Roman in the world is one person. The longest book in the world by volume

“Tokugawa Ieyasu” by the Japanese writer Sohachi Yamaoka - about 40 volumes in book version. Yes, I decided not to make a secret to which the reader would have to wade through the jungle of various information and comments, and immediately named the winner. Those who are interested in nuances and terminological subtleties are welcome to the following study.

When talking about the longest novel, we, of course, first of all think about volume. And the question of how to calculate the length of a work seems naive at first glance. We can copy the text of the work into in electronic format and see how many words or symbols appear in it. But the very mention of the Japanese author leads to the common observation that in languages ​​with hieroglyphic graphics, one character is one word. This means that the text in Japanese will contain fewer characters than its translation, for example, into Russian. But in the paper version, both options can be approximately the same due to the size of the hieroglyphs, which are usually printed larger than the letters.

The book version is a completely separate issue. Some publications fit “War and Peace” into one book, and others into two. The number of pages may also vary due to different fonts and sheet sizes. But the twice-mentioned Sohachi Yamaoka seems to be hinting that truly long novels run into dozens of volumes.

Question 2. What is a novel?

This would also seem to be a ridiculous question. We all intuitively understand that Crime and Punishment and The Master and Margarita are novels. And that “Eugene Onegin” is also a novel, in verse. But “The Horse's Name” is a story. And the point here is not only in volume, but also in the essential features of the novel, which distinguish it from other prose forms: the presence of several plot lines, a certain number of main and minor characters etc.

By the way, regarding length, in the history of literature there is an example of a very long work that is technically a story. "Ulysses" by the Irish writer James Joyce stretched to almost a thousand pages, but in it one story line and one main character is Leopold Bloom, so it is still a story.

But another nuance is more important for us. Can we consider a novel a work in which new adventures happen to the main characters in each chapter? The film adaptation of “The Idiot” in ten episodes is a multi-part film. And “Secrets of the Investigation” is a series. I think the cinematic analogy is clear. Can we consider the stories of Don Quixote and Sancho Panzo a novel or is it a collection of stories compiled into one book? I hope it will now be more clear that the terminological research is given for a reason.

"Tokugawa Ieyasu"

Let's finally figure out our winner, especially since he belongs to the category of never-ending stories brought together. You are unlikely to find the novel “Tokugawa Ieyasu” by the Japanese writer Sohachi Yamaoka in a bookstore. The thing is that this work can only conditionally be called a novel. Yamaoka published chapters of his work in a daily newspaper starting in 1951. No one carried out a special publication. However, it is understandable: it’s no joke, if all the parts of the work are combined together, you will get a hefty 40-volume publication.

There are hardly a dozen people in the world who have read the novel from beginning to end. But we know the name of the main character - he is the first shogun from the Tokugawa clan, who united the country rising sun and established peace in it.

Yamaoka's novel was published in a separate edition, and before that it was distributed in many issues of Japanese newspapers, which is why it can deservedly be called published twice. Novel American writer Henry Darger's "The History of Vivian Girls" was not only never published, but it was found after the author's death. In the novel, the Earth is only a satellite of another, larger planet, and the plot describes the military resistance of child slaves to cruel enslavers. Of course, you are intrigued and want to know the volume of the work. The answer is: 10 weighty volumes, which in total contain more than 15 thousand pages! No one has yet counted the number of words, but scientists suggest that there are about 10 million.

"People of Goodwill"

Let's move on to published novels that you can get, open and read. Even if not in Russian. The record holder here is the French writer Romain Jules (real name Louis Henri Jean Farigul). He set the task of understanding in detail the reasons for the troubles of the inhabitants of France over a quarter of a century, from 1908 to 1933. The result turned out to be large-scale - 27 volumes, occupying 5 thousand pages. The table of contents alone spans 50 pages!

Interestingly, People of Goodwill was translated into English. Publishing house “Peter Davis” published the novel in 14, even more weighty, volumes. The word count in both cases exceeds 2 million.

