re doorstoppers

[Robin Landseadel]

Partially, it's the "Lisa Simpson Syndrome," the need to prove
to ourselves that we're smarter than everyone else. I think
getting lost in the library is another part of the "Doorstopper"
infatuation, finding labyrinths of words/worlds to get lost in.
Borges writes about that, as does Calvino.

> Why are we attracted to doorstoppers?  I, for one, live in them  
> while I read
> them for months on end, and then I need to find a short book or a  
> book of
> short stories to bring me back.
>
> Henry Mu
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: James Kyllo
>
> That's surprising.  It doesn't "feel" as long as dozens of others.
>
> On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 8:00 PM, Dave Monroe wrote:
>
>> Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy
>>
>> Published 1993. 1488 pages softcover. 591,552 words. The longest
>> conventional novel in English since Clarissa, and officially the
>> longest novel in the English language published in a single volume.
>>
>>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest_novels#Vikram_Seth.2C_A_Suitabl
> e_Boy
>