I saw a prior mention to this subject earlier on this Sub. However, I also feel the need to talk about this.
Recently, after finding out about Albert Camus, and reading ‘The Stranger’ and ‘The Fall’, I was keen on exploring the rest of his work. And, several days later, I bought the remainder of his novels I didn’t have, as well as essays and lectures.
This is where the problem lays. Although I want to read his books, after I one day read 20 pages of ‘The Myth Of Sisyphus’, I realized, maybe, (I comprehended the text, but not it’s meaning) I wasn’t smart enough for them. I shouldn’t say that, but, at the time, that’s how I felt.
I haven’t attempted to read TMOS again, nor have I touched any of the other books of his on my shelf. I guess I’m coming here to ask a simple question (and once again, I might be parroting the earlier post): when a book you encounter makes you feel it’s too advanced, how do you proceed?
by WMR298
30 Comments
This happened to me a bit with trying to read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. I had such a hard time reading it and not being able to comprehend it that I almost gave up. It did kind of make me feel stupid for not being able to get it. I ended up kind of just reading the parts I found interesting and that I could understand and skimming the parts I couldn’t and then I read chapter summaries online that explained WTF was going on. I did end up liking the movie a lot though. I read mainly for entertainment purposes and sometimes for learning so if it’s not working for me I give up reading it and move on to something else.
Some books reward perseverance. Some books humble us with a reminder of our limitations. Forge on if you can, otherwise go onto something else you’ll get more out of.
It’s different to what you’re describing, but I love the idea of [Ergodic literature](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergodic_literature), where ‘nontrivial effort is required to allow the reader to traverse the text’.
I recently read blood meridian which I found to be challenging. It basically meant that my focus waned much more easily and I’d miss things that happen. It’s not a long book so I stuck it out and finished it and have come to love it, but if you’re not enjoying a book or find it too difficult there’s nothing wrong with putting it down.
If you are determined to get through the book, see if there’s a summary you can read along with on spark notes or litcharts to explain things as you go.
Are there books I find too mentally taxing to read? Sure. Do I put in the work to read them? Usually not, unless I’m feeling particularly challenged. I generally read because I enjoy reading and I’m drawn in by a story/characters – if I can’t get into The Zone, then I’m not enjoying myself and I’ll move onto something else.
If I do want to read a book like this, I’m going to go whole hog – do a bunch of research, find reading guides, look for essays or articles on what other people have said about it/interpretations. I’d also probably end up reading a bunch of other stuff to understand what is being referenced that I’m not familiar with (the Bible, mythology, philosophy, history, etc). At this point, it’s more about exploring the whole world of the author and the book’s impact rather than just submerging myself into a story/world. This can be very rewarding, fascinating, eye-opening, daunting, tiresome. I might give up at some point, if it feels like I’m not getting anywhere or it turns out I’m not as impressed by what I’m learning about the book as I hoped I’d be. But hey, I put a lot of new information in my head along the way, so it’s fine.
Yes. There are a lot of novels that can be characterized as that. The reason may vary, though.
Some will be hard because of old language (classics), flowery prose (many classic as well), heavily allegorical, too high concept (many scifi deal with this), too intricate, incredibly large scope, little to no exposition, etc.
Personally, I think this is a draw by itself. It is harder to read? Yes. But the challenge can be worth it. As long as you have the right mind set before read something, you’ll probably have a good time. Knowing what you’re getting into is important.
Currently, I’m giving The Book of the New Sun a try and I’m enjoying it quite a lot, despite being designed to be read multiple times and having many layers of complexity added on the plot (without even considering the allegorical aspects).
I decided a while back I’m not gonna bother attempting Finnegan’s Wake. Life’s too short.
I read Neal Stephenson’s Anathem, and I honestly have no idea what it’s about. Even when reading it I had no idea what was happening. I read the entire thing, and it’s a pretty long book. I’m glad I don’t do that anymore.
You don’t have to read in a vacuum. Especially for somebody like Camus, there’s probably going to be a few essays or even books you can read that will help explain what’s happening and what to look out for. I’m all for a challenging read, but don’t forget to make it enjoyable.
The Stranger and The myth of sissyphus were my introduction into existentialist philosophy .
They are meant to be read along side each other, and
attempt to show that life is ultimately absurd and the search for meaning is essentially pointless.
Life is Just a series of mostly (but not totally) unpleasant experiences..
Some people will cling to religion in hopes of finding some deeper meaning that makes life worth living, such as a reward in the afterlife.
