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Difficult books.

B

Bibliophile

New Member
What is in your opinions, the most dificult books in the fine world of literature?

For example, I would include "Finnegans Wake," "Ulysses," Gravity's Rainbow," and perhaps "Infinite Jest."

What others would be included?

Regards,

Jeffrey
 
Wasted Time

I can't think of anything that compares with Finnegan's Wake for difficulty. I haven't even really tried to read it.
I don't know much about Gravity's Rainbow ro Infinite Jest, but I am going to research the issue soon.

I have read Ulysses. I admit, it was a struggle, but it is still a comprehensible story. The hardest part for me was getting past cultural barriers since the book is so Irish and I'm an American. I didn't recognize many of the products, popular songs, and political figures that were alluded to. However, there are excellent guides to the book. I like Harold Blume's.


As far as Finnegan's Wake is concerned I think I would be wasting my time. Does anyone love this book and disagree? Is there some kind of transcendent understanding that will wash over me if I put the time in?

Has anyone here read 'The Gallant Gallstone?'
 
Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" (I don't know why I had so much difficulty reading this one, maybe because it bored me...)
Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" (in medieval English :eek: )
Swift's "A Tale of a Tub" (this one was worth the effort)
Sterne's "The Life and Opinion of Tristam Shandy" (I couldn't get past the first 10 pages)
I must admit I haven't tried "Ulysses" or "Finnegan's Wake" yet...
 
Originally posted by Marie
Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" (I don't know why I had so much difficulty reading this one, maybe because it bored me...)
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Ah, I still have to read that book... Thanks for making me want to read it even more badly... LOL

I haven't read that many difficult books either, though I agree: books in medieval English and Dutch isn't that easy...
 
I also remember hating Heart of Darkness, and the Secret Sharer for that matter, maybe just not a Conrad fan? However I love reading Canterbury Tales in medieval English, must be the history major in me.
I never got past the first few pages of Finnegan's Wake. On the other hand, I forced myself through Ulysses with promises of greatness ringing in my ears, but the end result did not seem worth the effort to me.
 
Jessica wrote:
the end result did not seem worth the effort to me.
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Ah, but now you can say that you are well-read and impress those around you, like me, who've never felt they could wade through something like that. I've always wanted to read War and Peace and even bought a copy, but I've never even started it. I love to read, don't get me wrong, but if it's too tough it kind of sucks the joy out of it--So I guess I agree with you.
 
Originally posted by Prolixic

Ah, but now you can say that you are well-read and impress those around you, like me, who've never felt they could wade through something like that.
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You can't wade through Ulysses, you must trudge. I was fortunate to have a professor as a guide. I took a Ulysses class as my bachelor's capstone. We read Portrait of the Artist, Ulysses, The Dead and a bunch of criticism in one semester. I was bored at points, but now that I've read it and understand many of the details and themes, I feel it was very rewarding.


However, I read Lonesome Dove in a week and that was just as rewarding, if not more so. Lonesome Dove is an easy breezy read, but it's not trash. It's full of human struggle and...

Well, it's like Faulkner, but not boring and pretentious. I think authors and sometimes, but critics and professors almost always, want to create the illusion of importance by promoting impenetrable literature. I am currently of the opinion that simplicity and clarity are more important that showy tricks and difficult vocabulary...

Eat your hearts out, Pynchon and Joyce!
 
I must admit to having a bit of difficulty getting through 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (English version). It would be even harder if it was in French as I don't speak the language. :)

Other books I have found hard reads were:
O-Zone - Paul Theroux
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Coral Island - RM Ballantyne (sure, I was a kid when I read it but it was supposed to be a kids book)

I haven't had much trouble reading Chaucer, even in the old language, but I have a bit of an interest in the English language. Besides, I love his sense of humour.
 
Yeah, Ulysses I've tried, but only got through 250 pages before giving up. Must try again, want to try again. There's a book by Harry Blamires which is a guide to Ulysses, and that's a good way to get into it. Also reading The Odyssey by Homer first, to understand how Joyce structured Ulysses.

Has anyone read The Glass Bead Game by Hesse? I've not tried it, but another friend has read it a couple of times and thinks it's terrific. I've heard it's quite tricky.

One of Janet Frame's novels, Buffalo Daughter, I found difficult, not to read so much, but to fully comprehend what she was trying to say. It's quite bizarre!
 
What about The Silmarrilion. What a load of tedious bilge, written in a complicated way but with no plot.
 
I'm still trying to puzzle out the Silmarillion. It's been beside the bed for about a year now, and I still can't bring my self to start it again. I got about halfway through last time but just forgot about it.
 
I think the Silmarillion is tough because its written historically and around the plot of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. So unless you're very familiar it probably is a load of tedious bilge, i.e., it was pumped up with great effort from the very bottom of the area of Tolkeins mind that dealt with LOTR.

I made an honest effort this past Fall to read War and Peace--after posting on this thread--and just ended up leaving it on the table. Too hard or too tedious?
 
I too am a man who has tried to read War and Peace. With little success it turns out. The writing is mangificent but there are too many characters. I think I will try Anna Karenina or The Brothers Karamazarov instead.
Y'know the best writer I know of is Patrick O'Brian. Please try his book, Post Captain. Similar style of writing but less torpid.

http://senac.com/forums/12357
 
I am still wading through "It" by Stephen King. This book has also been beside my bed for the last six months. I keep reading a chapter or two and then leave it for a couple of weeks.
 
I can think of a few books that have turned me away for one reason or another (though I rarely start a book without finishing it). For instance, I found Virginia Woolf's The Waves VERY difficult going. Flann O'Brien's At Swim Two Birds and The Third Policeman were also quite confusing. And, as been mentioned here already, almost anything by William Faulkner.
Samuel Beckett's trilogy Malloy, Malone Dies, and The Unnameable is also a real torture test. I never made it through the whole thing.
Most of these books, though, are experiments with the craft of writing, so maybe they should be thought of according to different standards.
 
Les Miserables was difficult for me in places. I got through it, and felt a hugh sense of accomplishment when I did. I found myself thoroughly taken in by it. What a moving story! I have yet to see a film that does it justice.
 
I love the Silmarilion! It is one of my all-time favorites. The first time I tried to read it I was about 20 and found I couldn't get past the first few pages... I had no idea even what I had just read. When I was 30, i tried again and it just flew! It was fluid and lyrical and just breathtakingly lovely. Of course, by the time I was 30, I was much better acquainted with the LOTR trillogy. I read the trilogy every year and a decade really made a difference! Now I read the Silmarilion every year too.

For difficulty, I agree with most of the other nominations. I would add the Bible or at least certain large sections of it. It is beastlt boring in parts and nearly incomprehensible in others depending on the translation.
~Witch
 
Originally posted by Dawn
Les Miserables was difficult for me in places. I got through it, and felt a hugh sense of accomplishment when I did. I found myself thoroughly taken in by it. What a moving story! I have yet to see a film that does it justice.
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When I was in high school, we had to read it. At the time I was really happy they made us read the adjusted version, but now I kinda wish I'd read the original. Whenever I go to the library, I always walk through the French section, but I hardly ever actually take home a French book anymore. I guess it scares me a bit. But one new year's resolution was to finally read Le Comte de Monte-Cristo. I owe that to Dumas. :)
 
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