I have gone against such advice and have been using a four-page CV, with the idea that I want to provide enough understanding of my past projects to the reader.

I have gone against such advice and have been using a four-page CV, with the idea that I want to provide enough understanding of my past projects to the reader. In other words, I have made the CV long to make it easier to read and understand. To help the reader manage through a long CV, first quarter page is a summary. General comments I have heard from hiring managers is that my CV is impressive, and that they found projects X and Y particularly interesting (something which could not have happened unless I were providing enough explanations).