What’s the hardest/most challenging book you’ve ever read? Was it worth the effort? Did you read it by choice or was it an assignment/obligation?
Didn’t have to think hard about this one — it was James Joyce’s Ulysses.
And I read it by accident.
I read voraciously as a kid, and it must have been summer, because it was mostly during the summer that I used to mine the Oxford town library for things to read.
And I ended up taking home this enormous book, probably because the title seemed vaguely familiar . . . and yes, I read it. Every word.
I couldn’t have been more than 12 or 13.
I had no idea what it was about. lol
I should probably re-read it . . .
(Side note — it just occurred to me —Finnegans Wake (koff) is one of those books where you don’t have to say the author’s name . . . like War and Peace or The Great Gatsby or Moby Dick . . . I wonder if there are any books written in the last 20 years that are that much a part of the lexicon?)
Wow, yes, Ulysses is a really challenging one, I think for pretty much everyone who’s attempted to read it LOL
Here’s mine:
http://carabosseslibrary.blogspot.com/2011/10/booking-through-thursday_27.html
I’ve heard Finnegan’s Wake is supposed to be one of the hardest books to read, and ditto for Ulysses. I think there are a couple of books from the last twenty years that don’t need the author’s name – like Harry Potter and Twilight, but that could be down to the movies.
My BTT is here if you’d like a look :)
Not read either book you listed but I have to agree with Claire on unneeded author names… Harry Potter and Twilight would be on the list. I read Potter before it was cool, lol.
Here’s my BTT – House Millar series
Aine
@Claire, Harry Potter for sure!
@Valentina — to be clear, I “read” it but I had no idea what was going on…nowhere near the literary chops at the time.
I actually thought of another book that was probably harder, though — in college I read Rayuela (Hopscotch) by Julio Cortazar — in Spanish! Experimental fiction in your 2nd language — now that was a struggle.
I own a copy in English but have never picked it up . . . really should. Oh, to have more time to read!
Oo I haven’t read that one yet – it is a rather daunting one to attempt for sure!
I’ve never read this book. I love to read though, almost compulsively.