Not all writers agree with the statement “Brevity is the sister of talent.” In today's selection we offer the longest novels in the history of literature. The authors spent years creating them. But their reading will require a lot of time.
By the way, the novel “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy was in the top ten, so that every Russian student can proudly say that he is familiar with one of the longest books firsthand.
10. Yamaoka
This novel was published in parts in Japanese newspapers. If you collect all the parts in a single work, you get at least 40 volumes. The plot of the novel is dedicated to the first shogun of the Tokugawa clan, uniting the country and establishing peace in it.
9. Sholokhov
All four books that make up the novel occupy about 1,500 pages. In the novel, 982 heroes, of which 363 are real historical characters. For "Quiet Don", Sholokhov, with the consent of Stalin, was awarded the Nobel Prize.
8. Hugo
Hugo created one of his main works for eighteen years - from 1834 to 1852. Then the author several times processed the text, adding and removing various fragments.
7. Proust
This is a whole cycle of 7 novels, in which there are more than two thousand characters. Books abound in emotional outbursts, bizarre twists in the narrative. In total, “In Search of Lost Time” has more than one and a half million words, which occupy about 3,200 pages.
6. Galsworthy
The novel of the Nobel laureate impresses with clearly prescribed images of heroes. The work covers the history of the family from 1680 to the 1930s. "Saga" formed the basis of 6 adaptations, the latest of which has a duration of 11.5 hours.
5. Tolstoy
Everyone who has read War and Peace can be divided into two categories. Some of the novel is completely delighted, while others cannot stand it. But the epoch-making work in three volumes leaves no one indifferent.
4. Palliser
This work is a modern stylization of a Victorian novel. Each of the two volumes has a volume of 800 pages, depending on the publication. The plot is full of mysteries, symbolism and unexpected twists.
3. Joy
The novel is considered one of the best works of English prose. Ulysses was written over seven long years, and it tells about one day of the Dublin Jew Leopold Bloom. The novel was first published in parts from 1918 to 1920.
2. d’Yurfe
The novel was written over 21 years of hard work. The work in the first edition fit on 5,399 pages. Published in 1607, the novel tells about the love of the shepherdess Astrea and the shepherd Celadon. The book is full of false novels and poetic inclusions.
1. Jules
The novel of the French playwright, writer and poet is published in 27 volumes. The work has more than two million words on 4,959 pages. The table of contents of the world's longest novel has about 50 pages. It is noteworthy that the book does not have a single and clear storyline, and the number of characters exceeds four hundred.
