Book lovers…Does size matter? (Or “Tell us about your Tiddlers”)…
“One always tends to over praise a long book, because one has got through it"
E.M. Forster
“You will, I am sure, agree with me that if page 534 only finds us in the second chapter, the length of the first one must have been really intolerable”
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Well, dear readers...
Are some books just too big?
Are you put off by the prospect of anything too ‘heavy’?...
Then, perhaps, dear book lovers, we can tempt you with some tiddlers?...
Shall I let you into a secret?...
I’ve tried to read Moby Dick half a dozen times – after all, it is meant to be the greatest novel ever written – but, well, it’s 702 pages long and weighs almost as much as a great whale. (I know this, because I’ve taken the book with me to the whale weigh station…). But I’ve given up every time, daunted by the prospect of soooo many pages…
I mean, even if I read a page a day it’d take me a year and a half, and by the time I`d finished I`d have forgotten the start!
Don’t let me put you off, of course – but, if you’re looking for some stimulating but briefer books, then might I present to you my list of – what we in the specialist book business call – “Tiddlers”?...
They’re small, but perfectly formed:
The Dig ~ (Just 250 pages – a light delight!)
Diary of a Nobody ~ (216 pages of polite, petite perfection)
A Clockwork Orange ~ (Just 148 pages – a malevolent mini-masterpiece)
Catcher in the Rye ~ (Teenage turmoil, tiny book – just 192 pages)
On Chesil Beach ~ (A seaside snip at 166 pages)
The Great Gatsby ~ (A classic novel, in a nutshell – 183 pages)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie ~ (A slim, prim & trim 127 page slice of prime fiction)…
Or finally, and back to our nautical theme, the Old Man and the Sea … with just 112 pages, this is one tiddler you won’t want to put back!
Can you recommend any other tiddlers? Let us know; just click on the teeny-weeny COMMENTS tab below…
TTFN.
16 comments:
I give you, at 59 pages, the wonderful "Young Visiters" by Daisy Ashford.
Well, thank you for this, Judith R…The Young Visiters, eh?...
And, talk about coincidence! – a colleague was only talking about this book the other day…it’s a small world, as they say, when we’re talking about small books!
(I see that there’s a copy just whizzing through our processing centre, as I speak…)
TTFN
Hi
I'd like to recommend Colin Cotterill's Dr Siri Paiboun series, all about 250 pages but a delight to read.
Dr Siri is the only coroner in Laos, he is a lapsed communist and has lots of interesting friends both alive and not, lots of interesting cases and quite a few clashes with the powers that be. There are seven titles in the series so far, book number eight is due out later this year, it's best to start with the first one 'The coroner's lunch'.
Lisa
Just so readers are not confused - the new copy of The Young Visiters is 86 pages because it is a facsimile of the original edition and the print is quite large.
By the way - Judith and I have not made a spelling mistake, Daisy was nine when she wrote her classic work. Subtitled 'Or, Mr Salteenas Plan' it is an intriguing insight into a Victorian child's view of adults, published as written, without corrections. It's in a class of it's own.
Thanks, Lisa ~
Yes, I`ve heard other people have enjoyed these Colin Cotterill books…(Mind you, he’s writing books of 260 or 270 pages now, which may disqualify him from our ‘Tiddlers’ list?...)
But thanks again for the recommendation.
TTFN
Yes. Im like thast. I tend too rite without corections …
Terri - lovely to meet a fellow fan!
Judith R.
Dear Blogbrary,
I agree entirely that much modern fiction is overblown and needlessly padded out. Note some classics as just witnessed on my own bookshelves, namely Cranford, Three Men In A Boat, Northanger Abbey, Silas Marner, or the Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Need I say more?
Jean
My recent short read favourite is, 'The Women in Black' by Susan Hill. I also enjoyed the play in the West End on two seperate occasions.
Also, The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens while snug in front of a crackling open fire in December.
Thanks, Blog-followers…
Glad that a couple of you have connected with ‘The Young Visiters’…
Yes, Jean, you’re right about many of the classics – good point!
And, Billy, yes – ‘The Woman in Black’ is good, and very brief.
TTFN
How about Alan Bennett's The Uncommon Reader. A wonderful little book with only 128 pages! Very funny with lots of positive support for books, reading and libraries.
Zen in the art of archery at 112 pages is short, concise and inspiring. Once you've read it however, you'll probably want to read it again and again.
Thanks, Peter…at just 112 pages, Zen & the art of archery certainly hits the target.
Any more suggestions? Or less pages?...
Thanks, Val, for the suggestion about ‘The Uncommon reader’…yes, I’d forgotten about that one. Good idea!
It’s short, features corgis, The Queen, and mobile libraries. As a wise man once said “What’s not to like?”
TFN
I've heard recently that there is a novel by Charles Dickens and other leading Victorian writers which is only 97 pages long. It's called 'A house to let' and is a tale of mystery and intrigue set amid the dark streets of Victorian London.
Ooh!, thanks for this, Terri – a ‘mini-Dickens’…I’d not heard of this before, and at just 97 pages it certainly fits the bill….
Well done. Now, “can I have some more, please?”
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