"Astraea"

A novel written over the course of 21 years by another French writer, Honoré d'Urfe was also published. In addition, its volume is even larger: the love story of the shepherdess Astraea and the shepherd Celadon is 5400 pages. However, we mention “Astrea” after Romain Jules because the publication dates back to 1607 and today this novel is unlikely to be available in its entirety. But you can read the candidate’s dissertation philological sciences Tatyana Kozhanova “The problem of the comic in Honore d’Urfé’s novel “Astrea”” (Moscow, 2005).

"In Search of Lost Time"

Not a novel, but a whole cycle of 7 novels - “In Search of Lost Time” by another Frenchman, the sophisticated Marcel Proust, is only slightly inferior to “Men of Good Will”: 3200 pages and 1.5 million words. If instead of working you read for 8 hours a day at a speed of, say, 40 pages per hour (that is, 320 pages daily), then reading the Proustian cycle will take you 10 working days, or 2 calendar weeks. If you read 40 pages a day with Saturday and Sunday off, then In Search of Lost Time will take you 4 months.

Graphomaniac outsiders

May the titans of literature forgive me the sports term, but writers whom we considered incredible graphomaniacs find themselves, if not at the bottom, then somewhere in the middle of the impromptu table of the longest novels. If we talk about Russian writers, it turns out that the first one that comes to mind, “War and Peace,” is by no means the leader of the list. The work of Count Tolstoy contains about 1,400 pages of the modern edition. While " Quiet Don"Mikhail Sholokhov takes 1500 pages. The researchers also calculated that in the novel Nobel laureate 982 heroes, of which 363 are real historical figures.

But we also had authors who decided to write multi-volume epic descriptions. Most of them are unlikely to be heard by the modern reader. So, for example, the writer Georgy Grebenshchikov will be recognized by his last name. Being under the significant influence of Roerich, who managed to paint 7 thousand canvases during his life, the musician’s namesake wrote an epic novel in 12 parts, “The Churaevs,” published in Paris and New York in 1937.

Morality

Services have recently appeared on the Internet where you can challenge yourself with a literary challenge: I will read so many books this year. And you need to indicate the number yourself. To check after a year whether you coped with the word given to you.

Finding out the longest novel is, of course, good, interesting and entertaining. But don’t forget that in life quality can be more important than size. For example, at my parents’ house I came across a 12-volume collected works of F. M. Dostoevsky, which I bought as a student, as it turned out from the surviving receipt - on July 3, 2004. The collection includes all works by Fyodor Mikhailovich of large and medium form. Having devoured the first volume, I thought it would be nice to finally fulfill my student dream of reading all of Dostoevsky. I don’t take on any obligations, because you shouldn’t give your words if you can’t keep them. But, God willing, I will read for myself much more than the longest novel - the great writer embodied in his novels!

In conclusion, I urge you to devote at least 20 minutes a day to a book, and you will remember what an indescribable pleasure it is to read.

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Under Russian classical literature we mean the works of classics: writers who are not only exemplary, but also who have become symbols of Russian culture. Only the person who knows classical works, appreciates their merits, feels them inner beauty, can be considered truly educated. Today you will find out by opinion women's magazine Charla.

10 best books of Russian literature: “The Brothers Karamazov”

"The Brothers Karamazov" was conceived as the first part of the novel “The Life of a Great Sinner.” The first sketches were made in 1878, the novel was completed in 1880. However, Dostoevsky did not have time to complete his plans: the writer died a few months after the publication of the book. Most of The Brothers Karamazov was written in Staraya Russa- the prototype of Skotoprigonyevsk, where the main action takes place.

Perhaps this novel can be considered the most complex and controversial work of the great Russian writer. Critics have dubbed him an "intellectual detective", many call him best work about the mysterious Russian soul. This is the last and one of the most famous novels Dostoevsky, it was filmed both here and in the West, where, by the way, this work is held in special esteem. What is this novel about? Each reader answers this question differently. The author himself defined his great creation as “a novel about blasphemy and its refutation.” One thing is certain, this is one of the most profound philosophical works world literature about sin, mercy, the eternal struggle taking place in the human soul.

