If you click on SETTINGS at the top of the page,
then on the left click on General Setting
At the bottom of the options is a drop down menu in which you can set how many posts to show on a page. The most is 40 which for me today makes this thread only 12 pages long. Less intimidating
The mechanics of this forum work well. If you open a thread, and then click on VIEW FIRST UNREAD, it will take you to that post in the thread and you can read on from there.