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Unlike commercial songs or films, popular novels come in a wide range of lengths. The best-selling books of all time span from 16,000 to 250,000 words. If there’s a maximum length for novels, Marcel Proust achieved it in the early 20th century with his monumental work À la recherché du temps perdu—or In Search of Lost Time—which contains nearly 1.3 million words, earning it the title of the longest book ever written.
Proust’s magnum opus narrates the story of his life, delving into themes such as involuntary memory and the quest for truth and meaning. Despite facing rejections from multiple editors, Proust self-funded the publication of the first volume through the
Despite being divided into several volumes, In Search of Lost Time holds the title of the longest novel ever published, as recognized by Guinness World Records. This distinction is based on its staggering character count of 9,609,000, with some editions exceeding 3000 pages in total.
The most remarkable literary works in history can be measured in various ways. For sheer physical size, the world's biggest book consists of stone tablets located in Myanmar. Conversely, the tiniest book, Teeny Ted from Turnip Town, is so small that it requires an electron microscope to read.
Are you passionate about reading? Do you crave fascinating insights into novelists and their creations? Don’t miss our upcoming book, : A Literary Miscellany of Novels and Novelists, releasing on May 25!
