The Book Club Review

Long reads

Listen on

Episode notes

We’ve all felt the lure of the short, sweet read, one of those slim books you can finish in a few hours, maybe over a hot cup of tea. But what about the books that may take weeks, even months, to read? The door stoppers, the heavy weights, the long reads. Think Dickens, Tolstoy, and George Eliot, think Hilary Mantel, David Foster Wallace, and Donna Tartt. We dive into The Magic Mountain, Thomas Mann's 226,000 book set in a sanitorium in the Swiss Alps in which not much happens. What did we think of it? Should you try it? And if not, what long books do we recommend?

We're joined by Toby Brothers of the London Literary Salon and pod-regular Phil Chaffee as we discover the pleasures and perils that come with a book that takes weeks, even months, to read.

Books mentioned

A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara

War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy

all seven volumes of Proust

Ulysses by James Joyce

The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Middlemarch by George Eliot

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tocarczuk

Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellman

Pilgrimage by Dorothy Richardson

The Alex Ross article Phil mentions is here.

Follow us on Instagram or Facebook @BookClubReview podcast, on Twitter @bookclubrvwpod or email [email protected]. Subscribe to us to be sure you never miss an episode. And if you like what we do please rate and review the show, it helps other listeners find us. If you want to go one better please spread the word about us on your social media channels. Reaching new listeners makes us so happy, we treasure each and every one, and your support helps us do that.