A little wonder, every day

In Search of Lost Time — the longest novel by Guinness’s measure

documentary portrait photograph of Marcel Proust, dated circa 1895 and credited to Otto Wegener. Original file page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marcel_Proust_vers_1895.jpg. Public domain; the hosted reproduction is retouched for contrast and sepia tone.

documentary BnF digitization of a handwritten draft leaf from Proust’s notebooks for *À la recherche du temps perdu*, NAF 16699, image 22/106. Original file page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fonds_Marcel_Proust._II_%E2%80%94_%C3%80_LA_RECHERCHE_DU_TEMPS_PERDU._A_%E2%80%94_Manuscrits_autographes._XXXI-XCII_Soixante-deux_cahiers_de_brouillons_comportant_des_%C3%A9bauches_des_diff%C3%A9rentes_parties_de_la_Recherche..._-_btv1b10089134n_(022_of_106).jpg. Author: Marcel Proust; public domain in France and the United States as stated on the page. Source collection: Bibliothèque nationale de France.

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documentary portrait photograph of Marcel Proust, dated circa 1895 and credited to Otto Wegener. Original file page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marcel_Proust_vers_1895.jpg. Public domain; the hosted reproduction is retouched for contrast and sepia tone.

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According to Guinness World Records, Marcel Proust’s novel *In Search of Lost Time* (*À la recherche du temps perdu*) is the longest novel; its length is estimated at about 9,609,000 characters, counting spaces as well. This is an estimate of character count, not a reliably established word count: word totals can depend on the edition and counting method. The National Library of France describes the novel’s canonical edition as seven volumes published from 1913 to 1927. [1–3]