The Longest Book Ever Written

The Longest Book Ever

After learning about just how productive authors are, my curiosity took me to new places in literature; I wanted to learn about the longest book ever written. In the past, I have read ~400,000 word books (thanks Wheel of Time), and marveled at the sheer amount of work put into such a large piece of literature.

I, myself, have struggled to remain consistent enough on my novel to make a dent into a large word count. I’m sure it’s a sentiment that many aspiring authors can unfortunately relate to.

Of course, when it comes to a high quality book, size does not actually matter. But how long can books get? What is the longest book ever written?

As it turns out, ‘In Search of Lost Time’ by Marcel Proust holds the Guinness world record for the longest book ever. Coming in at a staggering 1.2 million words, with roughly 4,000 pages, and published in seven volumes, Marcel Proust’s herculean novel went into great detail about his life, starting in childhood and progressing into the 20th century.

In his novel, Proust reflected on lost time, and showed his nihilistic worldview by contemplating the meaninglessness of it all. Written from 1909-1922, Proust only needed to write approximately 267 words per day to hit this size.

Talk about valuing consistency over all else, right?

An Early 20th Century Classic

His work was published in France from 1913 to 1927, and published in English from 1922-1931, after his death.

According to Edmund White, among many other authors, In Search of Lost Time is one of the most respected novels of the twentieth century. So, not only is it extremely long, but it also has a lot of respect and is considered a well written piece of literature!

What I find interesting about In Search of Lost Time is that it is a form of realistic fiction, or, more specifically, a fictional autobiography. When you read the novel, you are getting an idea of just who Marcel Proust was: through his characters, you learn bits and pieces about the life he lived, the way he viewed the world, and the memories he left behind. Although you see these things through a fictionalized story version, you see them nonetheless, which I think is beautiful yet intimidating.

My Thoughts

As someone who enjoys books, I have always enjoyed the journey that a longer series takes me on. Although longer series can be a slog to get through at times, you definitely get a much stronger connection to a series that has plenty of source material. In this case, I am curious to know if readers feel like they know Marcel personally. It makes me want to read the book for myself.

More important than the word count, though, is the sheer amount of passion Marcel placed into his masterpiece. He worked on his book until his death forced him to stop. For all of us aspiring authors out there, we can all learn a lesson in persistence and focus with In Search of Lost Time.