickleby. Would anyone like to do a buddy read with any of these?"

Patrick, I’d be happy to, but still on vacation. Would you be interested for end of august?

As we celbrate the 200 years of E Brontë i will try to make time for Wuthering Heights