10 best books of Russian literature: “The Idiot” by Fyodor Dostoevsky

"Idiot"- Dostoevsky's fifth novel. Published from 1868 to 1869 in the Russian Messenger magazine. This novel occupies a special place in the writer’s work: it is considered one of Dostoevsky’s most mysterious works. Main character books - Lev Nikolaevich Myshkin, whom the author himself called a “positively wonderful” person, the embodiment of Christian goodness and virtue. Conducted most life is closed, Prince Myshkin decided to go out into the world, but he did not know what cruelty, hypocrisy, and greed he would have to face: for his unselfishness, honesty, philanthropy and kindness, the prince was contemptuously nicknamed “idiot”….

10 best books of Russian literature: “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy

Epic novel by Leo Tolstoy "War and Peace" about the times of two wars against Napoleon - 1805 and 1812 - one of the most famous works not only Russian, but also world literature. This book is one of the eternal classics, because it reveals with deep skill the main components human life: war and peace, life and death, love and betrayal, courage and cowardice. Greatest epic work has had tremendous success all over the world: the book has been filmed several times, plays and operas have been staged based on it. The novel consists of four parts, the first part was published in 1865 in the Russian Messenger.

Tragic romance about the love of married Anna Karenina for the handsome officer Vronsky - this is one of the greatest masterpieces of Russian literature, still relevant today. "All happy families are similar to each other, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” - these lines are familiar to every person.

"Anna Karenina"- a complex, deep, psychologically sophisticated work that captures the reader from the first lines and does not let go until the end. The novel by the brilliant psychologist Tolstoy captivates with its absolute artistic authenticity and dramatic narrative, forcing the reader to watch intensely how the relationship will develop between Anna Karenina and Vronsky, Levin and Kitty. It is not surprising that this book captivated not only Russian readers, but also Europe and America.

10 best books of Russian literature: “The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov

Bulgakov wrote this brilliant novel over the course of eleven years, constantly changing and adding to the text. However, Bulgakov never managed to see it published: a full thirty years passed before one of the greatest works of Russian prose of the twentieth century was allowed to be published. "Master and Margarita"- the most mysterious and mystical novel in Russian literature. This book has received worldwide recognition: many countries around the world are trying to comprehend its secrets.

10 best books of Russian literature: “Dead Souls” by Nikolai Gogol

Gogol's immortal work "Dead Souls" about human cunning and weaknesses must be in home library. Gogol showed very clearly and colorfully human souls: after all, “dead souls” are not only those that Chichikov bought, but also the souls of living people, buried under their petty interests.

The novel was originally conceived in three volumes. The first volume was published in 1842. However further events have a mystical connotation: having finished the second volume, Gogol completely burned it - only a few chapters remained in drafts. And ten days after that the writer died...

10 best books of Russian literature: “Doctor Zhivago” by Boris Pasternak

"Doctor Zhivago"- the pinnacle of Pasternak’s creativity as a prose writer. The writer created his novel over ten years from 1945 to 1955. This is a sincere and poignant love story set against the backdrop of the chaos of the Civil War, which is accompanied by poems by the main character, Yuri Zhivago. These poems, written by Pasternak in different periods his life reveals in the best possible way the unique facets of the author’s poetic talent. For Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak received the Nobel Prize on October 23, 1958. But in the writer’s homeland, unfortunately, the novel became the cause of a huge scandal, and besides, the book was long years banned. Pasternak was one of the few who defended freedom of speech to the end. Perhaps this is what cost him his life...

10 best books of Russian literature: collection of stories “Dark Alleys” by Ivan Bunin

Stories « Dark alleys» - frank, sincere, exquisitely sensual stories about love. Perhaps these stories can be considered best example Russian love prose. Laureate Nobel Prize, brilliant writer was one of the few authors of his time (the stories were written in 1938) who spoke so openly, sincerely and beautifully about the relationship between a man and a woman, about beautiful love that can last a lifetime... “Dark Alleys” will definitely appeal to all women and girls as some of the most poignant stories about love.

