War and Peace

Seriously, this is one of the best books I have ever read. The characters are compelling, the battle scenes dramatic. It is long, but my philosophy about longer books is that you get to know the characters very well. Also, when you consider how many trilogies and series some of us have read, it isn't that different. I found that I couldn't put it down. An especially sublime section was the siege of St. Petersberg by Napoleon and then the long march home, when so many of his troops died or deserted during the harsh Russian winter.

I had to read it for a class called The Epic Novel. All of the books were long. But this one actually seemed to go by quickly.

My only advice is that there are certain parts you could easily skip. One is the chapter where Pierre is initiated into the Masons. Then, whenever Tolstoy starts philosophizing about the movement of troops during war, skip that too.