Longest Book in the World: What Holds the Record?

When you ask what the longest book in the world is, don’t expect a straightforward answer. It depends on how you count—word count, page count, number of characters? Different books make the cut for different reasons, and the numbers can get wild.

Here’s a cool fact: some contenders for longest book are so massive that normal paperback binding just won’t work. They’re either split into volumes or go straight to digital. And no, it’s not just ancient philosophers or stuffy literature. Modern writers are still competing—sometimes for fun, sometimes on purpose.

If you’re the type who likes extreme reading challenges, knowing which books make the record books isn’t just trivia. It might help you pick your next brag-worthy read. Figure out what counts as “long”—because jumping into a literal million-word novel isn’t like picking up your average thriller at the airport.

• What Counts as the Longest Book?
• Official Record Holders
• Classic Novels vs. Modern Giants
• Weirdest Long Book Trivia
• Tips for Tackling a Super-Long Read

What Counts as the Longest Book?

This is where things get a little messy. There isn’t just one way to measure length when it comes to books. Most folks assume the longest means the most pages, but it’s not that simple. Type size, margins, and paper size can totally change a page count, so that’s not reliable across different editions or countries.

If you really want to get nerdy, word count is what most records go by. That’s just the number of words in a book, no matter how they’re printed. But even then, some people try to boost their numbers by tacking on appendices or extra material.

There’s also the ‘character count,’ which is rare, but sometimes gets used for books written in languages that don’t use spaces between words, like Chinese or Japanese. Very niche, but it pops up in trivia sometimes.

• Longest book isn’t always the most pages—it’s the words that matter.
• Some records count books split into volumes as a single work; others only count one single physical book.
• Serial novels, which were published in parts over time, can complicate things further if you want to lump everything into one mega-story.

Bottom line: if you want to beat the record for longest book, know if you’re going by pages, words, or something else—and check which edition everyone is comparing.

Official Record Holders

If you Google "longest book in the world," the answer depends on what you mean by "book." In the Guinness World Records, Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time usually holds the spotlight. Its word count? Around 1.2 million. That’s not just a long afternoon—it’s months or even years if you read slow.

Check out this quick comparison, just to see how some mega-books stack up:

But here’s the plot twist—if you go by pure length, the 17th-century French novel Artamène ou le Grand Cyrus blows them all away with over 2 million words. It’s so huge that most readers (even fans of the classics) have never even seen a hard copy.

• Guinness gives longest book credit to Proust’s work because it’s usually published as a single novel split across volumes.
• Mission Earth was released in 10 volumes, but technically counts as one enormous saga.
• If you get into manga or fanfiction, things get even weirder. Some online fanfics now claim millions of words—but they’re not exactly “published books.”

If you want a copy for your shelf, prepare to hunt down multi-volume sets or brace yourself for digital versions. Either way, these record-breakers make most modern novels look like pamphlets.

Classic Novels vs. Modern Giants

When people think about super long books, they often picture the classics. Ever heard of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust? Published in the early 1900s, it’s usually the go-to answer when someone asks about a ridiculously long novel. This beast clocks in at nearly 1.27 million words across seven volumes. Reading it is pretty much a badge of honor for hardcore bookworms.

Then you get the Russians. Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace still scares off would-be readers, but at around 560,000 words, it’s not even close to the longest. Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov is hefty but comes in smaller. These classics aren’t just famous for their word count—they’re actually readable and, for some, even enjoyable. If you want to see how they stack up, here’s a quick table comparing big-name titles:

Modern writers haven’t stepped down from the challenge. Take Artamène ou le Grand Cyrus, finished in the 17th century, which is sometimes claimed as the ultimate winner—around 2.1 million words if you count the whole thing. In recent times, though, you get online and self-published projects like Marienbad My Love (over 17 million words!). These books aren’t exactly flying off the shelves in bookstores, but they’ve shattered old records for sheer size.

Some say that thanks to e-books and blogs, there’s really no limit anymore. Writers can go as long as they want now that they don’t need to worry about running out of paper. But even then, not every chapter-long saga can claim the title for the longest book—it’s got to tell a story, not just pad out with words. The wild thing is, there’s still debate about which record really matters: published and printed, or just written and uploaded?

Weirdest Long Book Trivia

People love arguing about which book is really the longest, but the stories behind these giants are sometimes even weirder than their word counts. Some books fight for the top based on numbers alone, while others just get famous because their stats are mind-blowing.

• The longest book by word count is usually credited to Marcel Proust’s "In Search of Lost Time," which clocks in at roughly 1.2 million words. That’s about 4,000 pages in English editions.
• But if you go by character count, the French novel "Artamène ou le Grand Cyrus" (1649–1654) by Madeleine and Georges de Scudéry smashes the record with about 2.1 million words across 13,095 pages.
• A digital project, "À la recherche du temps perdu" (Proust’s work again), even set a Guinness World Record in 2007 for the longest novel ever published—printed as a single book, it measured more than 9,600,000 characters, and weighed a whopping 17 pounds.
• Want even weirder? There’s "Marienbad My Love" by Mark Leach, which claims to be the world’s longest novel written in English, with about 2.5 million words! But since it's self-published online, not everyone counts it.

As The Guardian pointed out in a 2014 article, "Proust’s novel is long enough to be counted in weight as well as in words—a copy could safely double as a doorstop."

If you’re wondering how that even compares to regular books you’ve actually read, check out this quick breakdown:

If you like numbers, here’s a tip: the Harry Potter series, all seven books combined, has about 1.1 million words. That’s still less than Proust managed solo.

So next time someone complains their book is too long, you’ll have some real ammunition to shut them down—or maybe, suggest a proper challenge.

Tips for Tackling a Super-Long Read

A lot of people stare down a doorstopper and freeze, but you can totally handle the longest book in the world with some solid strategies. Even serious bookworms had to work up to epic sagas like In Search of Lost Time (that one’s about 1.2 million words!) or War and Peace (roughly 587,000 words). Don’t let the page count mess with your head—attack it with a plan.

• Break it down. Don’t treat the whole thing as a mountain. Split the book by chapters, sections, or even pages per day. For example, reading just 20 pages a day would get you through War and Peace in under three months.
• Treat yourself like it’s a workout. Set goals and rewards. Made it through 100 pages this week? Get yourself a treat—a favorite snack or episode of your comfort show.
• Bring friends along. Several online communities host read-alongs for gigantic tomes. Reddit, Discord, or Goodreads all have active groups for the ambitious.
• Ditch the guilt. Some chapters will drag. It’s okay to skim boring sections or take a break. Don’t kill the fun trying to be perfect.
• Audiobooks are your friend. Plenty of record-long novels are available in quality audio formats, so you don’t have to lug around a brick. Les Misérables, Don Quixote, and even Proust are out there—some unabridged editions run 50-60 hours!

Here’s a quick table showing how different reading paces impact finishing times for massive books:

The most important thing is this: for any longest book, consistency beats speed. Chip away a little each day, and before you know it, you’ll knock out a world record novel without burning out.