I just finished a really long novel. I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. I'd read online that Mark Ruffalo was going to star in an adaptation of the book. I really admire Mr. Ruffalo so I thought I'd read the book (which happened to be in our library) first. I lugged it off the shelf and started it. 900 or so pages. I was immediately drawn into the story. Mr. Lamb wrote angry men as well as he wrote sad women. I'd read She's Come Undone and like so many others thought the book had been written by a woman; so perfectly did it seem to capture a woman's point of view (this was back when #ownstories wasn't a twinkle in anyone's eyes). And Oprah had given her stamp of approval on both (which is neither here nor there but I do like Ms. Winfrey's taste in literature). As I read, there turned out to be a book within the book. A couple of hundred pages I guesstimate. Which made the book proper around 700 pages. That's still a really long book! I liked the book. I had some problems with it; namely, the book within the book. I didn't read it. My thought was, Mr. Lamb is already asking me to read a 700 page novel. I'm sorry; but I'm not simultaneously reading a 200 page book purposely written in an amateurish style. Besides, the narrator of the over-story kept telling me about the important plot points (which I suppose were subplot-plot points) so I didn't really need to read the second book. Which is a long way of saying: I thought publishers didn't want long books.
How many times have I read in online articles about getting published that NO ONE wants any book over 350 pages?
City on Fire by Mr. Hallberg. 927 pages. That's like nearly 600 pages over! That's like one and half novels over! And Mr. Hallberg received several million dollars in advance. Isn't that simply the rewarding of bad behavior? The Goldfinch by Ms. Tartt. 784 pages. Infinite Jest: 1,079. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: 639. Any book by Mr. Franzen: you're not going to get out at under 500. That's 250 turns of the page. The god-damned Harry Potter books. Not a one less than 600 pages!!!
I have no problem with long books. I love to spend months in one (I'm an "exacting" reader); enjoying being in that world. In the act of reading. That MAGIC act. I have a tendency to write in Franzenian lengths myself. So, I guess my question is: if so many bestsellers, modern classics, film-makeable tales and publishing phenoms are upwards of 500 pages (even debut novels--The Secret History anyone?) why do I keep coming across this decidedly UNMAGIC number of 350? Besides, isn't it the job of editors to whittle down mammoth manuscripts into easily digestible amounts of words. I mean, what exactly got cut out of I Know This Much is True? I know this much is true: it wasn't much.
So please, whoever keeps dropping that three-hundred-and-fifty; please stop. I'm even willing to pay you $350.00 if you will. Just leave a bid in the comments box. I'm negotiable.
How many times have I read in online articles about getting published that NO ONE wants any book over 350 pages?
City on Fire by Mr. Hallberg. 927 pages. That's like nearly 600 pages over! That's like one and half novels over! And Mr. Hallberg received several million dollars in advance. Isn't that simply the rewarding of bad behavior? The Goldfinch by Ms. Tartt. 784 pages. Infinite Jest: 1,079. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay: 639. Any book by Mr. Franzen: you're not going to get out at under 500. That's 250 turns of the page. The god-damned Harry Potter books. Not a one less than 600 pages!!!
I have no problem with long books. I love to spend months in one (I'm an "exacting" reader); enjoying being in that world. In the act of reading. That MAGIC act. I have a tendency to write in Franzenian lengths myself. So, I guess my question is: if so many bestsellers, modern classics, film-makeable tales and publishing phenoms are upwards of 500 pages (even debut novels--The Secret History anyone?) why do I keep coming across this decidedly UNMAGIC number of 350? Besides, isn't it the job of editors to whittle down mammoth manuscripts into easily digestible amounts of words. I mean, what exactly got cut out of I Know This Much is True? I know this much is true: it wasn't much.
So please, whoever keeps dropping that three-hundred-and-fifty; please stop. I'm even willing to pay you $350.00 if you will. Just leave a bid in the comments box. I'm negotiable.
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