10 best books of Russian literature: “Quiet Don” by Mikhail Sholokhov

Epic novel "Quiet Don" in four volumes was published in 1940 in Roman-Gazeta. This is one of the largest works of Russian literature, which brought Mikhail Sholokhov world fame. Moreover, in 1965 the writer was awarded the Nobel Prize “For artistic power and the integrity of the epic about the Don Cossacks at a turning point for Russia.” This is a grand novel about fate Don Cossacks, a fascinating saga about love, devotion, betrayal and hatred. A book about which controversy continues to this day: some literary scholars believe that the authorship does not actually belong to Sholokhov. In any case, this work deserves to be read.

10 best books of Russian literature: “The Gulag Archipelago” by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Another Nobel Prize winner, classic Russian literature, outstanding writer of the twentieth century - Alexander Solzhenitsyn, author of the world-famous documentary epic "GULAG Archipelago", which tells about repressions in Soviet years. This is more than a book: it is an entire study based on personal experience the author (Solzhenitsyn himself was a victim of repression), documents and testimonies of many eyewitnesses. This is a book about suffering, tears, blood. But at the same time, it shows that a person can always remain human under the most difficult circumstances.

Of course, this is far from full list outstanding books of Russian literature. Nevertheless, these are books that every person who appreciates and honors Russian culture should know.

Alisa Terentyeva

Not all writers agree with the statement “Brevity is the sister of talent.” In addition, many of us prefer that our favorite book or story never ends. Below is a list of the ten longest novels in the world, based on estimated word count.

Sironia, Texas is a novel by American author Madison Cooper that describes life in the fictional town of Sironia, Texas at the beginning of the 20th century. The book contains approx. 840,000 words and over 1,700 pages, making it one of the longest novels on English language. It was written over 11 years and published in 1952. Awarded literary prize Houghton Mifflin.

Women and Men is a 1987 novel by Joseph McElroy. Contains 1,192 pages and 850,000 words. Considered the most difficult novel in the world to read.

Poor Fellow My Country is a novel by Australian writer Xavier Herbert that won the Miles Franklin Award. Was published in 1975. Consists of 1,463 pages and 852,000 words. Is the longest Australian fiction ever written. The theme of the novel includes issues of Aboriginal rights, and also describes the life and problems of Northern Australia.

"Son of Ponni" (Ponniyin Selvan) - Tamil historical novel, written by Kalki Krishnamurti. Is one of greatest works Tamil literature. Tells the story of Prince Arulmozhivarman (later crowned Rajaraja Chola I), one of the prominent kings of the Chola dynasty who ruled in the 10th–11th centuries. The novel was published in the 1950s. Contains 2,400 pages and 900,000 words.

Kelidar is a monumental novel by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi. One of the most famous Persian novels and certainly one of the best. Contains 2,836 pages in five volumes, consists of ten books and 950,000 words. Depicts the life of a Kurdish family from an Iranian village in Khorasan province between 1946–1949 who faces hostility from their neighbors despite their cultural similarities.

Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady - epistolary novel English writer Samuel Richardson, written in 1748. Consists of 1,534 pages and 984,870 words. Included in the list of 100 best novels of all times. It tells tragic story a heroine whose pursuit of virtue is constantly thwarted by her family.

Zettels Traum is a work by West German writer Arno Schmidt, published in 1970. Contains 1,536 pages and 1,100,000 words. The story here is told in the form of notes, collages and typewritten pages.

Venmurasu is a Tamil novel by writer Jeyamohan. This is the author's most ambitious work, which he began in January 2014 and later announced that he would write it every day for ten years. The total length of the novel is expected to be 25,000 pages. As of December 2017, 15 books have been published online and in print. So far they total 11,159 pages and 1,556,028 words.

