People like stories for different reasons. What makes a story compelling to you?
For me I think it needs to be something new, that I never encountered or thought about.
Like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas was very long, but it was new, and it wasn’t so repetitive, if I skipped the scenes describing fish.
Robinson Crusoe was very, very long, but it was interesting if I skipped the religious parts.
Not a story, but I actually read a whole ~600 pages (8½x11”) book on PC parts in a few weeks, because I actually learned new stuff.
But I don’t like books that are redundant or mundane, like Michel Tremblay and “La grosse femme d’à côté est enceinte”.
There needs to be SOMETHING new happening.
Someone being pregnant is not interesting, even if there are ghosts in the same town.
At least make the ghosts do something, they were only knitting and talking!