Some people will find it too depressing and opt out of life altogether.
Camus is saying not to search for a deeper meaning to make life bearable, but rather to just accept the absurd nature of reality. To really lean into it, and make your own meaning .
Roll that Boulder up that hill. Yes it mostly sucks, but there is some interesting scenery along the way, and you can hum a little tune.
I loved The Sound and the Fury but I read it with the guidance of a superb English teacher. I never would have been able to read it on my own; I can’t even reread it on my own.
For me, it was *The French Lieutenant’s Woman.* I’ve certainly read harder books… haven’t I? This was opaque. Couldn’t follow it at all.
I made it through Gravity’s Rainbow first without annotations through sheer willpower, then with annotations to get all the references, then again for my own enjoyment. Some books will reward you for it. I will never even bother with Finnegan’s Wake after looking at the annotations. Just don’t see the payoff for the effort. Maybe get some notes or lecture slides on TMoS and try to forge ahead with assistance, and make a go of it on your own again later, or leave off with the notes once you feel you have a better handle on the work.
James Joyce was the king of this. Mr. BULLSHIT usage of the English language. I half believe the theory that as an Irish he wrote the way he did in order to bastardize and twist the fuck out of the Brits’ language right under their noses and have them laud and praise him for it. Which if that’s true, worked to a T
Try James Joyce’s *Finnegan’s Wake*:
​
riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend
of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to
Howth Castle and Environs.
Sir Tristram, violer d’amores, fr’over the short sea, had passen-
core rearrived from North Armorica on this side the scraggy
isthmus of Europe Minor to wielderfight his penisolate war: nor
had topsawyer’s rocks by the stream Oconee exaggerated themselse
to Laurens County’s gorgios while they went doublin their mumper
all the time: nor avoice from afire bellowsed mishe mishe to
tauftauf thuartpeatrick: not yet, though venissoon after, had a
kidscad buttended a bland old isaac: not yet, though all’s fair in
vanessy, were sosie sesthers wroth with twone nathandjoe. Rot a
peck of pa’s malt had Jhem or Shen brewed by arclight and rory
end to the regginbrow was to be seen ringsome on the aquaface.
The fall (bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonner-
ronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthur-
nuk!) of a once wallstrait oldparr is retaled early in bed and later
on life down through all christian minstrelsy. The great fall of the
offwall entailed at such short notice the pftjschute of Finnegan,
erse solid man, that the humptyhillhead of humself prumptly sends
an unquiring one well to the west in quest of his tumptytumtoes:
and their upturnpikepointandplace is at the knock out in the park
where oranges have been laid to rust upon the green since dev-
linsfirst loved livvy.
Not a novel, but most certainly Middle English books like Paradise Lost made me loose interest, but I did get through the first couple hundred pages. But it is just so hard to understand what’s going on and it gets covered with centuries of shifting definitions.
Either that or I’m lazy and making up excuses. Idk, I just wanna finish it for myself.
*Ulysses* by James Joyce. I’ve tried and failed to read it about 3 times now. Pretty sure I need some sort of annotated version where each obscure reference is explained to fully understand this book.
James Joyce has entered the chat.
Fuckin Silmarillion, man. LOTR I must have read some half a dozen times, but Silmarillion I’ve never finished through my many attempts. I guess there’s just something difficult about reading a text that’s 50% verbs and the other 50% elf names.
edit: Also Proust, but in a different way. Proust was just frustrating. I generally love classical literature, but his writing was just somehow nauseating to read. I remember thinking “what is this bullshit” throughout reading. Eventually I caved about a third through the book and gave the book away because I didn’t even want to have it in my possession.
Sounds like you’re just new to reading philosophy. You don’t read philosophy like a normal book. You read a passage, realize you have no idea what it says, read it another 5 times, and then it clicks and you proceed.
If you want to get better at something, study and practice.
There are lots of great resources online for learning about things like themes, symbolism, and other literary devices. It can also be helpful to look into what was happening in the world during an author’s life, as well as what books influenced them (or what major books were published that could have influenced them). Sometimes that context can make you have an ah-ha moment, where you realize the book has parallels to a major war, or coup, or plague that happened during the author’s life.
Some books use such dense language that reading them is a real workout. You may be able to enjoy them when you’re in the right headspace, or they may just not be for you.
I *can* read text like that. I just prefer to read mostly lighter material because I read for pleasure.