In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu) is a French epic novel, the main work of the writer Marcel Proust, created by him during 1908/1909–1922 and published in seven parts from 1913 to 1927. Tells about the author's childhood memories and teenage experiences in aristocratic France late XIX- early 20th century, examines the waste of time and the lack of meaning in the world. The novel consists of 3,031 pages and 1,267,069 words.

Artamène ou le Grand Cyrus is a French river novel originally published in ten volumes in the 17th century by Madeleine de Scudiri and her brother Georges de Scudiri. In total, in original edition has 13,095 pages and 1,954,300 words. It is considered the longest novel in the history of world literature. By type it belongs to secular novels(with key) where modern people and the events are thinly disguised as classic characters from Roman, Greek or Persian mythology.

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Here are the top 12 longest works in the history of literature, which prove that not everyone catchphrase you have to believe blindly.

James Joyce (1882-1941)
"Ulysses" (1922)

The main character is Leopold Bloom, a Dublin Jew. The day is filled with events - Bloom manages to visit a funeral, on the shore of the bay, in a maternity hospital, in a brothel and in several other places in between. The plot of the novel revolves around the betrayal of Bloom's wife. However, it is impossible to describe this work in such a flat and everyday way.

In the semantic depths of Ulysses one can see analogies and allusions to many works and heroes of world literature, to the archetypes of the feminine and masculine, and the relations of generations. The most obvious, of course, is the appeal to Homer's Odyssey, which Joyce considered one of the most universal myths

1926

The novel does not have a single style - the author parodies or imitates different styles and different authors, as if playing with all layers of the world literary heritage. This is a mirror novel, which reflects the whole world, merged into one city and all times, united in one day.

“Stream of consciousness,” the style of Joyce’s novel, allows you to see the characters from the inside, as if trying on someone else’s life, which, it turns out, is not so different from your own.

The plot is a boy's search for his father and an attempt to unravel the reasons for the series of events that haunt the hero and his mother. The novel, despite its considerable volume (from 800 pages, depending on the edition), has a very clear and rigid structure in which every word and action, even seemingly trivial, is in its place.

Each of the narrators within the novel has his own subjective view of what is happening, which in no way helps the reader understand where the truth is hidden. She, as they say, is always somewhere nearby.

A very atmospheric and multi-layered novel in which the author managed to maintain the intrigue until the last word.

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)
"War and Peace" (1865-1869)

Americans call “War and Peace” one of the main works of mankind. Well, those who read the original are divided into two groups: some are delighted with the novel, and others cannot stand it. This does not count those who did not master the text at all.

To some, Lev Nikolayevich's language seems cumbersome and clumsy; some even call him a graphomaniac. And, for example, Boris Strugatsky believes that: “the language can be clumsy and filled with Gallicisms (like Leo Tolstoy), clumsy, incorrect and even unnatural (like Dostoevsky), abstruse and difficult to read (like Platonov or Velimir Khlebnikov) - and when all the while being able to have a strong, sometimes inexplicable, purely emotional impact on the reader.”

Everyone who was forced to go through Tolstoy's novel within the framework school curriculum, have their own opinion and vision. As a rule, this is difficult reading for a teenager. Maybe the secret is to read “War and Peace” at the right time, that is, when you can already understand what family, duty and love for the Fatherland are. In general, when abstract concepts become real things.

John Galsworthy (1867-1933)
"The Forsyte Saga" (1906-1921)

Generation after generation of Forsytes pass before the reader in three large cycles of novels - “The Forsyte Saga”, “ Contemporary comedy" and "End of the chapter." Each of the Forsytes is an extraordinary personality, the characters’ characters are written so subtly by the author that over time it begins to seem as if they are not only living people, but also people you know well. Family ties, which at first are difficult to track, become clear and familiar, each figure of the family takes its place and one overall picture is formed.

And the scenery for the life of the Forsytes are the events that happen in the world. And, of course, money. After all, Forsyte money is a kind of refrain of this story. They love, fight, die and are born against the background of capital.

