it doesn’t have to be your favorite book or anything. It can be any book that you find yourself thinking of with a sense of pride for having read it.
Personally, I am really proud of myself for not DNFing A Little Life and pushing forward. I read a very good chunk of that book with tears running down my face–mind you, I was reading it on my phone during lectures for the entirety of my first semester last year–and I was always on the verge of putting it down just because of the horrible content. Also, it was pretty long; too long, actually. So when I was done, I was simultaneously Heartbroken, broken (just like in general), and relieved. It was truly a feat.
An honorable mention is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, because I swear to God I did not understand a single thing about it even 10 chapters in. Charles Dickens is too much.
by Piazytiabet
16 Comments
Being proud of reading a book never occurred to me
„A little life“ is even more awful because it‘s readable and it sucks you in so completely. I also read in just a few days. I‘m don‘t really count it as accomplishment because it‘s very difficult to put it away in my experience and since finishing it I grew much more critical of the book. So not sure. In terms of length Paul Austers „1,2,3,4“ I‘d probably count as an accomplishment because I read it in like a week and I think it‘s about a 1000 pages. I think one I‘d call accomplishment is finishing Will Self‘s „Dorian“ in English because of the unusual language.
As a non-native English speaker: Moby Dick on English.
On The Origin Of Species
Actually reading it and not just saying I am an evolutionist. Not only it helps me understand the process better. But it allows me to better refute the arguments of people who do not believe in evolution.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. I had to read it for uni. Hardest book I’ve ever read
Probably War and Peace or the Bible for now, but one day I’ll finish the Silmarillion and that will be the pinnacle of achievement.
I’m not super proud, but I always recommend:
East of Eden
Moby Dick
Dark Tower
The Expanse
The Collected Works of Shakespeare and every textbook I actually read all the way through
***Malazan: Book of the Fallen*** by Steven Erikson
Me too for a little life, I read books very fast but I really needed to push myself for that one
Existential Psychotherapy.
Atlas Shrugged. A friend sent it to me. I found it depressing, but I forged through so as to be able to discuss it with my friend.
I was proud of myself for making it through Solaris(the first English translation, unsure if the newer is better).
Not because it’s bad, in fact it’s a fantastic book but the exposition just started to drrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggg. I even like the way it’s presented, it just got to be a bit much haha.
Read that book though, it’s great! I’m sure I really sold it here 😂
Ulysses by James Joyce. I read it and loved it, but did I understand it? Absolutely not. I need to reread it now that I’m older but it’s a hard book to ~want~ to read.
In defense of Charles Dickens, a lot of his books start out slow, but after ~60 % of the book, they become real page- turners.
“Great Expectations” is **definitely** worth the wait.
I also really liked “A tale of two cities” BTW.
The Hidden Life of Trees. A bit of a slog for a non-intellectual