Thursday, January 27, 2011

Booking Through Thursday: Heavy

This week, BTT asks some heavy questions: "What’s the largest, thickest, heaviest book you ever read? Was it because you had to? For pleasure? For school?"

OK, I'm going to assume "largest, thickest, heaviest" means we're talking length, not weight (either physical or intellectual). And at first it really seemed like this would be an easy topic, but it turned out to be more difficult than I thought. I've always kept lists of the books I've read, but I didn't always include numbers of pages. So I had to rely on GoodReads and Amazon, since I no longer have copies of most of the books. And after much searching and list-making, I found that the biggest (longest, heaviest, whatever) book I've ever read was probably Bleak House by Charles Dickens. It's listed at around a thousand pages (or just over) in most of the paperback editions, although I think the one I read might have been a little shorter. Read it for a college English class in Victorian literature. Didn't realize it was the "heaviest" book I would ever read, but I certainly knew it was the bleakest!

12 comments:

  1. I too, had to do a little research to find out how many pages my largest book was. I read it for fun.

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  2. I haven't kept lists of all the books I've read, I'm only just now doing that ... so I had to go off of vague memories and research on amazon :)

    Also love your joke at the end!

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  3. That's one of Dickens' books I haven't yet read.

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  4. That's my favourite Dickens! I had thicker ones in my book case though and I never thought of that one as very heavy...
    http://dawntreader-island2.blogspot.com/2011/01/booking-through-thursday-largest.html

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  5. here's mine http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/01/booking-through-thursday_27.html

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  6. I also had to research pages. Bleak House was one I checked, but according the library catalog, it was one page less than the one I wrote about: Gone With The Wind. Plus, I had a better story to go with GWTW!
    http://www.joyweesemoll.com/2011/01/27/booking-through-thursday-3/

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  7. I've not read this book , not sure if I have enough interest in it to follow through if I started.


    www.thesocialfrog.com

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  8. I've never read Bleak House and don't really want to.

    Mine is probably The Count of Monte Cristo, which I loved.

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  9. That's a whopper! Mine would probably be Under the Dome (trade paperback edition is 1000+ pages, heavy & thick). I also have The Stand (1100+ pages) but it's in mass market paperback, so it's not too big.

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  10. I have not read this one. Mine are Les Miserables and House Divided. I am currently attempting War and Peace. Love those chunksters.

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  11. Bleak House is on my long TBR list. I've been told that I'll like it (by folks who know me pretty well)...we'll see. If I ever get around to it. :-)

    Here's my BTT: http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2011/01/booking-through-thursday_27.html

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  12. Anna Karenina. Mostly because it was an old fashioned hardcover and it was awkward, even to hold in my hands for the purpose of reading, let alone toting around. I read it because I wanted to, simple as that. :D

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