I Like Big Books and I Cannot Lie

As I sit at my desk and look at my ‘to be read’ pile, I have suddenly noticed that seven out of the ten waiting for me are books with over 600 pages. Big books are a serious affliction for me; there is nothing I like better than getting to the end of one, but the idea of picking up a new one and starting it is enough to send me running back to my more reasonable acquisitions.

That being said, I will get to reading them eventually, even if I complain about it constantly to anyone unfortunate enough to ask me what I am reading. Like all books, some of these massive commitments aren’t worth it. However, a lot of them are, especially these three, which are the best books with over 500 pages that I have read in the last year. If you have the time, all of these are worth the battle.

1. ‘The Story of Film‘ – Mark Cousins

Yes, I do read non-fiction, although I do not tend to talk about it half as much as I do fiction. I like film history as a rule, but any knowledge I had was incredibly basic, so I was basically a blank slate. Cousins is a director by trade but as an author, he is accessible and so enthused about his subject it is difficult not to be swept along with him.

I will not pretend this is an easy book to read; as with all non-fiction, there are a lot of names and dates thrown at you all at once, and some of those names will be relevant again later, so you had better be keeping up. It is fascinating though, covering literally everything from 1885 until the present day (although the book was published in 2004, so I for one think he could quite easily find an audience for an updated version now).

I liked that he does more than just account the history; he draws parallels and makes inferences that make for a richer version of the story he is telling. That being said, he does have some opinions that I definitely disagreed with, especially his dismissal of Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ series as adding nothing to his narrative. Of course, as far as I’m concerned, the sign of a good non-fiction book is that you are bothered enough to argue with the author. Even if your interest in film is passing, this book might just change that for you.

 

2. ‘The Swarm‘ by Frank Schätzing

Originally written in German (Der Schwarm), this book is a powerhouse of modern science fiction and trust me when I say that nearly 900 pages just fly past.

The story starts with a series of freak events involving the world’s oceans, such as groups of whales working together to capsize ships and then killing the people who escape from them. Several different characters (experts in their fields) from all over the world begin their stories separately, watching these events unfold, and then are brought together as a task force when it becomes clear that what is happening is a lot more organised than it might appear to be. I can’t really say much more without giving away spoilers and this is not the sort of book you will want to be spoiled on.

Schätzing writes quite sparsely, despite the length of his tome, but what he does write is creepily atmospheric. I have a real fear of the sea and open water, so maybe I am biased, but there were a lot of passages in this novel when I had to put the book down and check that the sun was still shining outside. I didn’t go near the fish tank for weeks. It is that kind of book.

My only complaint, which is really something I should take up with the entire genre of science fiction rather than only with Schätzing, is that there is so much excellent build-up that the ending is kind of a disappointment. There’s only so far you can go with this type of story before it just gets silly and, unfortunately, this went a step too far. The build-up isn’t always worth it in such novels, but in this case, it definitely is.

 

3. ‘Shantaram’ by Gregory David Roberts

Shantaram is one of those books that changes everything you thought you knew about books. I judged it far too harshly when it was handed to me; I thought it was a ‘true crime’ kind of thing, pages and pages of the author trying to justify his life of crime. Luckily for me, I decided to read it anyway, because Shantaram is, without a doubt, one of the best books I have ever read and the one I would recommend to people a thousand times a day if I could get away with it.

Shantaram is not really autobiographical. It is certainly based on Roberts’ life; he did escape from prison in Australia and end up on the run in India, hiding out in the slums of Bombay. It isn’t really about that though. Shantaram is like reading a thousand page love poem; a poem for India and its people, a poem about humans and souls and good and bad and all the things we have hidden inside of us. Roberts has a style that feels entirely unique, almost as though he has found a way to write a novel with music threaded through the pages. I won’t give anything away, but there was one moment that had me sobbing in a way that no book had managed since the end of Harry Potter.

In October of last year, Roberts published a long-awaited sequel, The Mountain Shadow, which is no less massive and no less brilliant than the first. If you only ever take one piece of advice from me, I would be happy if it was to go out right now and buy both of these books.