It happened to me when I’ve tried to read Umberto Eco:The Foucault Pendulum. It’s a very complicated book because he uses tons of references which you would only understand if you would have read the mentioned books/know the writers/thinkers and the list is endless. So basically you need an index to understand.
It wasn’t helpful that it was divided to 10 segments represented by the 10 Sefiroth.
In this case, I put the book down for a few years and then try again. Some books that were too hard or boring to read at 15 were readable at 20, and some are now readable at 30.
Another option is to go all in on studying the author and the times they wrote in. It all depends on how much you want that first read colored by the opinions of others.
Infinite Jest… I made it through but as soon as I finished I thought, “well I guess I didn’t understand that nearly as much as I thought I did.”
Have you tried Infinite Jest?
The only book I have never finished. It’s almost written as if you aren’t supposed to finish it.
For me -anything David foster Wallace and I’ve tried mam -mama tried
I remember in grade 12 or something, I bought the book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell. I figured I would enjoy it since I was enthralled by mythology. From the first line of the book, I realized I was out of my depth by a good margin. I have finished my undergraduate degree in engineering, and I have gone back to that book. Turns out, it’s much easier for me to read but still a challenge.
I will pick that book up and finish it someday, after my time with the Illiad and the Odyssey I need some time off from books that take so much effort. But by God, I will finish that damn book before I die.
To answer your question, I think sometimes we need to realize a book is for future us. We can get excited and want to read difficult books because we like the subject matter, but we may not be ready for it. So pop it on the shelf until you feel ready, then one day when you’re bored you will grab it and realize it’s not as hard to read as you remembered.
i was once trapped inside a sentence by william faulkner for three hours
Finnegan’s Wake and Ulysses are masterpieces. They are called maximalist novels for a reason. Other novels that fit this category: Gravity’s Rainbow, Against the Day, 2666, JR, Infinite Jest, Books of Jacob. These are all masterpieces. There is absolutely no denying the genius required and involved with producing any of these works of Literature. You will also notice the various proses used across them. Bolaño and DFW write in extremely straightforward fashion. Whereas authors like Pynchon and McCarthy (Blood Meridian, though not maximalist) will leave you rereading sentences several times to gain full understanding.
What makes Joyce particularly stand out from these already immortal pieces / authors is that he writes in post modern prose. A more beginner friendly (but still rather challenging) post modernist author would be Lispector.
These works are what make them Literature and not just books. They are an art form in themselves that are more than just a series of plot developments strung together. They can be extremely frustrating to read for many reasons beyond the basic understanding of what a sentence is to convey in more traditional language structures.
> It’s been a prevalent notion. Fallen sparks. Fragments of vessels broken at the Creation. And someday, somehow, before the end, a gathering back to home. A messenger from the Kingdom, arriving at the last moment. But I tell you there is no such message, no such home — only the millions of last moments . . . nothing more. Our history is an aggregate of last moments.
GR
> They were watching, out there past men’s knowing, where stars are drowning and whales ferry their vast souls through the black and seamless sea.
BM
> All the world began with a yes. One molecule said yes to another molecule and life was born. But before prehistory there was the prehistory of the prehistory and there was the never and there was the yes. It was ever so. I don’t know why, but I do know that the universe never began.
Make no mistake, I only achieve simplicity with enormous effort.
The Hour of the Star
A common way to prepare to approach any of these sorts of Literature is to read more prose fiction. Proust, Hemingway, Salter, Sebald, Bernhard, Mann, Calvino, Nabokov, Duras, Houellebecq. Read books whose scope is more than your mainstream contemporary books whose author’s ambitions are straightforward, narrow and nearsighted. Karl Ove, Tolstoy, Garcia, Borges, Bellow, Celine. So many others.
Put down Sanderson and Gaiman and pick up Literature. Your brain will thank you.
Chuck Palahniuk’s pygmy was impossible to get through with the broken English dialogue throughout the entire novel
Also, House of Leaves was an exercise in itself.
As I see it, there are several limitations/hurdles to reading a book.
-References to other written works you have not read.
-Style of writing does not match your brain.
-Lots of archaic vocabulary that makes you go “huh?”
-Writers who are intentionally unapproachable or complicated.
-Not being used to/good at reading for extended periods of time.
-Just not being interested.
​
It may help to read a bit of a critique or interpretation of this book. Something I LOVE to do is to get an audio book and have it read to me while I read the text. The inflection of someone else reading really makes things come together.