Normally I read novels in the 100,000 word range (or 400 pages), because this is what I'm trying to write with my manuscript. I know Stephen King writes some thick books and I've read 'The Stand'. I'm not interested in reading more of his work right now. If this gets no replies than I'm going to buy 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. The longer the better, I really want to see whats in a 1200 page masterpiece. And don't even bother recommending 'Atlas Shrugged'. That book is so boring it made me want to reevaluate my life.
What about "Moby Dick"? I'm pretty sure it's got to be in the 900+ pages range. Granted, though, I found it way more boring than Atlas Shrugged (which I actually did like, minus the diatribes). I was forced to read it senior year of high school and just gave up and used SparkNotes after giving it a fair shot. Some people like it, though, so maybe you'll have better luck with it than I did.
There is the "The Recognitions" by William Gaddis. That comes in at over nine-hundred pages. "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace is over a thousand. Read a lot of reviews by average readers and professional critics alike, though. These books are definitely not for everyone.
Some of Thomas Pynchon's books go into the 900 page area but they will not be the best introduction to him as a writer.
As far as I am concerned, "The Count of Monte Cristo"" is a masterpiece of interestingness, and it's around 1200 pages. If you want a sci fi, I really enjoyed Hamilton's "Void Trilogy". And the entire Millennium Trilogy by Larsson is really good (must be read together) - The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.
michener's go that long, i think... and, btw, all novels are 'fiction'... so 'fiction novel' is redundant...
If you mean more on the fantastic side of fiction, but not necessarily too goofy with elves and all that then I really liked the book Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanne Clarke.
I have to second Jazzabel on The Count of Monte Cristo. Tom Jones Is funny but hard to get into because it IS so long. The Song of Ice and Fire is also a pretty long series, the books being 400 to 600 pages long.
Writers in the '60s played with this considerably; take Truman Capote's In Cold Blood or Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song, both of which are essentially non-fictional novels (the latter is, incidentally, over a thousand pages, and is probably the quickest thousand pages you'll ever read).
thanks for the suggestions. I've written all of them down. Tomorrow when I go to the bookstore I will look them up and pick something off this list. Also keep the recommendations coming in. They don't have to be 900 pagers. If you know a good 700 page book than tell me, but I really want to read something the size of a NYC phone book.
Jeffrey Archer's As the Crow Flies, L. Ron Hubbard's Battlefield Earth and Robert McCammon's Speaks the Nightbird (two volumes) were all quite big and I enjoyed them all.
After researching all these books I bought this one. I'm very happy with it so far. It pushes my reading level, and has good story telling at the same time, which is exactly what I was looking for. And there's over 950 pages of it!
Hi Mark - Ken Follett writes well and his latest (I think it's his latest) Fall of Giants is well of 900+ pages. Happy reading and it would be interesting to hear what you do read.
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. A long novel as requested, award winning (well-deserved) as it's an excellent tale.
Infinite Jest is still on my to-do list, but DFW was an amazing guy and writer. Look up his interviews and speeches on youtube; they will actually make you a better person.
Isn't The Lord Of The Rings considered to be essentially one novel that happens to be published in three separate bindings? Combined, and leaving out The Hobbit which really is a separate novel, IMO, it totals about a thousand pages.
The Redemption of Atlhalus by David Eddings. Don't think it quite reaches the 900+ mark but it's a spectacular read.
I seem to recall that LotR is technically nine (?) books, usually published in three volumes. Generally I wouldn't worry about the number of pages -- a book should have the number of pages it takes to tell the story, and I get frustrated by evident padding used to get the word/page count up (for example, the shopping lists and all of the computer specs apparently copied from sales brochures in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, although fortunately there was less of that in later volumes). But since the original questioner seems to want it for a technical reason -- to see how somebody fills that many pages -- then I suppose it makes sense. Most of the cases I can think of, though, where an author has filled 900 pages well it has been as a series, and it seems to be mainly fantasy where that sort of length is expected, but you could try Trollope's Can you forgive her (which Stephen King nicknamed Can you possibly finish it.)
Third vote here for Count of Monte Cristo. One of the greatest, most moving novels ever. I also suggest watching the Japanese anime of it before or after you read it.
