When Enough Is Enough?

This is addressed Not just to the author but to all authors out there....you Know Who You Are. What has happened to world class writers? Have their computers been virused by Marathon-minded bugs? Are they being paid by their publishers By the Pound (and I do Not mean GBP)?
The length of the average novel seems to have escalated from 5-8 hours audio time to a mind boggling (quite literally) 10-21 hours. Look at any series by a well- known author if you doubt this : what you'll see over the years is a climb in the volume of each new volume. Unfortunately there are only a handful of exceptions in this race for the Tonnage Gold. Sad to observe, Val McDermid's latest Karen Piri novel isn't among these valiant verbosity holdouts.
At the 9 hour mark, one's mind starts to freewheel down the road of "Is this Ever going to end?" Then, you begin thinking of ways an editor Should have tightened the writing up Rather than "what happens next". At the 11 hour mark, oxygen deprivation sets in as your brain fights off sleep or literary narcolepsy. You have hallucinations of the author stuffing words into the book binding like Baldric ramming stuffing into the infamous Black Adder goose.
Great writing , interesting characters and plot etc etc: all done in by Too Much Stuffing!
As a beleaguered reader who Wants to Enjoy books, not Drown in their repetitive minutia PLEASE cut back, cut down and cut Out the verbiage!

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