Discussion most difficult book that you've ever read?

[lamargue]

for me, The French Revolution by Carlyle was the most difficult in terms of language, excluding most philosophical works that i've read

 

[enduringwinter]

Those hundred pages long government releases people make me read just because it's related to my case although it's no help at all. Depressing and pisses me off.

 

[annointed_towers]

St Petersburg, Andrei Bely

 

[Ironborn]

Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand.
Fuck me it was a slog to get through.

 

[Darkover]

physics for dummies

 

[Lady Laudanum]

My intro to operations research textbook. I want to fling it out the window like a brick.

 

[Spreadingmywings]

It's either The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall or The Red Book Book by Carl Jung

 

[noname223]

I am currently reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. And that's also my answer.

 

[nux_walpurgis]

Moby Dick

The fact that I am not a native English speaker and decided to read it in English played a great role in not understanding it

It took me months to finish lol

 

[RueTheRavenPrincess]

The Crow. It's a graphic novel, more people are starting to hear about it becuase it just got adapted into an apparently bad movie. ive only ever read the book and its dificult to read because its so sad. I cant even think about the book for too long without crying lol. I reccomend it to everyone ever haha

 

[Ironborn]

The Crow. It's a graphic novel, more people are starting to hear about it becuase it just got adapted into an apparently bad movie. ive only ever read the book and its dificult to read because its so sad. I cant even think about the book for too long without crying lol. I reccomend it to everyone ever haha

The original film adaptation with Brandon Lee is a great watch, I highly recommend it. I've heard the new one is terrible as well.

 

[Chili]

I honestly think the Lord of the Rings was the hardest, just in style. Liked the movies so tried to drag through it

 

[pain6batch9]

This:

Auschwitz: The Nazis & the 'Final Solution'

In this compelling book, highly acclaimed author and br…

www.goodreads.com

 

[wCvML2]

Don't know if short stories count too but a collection of stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, not sure if I completed reading the book.

 

[Olek Messier 87]

Easy, "Finnegans Wake". I didn't get past the first 120 pages.

I am currently reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. And that's also my answer.

I'm not originally an English speaker, but I've often heard this book referred to as being very difficult to read, what's so special about it ?

Moby Dick

The fact that I am not a native English speaker and decided to read it in English played a great role in not understanding it

It took me months to finish lol

Yeah, not the easiest challenge there !

 

[daley]

I don't remember the actual book names, but I have tried to read books by Heidegger and Nietzsche.
I might have even finished reading them, but didn't understand much.

 

[lamargue]

I don't remember the actual book names, but I have tried to read books by Heidegger and Nietzsche.
I might have even finished reading them, but didn't understand much.

heidegger and nietzsche are on two different wavelengths in terms of readability, imo

most philosophical works that i've read tend to be incredibly compact, making them very difficult to read. heidegger is a very good example of that. im trying to read the cartesian meditations of husserl rn, which is panning out to be a herculean task similar to sein und zeit

 

[avoengo123]

Critique of Pure Reason

 

[Georg]

Everything from Göthe, if you are from Germany. Boring ass story telling and difficult to read. Same goes for Hermann Hesse.

 

[EvisceratedJester]

The Very Hungry Caterpillar is an extremely challenging piece of literature to read. To just make out the themes it is trying to explore requires rereading the book over and over again. It's a complex piece exploring how one tries to satiate their animalistic desires, as they eat and eat and eat. The caterpillar is forced to throw away their caterpillarhood, as it binges and binges on food, eating large amounts of it to try and finally calm down the beast within. It gets rewarded for following those instincts by turning into a beautiful butterfly, but at what cost?

I'll leave you with this, which I think beautifully illustrates the complex themes being explored here.

 

[psp3000]

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs (currently reading)

• doesn't really have much of a plot
• the main character gets off track sometimes with internal monologues and stories of the past and very detailed descriptions of people he or she has done drugs with or sold drugs to
• told from the perspective of someone who is doing various hard drugs
• the book can be read in any order
• the author is known for using the cut up technique

Crash by J.G. Ballard (did not finish)

• very very descriptive
• sometimes what is happening is confusing because the main character goes on long rambles about his attraction to car crashes and wanting to be in a car crash and various other things

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I couldn't really get into The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. Then again, I also didn't really like the Lord of the Rings books either. I only ever liked reading The Hobbit. I'm sure there's other works I've read that I also found difficult but I suppose if I've finished them they can't be that bad but if I didn't finish them I don't remember them.

 

[Plentiful_Despair]

The bible. It's written like a schizo 4chan thread

 

[EvisceratedJester]

The bible. It's written like a schizo 4chan thread

30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let's get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father."
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I slept with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." 35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.

^ Funny how the same people who spend their time trying to ban books in school libraries over stupid shit are perfectly fine with their kids reading whatever the fuck this is.

 

[Plentiful_Despair]

^ Funny how the same people who spend their time trying to ban books in school libraries over stupid shit are perfectly fine with their kids reading whatever the fuck this is.

Exactly. I was forced to read this gibberish in school and argued with the christian teacher and asked him if he actually enjoys reading this bullshit and truly feels its the word of god. My parents had to come because I "disrespected him" lmao