What would you consider a big book ?

[Jolyon Trevelyan]

How many pages do a book have to have in your opinion, For it to be a big book ?


Personally i think it has to have at least 500 pages for it to be considered a big book.

[gali]

At least 500 and up.

[Ryan]

500 for me too! Though, I have a few that are about 800 pages and I consider those a health hazard.

[KNewton]

I also agree! Minimum of 500 pages.

[Fran]

For me a "big" book is less to do with the number of physical pages and more to do with whether the book encompasses numerous & diverse themes and/or introduces complex and intriguing characters. Big books are books that make you think, make you close the book periodically & sit back to consider long and hard what you have just read & make you evaluate and possibly reassess you position or opinion. They are books you reread and wonder how you missed certain things the first time, books where every reread is a new read.
As examples I would submit the authors David Mitchell, Marilynne Robinson & Margaret Atwood as writers whose books IMO are definitely BIG but thankfully there are lots of other authors who also qualify.

[Heidi M Simone]

For number of pages, I would have to agree that 500+ is a pretty big book. I do like what Fran has said about how a big book makes you think about your reading because even a book that is less than 500 pages can seem big because of all the themes and thoughts it includes/provokes.

[Ursula_Minor]

I think more about reading time than page number, usually. I'm currently reading 1Q84, which is huge, and which I will easily call a "big book." But books like David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" and Alan Hollinghurst's "The Stranger's Child," which are both "big" by almost anyone's standards, don't feel big to me, mainly because I read them each in the span of two days. Conversely, books that are much shorter, but feel like a slog/take me a long time to chew through, end up feeling long.

[Gravy]

500 and up seems to be the consensus...
I'll agree, 500, physical pages, makes a big book.

But I like the thought of a non-physical size.
There are so many ways to judge a books "size"

[rssllue]

I am going to go with if you can use it as a weapon to knock out an intruder with a single blow, then it is a big book!

[Gravy]

I am going to go with if you can use it as a weapon to knock out an intruder with a single blow, then it is a big book!

Pure poundage...gottcha

[rssllue]

You betcha!

[rosemarieshort]

600 seems to be my unconscious tipping point. Unfortunately, if I see something has 600+ pages, I do think twice about getting stuck in. Whether it be due to time commitments, or whether I think I am really in the mood for a big book at the time, sometimes that 600+ number can put me off.

[Morgan_Malone]

I think I consider a book 'big' when it gets to about 500-600 pages. I love reading large books though so lots of pages just makes me want to read it more.

[Jojowrites4All]

I am going to go with if you can use it as a weapon to knock out an intruder with a single blow, then it is a big book!

I totally agree

However, I would say 500 pages minimum of unexpected twists or stellar writing. Big books aren't strictly about page numbers, but it's about the effortless ability to immerse yourself in something complex.

[Serena_Charlotte]

I often read books that are about five hundred pages long so I would have to say a thousand or so pages would be long for me.