“Forsytes, you know, these are people who manage their capital with the expectation that their grandchildren, if they were to die before their parents, are forced to draw up a will for their property, which, however, comes into their possession only after death their parents. Do you understand this? Well, I don’t either, but be that as it may, it’s a fact; We live by the principle: “as long as it is possible to keep capital in the family, it should not leave it.”

Marcel Proust (1871-1922)
"In Search of Lost Time" (1913-1927)

Proust did not have time to edit the last three volumes; they were published after his death. The first volume of the cycle, “Towards Swann,” was not very favorably received by critics, but this did not bother Proust, because main goal In this novel, he considered self-knowledge through associative perception - emotional outbursts, quirks of memory.

This quote is the leitmotif of the work, the truest definition of lost time, never found by Proust himself or anyone else:

“The past is out of reach, in some thing (in the feeling we get from it), where we least expected to find it. Whether we find this thing during our lifetime or whether we never find it is pure chance.”

Victor Hugo (1802—1885)
"Les Misérables" (1862)

The writer himself spoke about him like this:

“As long as poverty and ignorance reign on earth, books like this cannot be useless. I wish to destroy evil rock, gravitating over humanity; I denounce slavery, I persecute poverty, I eradicate ignorance, I cure diseases, I illuminate darkness, I abhor hatred. That's what I believe and that's why I wrote Les Misérables."

Indeed, this novel is about the fact that nothing is clear, that no person can be labeled, that judges will decide much more fairly than us - who is right and who is wrong. The characters are lively and three-dimensional, they live outside the time and space of the novel, although Hugo’s contemporary France plays an important role in the work.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821—1881)
"The Brothers Karamazov" (1880)

Dostoevsky conceived “The Karamazovs” as the first part of “The Great Sinner,” but did not have time to realize his plan. However, even without a continuation, this, without exaggeration, great work provides many topics for thought.

You can believe or not believe in the special faith of Russians, share or not share the attitude towards the “mysterious Russian soul”, you can be critical of the detective component of the novel - Dostoevsky is unlikely to be a competitor to Agatha Christie, that’s not the point.

The essence is in the Karamazov family, with all its background and background, the psychological roots of the behavior of each of the members of this family and the common root for all - provincial Russia, the Orthodox faith.

Twenty-seven volumes, more than four hundred characters, twenty-five years of the country’s life - that’s a lot. There is no unity of action or plot - this novel is like a journey through the layers of French society at the beginning of the twentieth century - lawyers and officials, workers and artists, bankers and teachers pass before the reader.

What is especially interesting is that each of Roman’s heroes, like a living person, develops, changes, reacts to events in external and internal life - this is not a faceless series of characters, this is a community of individuals, people of good will.

Sohachi Yamaoka (1907-1978)

(published in Japanese daily newspapers since 1951)

This is the story of the shogun who united Japan into a single country. A reformer who brought peace to his country and problems to the foreigners who inhabited it.

It was Tokugawa Ieyasu who began the mass repression of Christians, and also forbade the Japanese from sailing and even the construction of ships capable of long voyages. And this despite the fact that his adviser was the Englishman William Adams.

The longest American novel. This book cannot be found in Russian - perhaps because it is specific American work, or maybe it’s just too much work for translators.

Sironia, Texas is one of those American novels that celebrates small towns and their simple lives. Where everything is leisurely, everyone knows everyone, main line life for everyone is Main Street, and all newcomers, even after twenty years of living side by side, remain a little strangers.

First edition

The heroine, the girl Clarissa, dies, dishonored by the socialite Robert Lovelace. The antihero's surname has become a household name, although today not many people know where the name “Lovelace” actually came from.

This novel is modern taste not too “driving”, it was a breakthrough not only in Richardson’s work, but also generally significant against the background of other works of that time - tragic death the innocent victim, noble revenge and the punishment of the scoundrel - a fascinating plot for the leisurely audience of the eighteenth century, not spoiled by the events of the novels. The public was especially struck by the lack of a happy ending. The writer was even offered to rewrite the work, but he insisted on his own and “The Story of a Young Lady” has come to us in the same form in which it was first presented to readers.

