Reading Big Books

I favor long books over shorter ones; there’s something about a novel with hundreds of pages that I find intriguing. An author has so much space to dive into all the nuances of a plot and the characters, that it feels as if I’m getting to know a person for the first time. 

However, I know that many people find these tomes intimidating, especially extra long classics. Most of these books aren’t difficult to read, they just require more time and patience. They look more intimidating than they appear and the more you read longer novels, the easier they become to approach. 

Here are a few tactics to help you tackle that massive novel you’ve been wanted to read, but may be a little apprehensive to start:

• Take your time - As I like to say, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t set a deadline and just go with the flow. Sometimes setting a date to have a book completed by can put unnecessary pressure around the task. Reading is not a chore; it’s a pastime that should be savored and enjoyed. This isn’t a homework assignment. Slow and steady wins the race. Savor it. 

• Read with a friend - I tackled Middlemarch with a friend. Having a friend to discuss the book as you move through the text helps to keep you motivated to keep going. It also helps you to bounce ideas off one another and makes the reading process more engaging. Also, creating a common goal with another person helps you to keep each other accountable to push through to the end. 

• Annotate/Take notes - I annotate every book I read and I also have a book journal where I write my overall thoughts on a text. This helps me to keep track of what I’m reading and this helps me to write my reviews. In an exceptionally large book, stop every so often to write out/recap what you’ve just read. When I was making my way through The Brothers Karamazov, I stopped after each part (the book is broken up into four parts) and went back through my annotations from each part and then wrote to my overall thoughts, questions and favorite quotes on that section. These notes are helpful when you need to refer back to something to refresh your memory. 

• Be patient with yourself - Don’t expect yourself to understand everything that’s going on in a text. Some of these books have been studied by scholars for decades and they are still learning from these major works of fiction. That’s part of what joy of reading - every time you revisit a text, it makes more sense as you notice things that you might have missed the first time. If you are reading one of these large texts and you’re having difficulty understanding it, then do some research! There is nothing wrong without googling notes for books to help guide you through the main plot points. Watch or read book reviews to help you get a basic understanding, and seeing what other people pick up on in a text help you to refine your own analytical abilities. Don’t feel bad if you miss some things - no two people read the same book. Allow your personal life experiences help you navigate what you glean from a text.  

This is how I approach large novels. Do you like reading bigger novels? What’s a massive book that you want to read that you’ve been avoiding? 

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