I'm 250 pages into Stephen King's I.T and this by far the longest book I've ever committed to. I am a slow reader and so the 250 pages has taken me approx. 3 weeks. It got me thinking, do I have an ideal book length or does it totally depend on the writer/story?
Stephen King's style is so excessing in terms of backstories and side-stories but I am kind of enjoying it and it is really different to the approach of some of the other authors I like.
by JakubJamesBoote
32 Comments
totally depends on the story but i’ve got a whole ranking system – like 200-300 pages is my sweet spot for most fiction, under 150 feels rushed unless it’s poetry, and anything over 500 better be absolutely gripping or i’m out
I’m an avid reader of many genres. 400 pages is an average book for me. It doesn’t depend on the amount of pages for me though, it’s always how engaged I get in the story. And I enjoy reading different genres instead of just sticking to one.
no more than 15-20cm
Around 400-500 pages.
500 is the upper limit with me. I’ve made some exceptions, but mostly as audiobooks.
As long as it takes to tell a good story. I’m going to read no matter what so I don’t care if the next 500 pages are 3 books or one. Length does make a difference to whether or not I prefer hardback or paperback, though. Longer books are difficult to hold in paperback once they get fatter than they are tall.
You’re reading one of my all time favourite books. IT is a masterpiece and you’re right that a lot of the back and side stories can feel excessive, it all pays off. He draws you into a world that you feel intimately familiar with as a result of that, which makes everything hit harder – the horror, the nostalgia, the humour, everything is elevated by knowing so much detail.
I generally prefer shorter books but sometimes there’s nothing like a longer story that you can just get utterly absorbed in.
Try 11/22/63 next, for the same reason. There’s just no way to tell that story in 300 pages and feel the same way.
300 pages is good but also sometimes I like to have a giant tome that will take me ages to get through, because that means I can savour it for longer. Most recent was Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.
Consensus seems to be 300-500 pages here.
I prefer longer ones, The Stand, Wheel of Time and Stormlight are all 800+ pages. Something to get invested in.
Its not about the length, but about how you use it.
I don’t have a preference. The Old Man and the Sea is like 100 pages. 2666 is about 1000. I wouldn’t have either be any other length.
It depends on the book. I’ve read 1,000 plus page books that I breezed through and 250 page books that were a real slog. But in general I think books under 350 pages are a sweet spot.
If it’s good, I want it to be as long as possible.
300-400. I’m reading a 1200 page book right now and even though it’s really good, I’m halfway and I just want something different now. I’ve been with these people and their story for so long I feel like I need a (short) break from them, just like in real life.
I think it’s less about length and more about how much “extra weight” a story carries.
Some books feel heavy because of all the side paths, others feel sharp and focused.
Personally I tend to enjoy 250–350, but I’ll go longer if it feels worth it.
320 pages
I dont care about the lenght of a book, but my favorites are all 1000 pagers.
I’ve started reading listening to this audiobook called the wandering inn. Not the best book I’ve read but there sure is a lot of it.
I would say I like books that are around 250-400 pages, I used to be better at reading longer books when I was younger but I do want to start reading longer books again
7.5” – any bigger and they don’t fit my bookcase
I’ve read 150 page books that were miserable and 600+ page books that I couldn’t put down. As many others have said it depends on the writing. Longer novels with excellent story lines and characters will hold my attention much better than 500-600 page non-fiction books. Conversely, 100-200 page novels can often feel rushed to me, but it seems to be my sweet spot for non-fiction.
I guess I would say like many 250-400 pages would be normal, but I think it is a good idea to think about it in terms of what that length is offering. I’m reading Lonesome Dove currently (about to finish soon) and it is about 850 pages but it has been incredible (the many positive reviews here on r/books haven’t let me down in this case as it has lived up to the hype). The story just keeps drawing you in and developing. Think about how (at least for me) you might think of a long movie being anything over 3 hours, yet today many of us will watch many hours of a premium TV series like GOT, etc without batting an eye. Another thing to think about IMO is that a long book could have possibly been broken into a smaller series and psychologically it might make it feel more manageable, but the length is still there. I’ve read Stephen King quite a bit (not IT however) and I think as long books go, his longer stuff is usually written in a way that after a certain point in the book, if you’re into it and hooked it draws you along in that you really want to know what happens next.
Hope you like it! As a kid (Jr High I think) I really loved his Dark Tower series, but I actually haven’t completed it. I think I made it through book 4, which was all that was out at the time. Thanks for the reminder that I need to go back and finish that series up! Too many great books out there to get through in this limited life!
Usually around 300.
But how it’s written matters most. Is it realistic for it’s world? Well edited? Is language used well? Even if it’s a well used plot or full of tropes, is it handled well? Are the characters interesting or likeable?
I can handle tangents if they look like they’ll be important or are interesting. But if the story isn’t gripping or it seems like they were writing to a word count, I’m out!
I loved It so much I didn’t feel the pages, but one look at Alchemised and it was “No, thank you”, so to me it depends on whether or not I like the book at first glance.
I prefer shorter but if it’s a strike book then I’m
Happy for the 1200 pages!
If it’s a good story, then looong. Like, big fat tome that’s in a series of 10 👌 (yes I like fantasy/sci-fi). Essentially, I want a really good story to go on forever – that’s not realistic as no story could manage that, but so long as it remains good, I want it to keep going.
Ideal is around 400-500.
Enough to really flesh out the story but not so much it overstays it welcome (unless it’s really good)
as long as its good i’m willing to do any length, though anything over 500 better be good.
Mandatory “the power broker” comment
As long as the series has 4.4 million words in total I’m happy.
usually 350-400 pages