What is the longest sentence in english literature. Because i dont do things by halves, i thought it might be best to start with the sentence that was the longest published sentence in the english language for most of the 20th century. It is the extraordinary sensory quality of his prose that enabled faulkner to get away with writing the longest sentence in literature, at least according to the 1983 guinness book of world records, a passage from absalom, absalom. When william faulkner set the world record for writing the. The longest sentences in literature and why they work. The 40 volumes of this historical novel were published serially between 1950. If you make a purchase, my modern met may earn an affiliate commission. This is one of the longest and most beautiful sentence i have come across till now. By onesentence novels, i mean something more than a book that comes to a deeply satisfying and comprehensive conclusion, like i been there before huckleberry finn. Solar bones by mike mccormack, middle england by jonathan coe, fieldwork in ukrainian sex by oksana zabuzhko, the las. The popular romance of chinese dynasties by cai dongfan. Long sentences are tricky to pull off but can be a shortcut to getting inside a.
The longest sentences the books, which easily get the readers dizzy, exhausted, or maybe even bored to death while following, because of the amazing length of the sentences. The longest sentence in english literature belongs to writer nigel tomm. The sentence is composed of 1,288 words in the 1951 random. And there are even onesentence books actually, a few of them. One of the longest sentences in american literature is in william faulkner s absalom, absalom. Jonathan coe may have set a record for the longest sentence. The sentence is composed of 1,288 words in the 1951 random house version. The book gives 100page excerpts from the longest word, sentence, novel and poem. For example, theres molly blooms 36page, two sentence monologue in ulysses, or victor hugos 800plus line in les miserables. William faulkner was featured in 1983 guinness book of world records for this 1,288word sentence from absalom, absalom. The new owner of the record for the longest sentence in published.
When william faulkner set the world record for writing the longest. Undated handout photo of lucy ellmann with the front cover of her book, ducks. Though the record has been broken, faulkners legacy lives on. The current record holder for the longest english sentence is. Take a look for yourself at some of the longest sentences in literature. To put it simply, the story is about two people with interest in one another who part ways and wind up meeting a pomeranian dog. The lengths writers go to in praise of the neverending sentence. Molly blooms soliloquy from james joyces ulysses, which is 4,391 words long. His book the blah story, volume 4 consists of one sentence which contains 469,375 words. According to a 1983 guinness book of records, this monster once qualified as literatures longest at 1,288 words, but that record has long been surpassed, in english at least, by jonathan coes the.
The current record holder for the longest english sentence is jonathan coe for his staggering 33page,955word sentence in the rotters club, 2001. French novel sports the worlds longest sentence east bay times. Literature is full of stunning examples of looooooooooong sentences, both properly punctuated and not ahemjohn updike. Author roderick said that one of his biggest challenges while writing this story was the struggle to create the appropriate tension within the extraordinarily long sentence.
This 1,288word runon sentence by william faulkner broke. The old saying goes that you shouldnt judge a book by its coverbut what about by the length of its sentences. While sentences like these are sights to behold, they also demand a certain something from the reader. If onesentence stories are as common as snowflakes, onesentence novels. For now, the longest word contains 3,609,750 letters and is published in nigel tomms novel the blah story, volume 19. Published in 11 volumes and 1080 chapters 1040 chapters by cai. William faulkner was featured in 1983 guinness book of world records for this 1,288 word sentence from absalom, absalom. A sentence often claimed to be the longest sentence ever written is in molly blooms soliloquy in the james joyce novel ulysses 1922, which contains a sentence of 3,687 words. One of the longest sentences in american literature is in william faulkners absalom, absalom. Aureliano segundo was not aware of the singsong until the following day after breakf. The poem is called my blah story and is written by one novels character.
Solar bones by mike mccormack is written as one sentence. By onesentence novels, i mean something more than a book that. Other list non latin and cyrillic tokugawa ieyasu by sohachi yamaoka ja. A sentence often claimed to be the longest sentence ever written is in molly blooms soliloquy in the james joyce novel ulysses 1922, which contains a. The word means the current day or date between real and imaginable today.