I Love Big Books

I read a blog recently where a lady was talking about "The problem with 500-page-books". She claims that they are taking forever and she is getting bored even before she reached the middle of the novel.

I SO do NOT agree with that lady (and told her as much). To me, a book only starts on page 300, the rest is introduction. ;-) I hate short stories, they always leave me feel empty, I didn't get to know the character, the situation, a short story is like an article in a newspaper, you just get the most important stuff. My only problem with 500 page books, they are still too short!!!

The longer the book, the better. You can get to know the characters, the whole situation, you become part of the story, of the family. I don't think I'm alone in this, that's why people like to read series. A lot of the very successful books of the last years have at least been trilogies. And a lot of the most successful books of all times have more than 500 pages.

I see long books as an opportunity to meet someone entirely, something you can remember for the rest of your life. A shorter one is like meeting someone once or twice, have a good time with them but then move on to the next person. A long story is more like a marriage.

Of course, it depends on your idea about reading, your approach. Do you just want to read a book to while away boredom? Or do you really want to get to know the story, the characters, do you want to finish the book and find you have learned something?

This might also be a reason why I like to read more than one book at a time. I don't want to say good-bye to them too soon. I am a fast reader and even a very long book would never take me longer than a week.