Honore d'Urfe

At one time, it created a sensation and enjoyed tremendous popularity in the circles of aristocrats in France and Germany. By the way, the images of many of the characters in the book were written with contemporary to the author famous people. This novel was highly regarded by many writers and playwrights - for example, Moliere, Corneille and La Rochefoucauld.

It's amazing how much time an author spends writing the longest novel of his life. Most likely, writing a novel takes many years of the author's life: individual passages and parts of the book need to be put together, then published and presented to the public.

However, no one blames the authors for such a lengthy process of creating a book, since everyone understands perfectly well that not every story can be summarized in a couple of chapters, moreover, the author must take into account all the details in order to convey his idea to the reader. Many of us prefer that our favorite book or story never ends. Below are the longest novels in the world. You will be interested to familiarize yourself with this list.

1. Vikram Seth "A Suitable Groom"

If one had to choose the world's longest novel based on word count, surely Vikram Seth's A Suitable Groom would rank in the top ten, as it has a whopping 593,674 words! The book describes the lives of four families, and, in parallel with this description, the author illuminates the historical and social events that took place in that era. The novel is full of many different details and is rich in bright, colorful, lively descriptions, which helped the author to carefully and thoroughly convey to the reader the atmosphere of the time in which the events of this story unfolded.

2. Ayn Rand "Atlas Shrugged"

In the novel Atlas Shrugged there is a story about Dagny Taggert - this main character, which is trying with all its might to save its transcontinental railway from crisis and death. Against the backdrop of unfolding events, Dagny learns to think and act independently of the principles of the time. There are 565,223 words in the book! This is truly a story worth reading as it beautifully describes how to fight for what you care about and what you believe in.

3. Carl Sandburg "The Memory Stone"

The historical novel "The Memory Stone" by American writer Carl Sandburg consists of 532,030 words. The author tells the reader about the long path of development of the American Dream, which lasted more than three centuries. The book covers a lot long period: Describes the colonization of America, the events of the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the Second World War. The novel itself meant a lot to Carl Sandburg, given the fact that even the red headstone of Sandburg's grave is named the Stone of Remembrance.

4. James Clavell "Gaijin"

"Gaijin" tells about the events of 1862 that took place in Japan. This was a time when foreigners were traveling to Japan in search of new markets to trade, but it eventually culminated in the Opium Wars (two 19th century wars initiated by Britain and France against Imperial China). The novel contains romance, history, and drama, with a total word count of 478,700. The only logical explanation for such a large volume of pages is that the author had to describe material that was too difficult to comprehend.

5. Hubbard L. Ron “Mission Earth”

Believe it or not, there are a whopping 1.2 million words in the book Mission Earth! Many people think that in fact this is not one novel, but a collection of short stories, but the author still insisted that Mission Earth is one complete novel, published in ten volumes. The plot of the book is based on the story of alien invasion and war between planets; events unfold either on Earth or on the planet Voltar.

6. Madison Cooper "Sironia, Texas"

Sironia, Texas, written by Madison Cooper, is not far removed from the 1,100,000 word Mission Earth novel! The author describes the life of an ordinary American town in the first twenty years of the 20th century in the novel thirty main characters! The book is not easy to read, since it is difficult for a modern reader to perceive the author's style.

7. Samuel Richardson "Clarissa, or the story of a young lady"

This novel by English writer Samuel Richardson contains 969,000 words. It tells about the unfortunate fate of a girl named Clarissa Harlow, whom her parents forcibly, solely for their own personal interests, want to marry to a man she does not love. Having guessed their intentions, Clarissa runs away from home with a man who promises to protect her, but the girl does not even suspect what he is really up to. This is a very difficult book with a long, sad, dramatic plot.

It seems that there are some similarities between these long novels. All books reveal very difficult topics to understand, which is why the authors of these novels had to describe the events so carefully and in detail in order to convey to the reader the full meaning of the stories.