Hello everyone,
Ever since I began seriously delving into fiction at the age of 17, I've been captivated by long, dense, and complex novels. Immersing myself in these literary worlds serves not only as an escape from the mundanity of everyday life but also as a rigorous exercise for my mental faculties.
Among the most challenging books I've tackled are "Women and Men" by Joseph McElroy (which I've read twice), Gertrude Stein's "The Making of Americans," and James Joyce's "Finnegans Wake," the latter of which I enjoyed immensely by pairing the text with its audiobook. Other notoriously difficult works that I've read—some multiple times—include:
- "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace
- "Gravity's Rainbow" by Thomas Pynchon
- "Ulysses" by James Joyce
- The entirety of Marcel Proust's "In Search of Lost Time"
- "The Man Without Qualities" by Robert Musil
- "Plus" and "Lookout Cartridge" by Joseph McElroy
- "The Sound and the Fury" and "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner
- "Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville
- "You Bright and Risen Angels" by William T. Vollmann
- "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy
- "The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski
- "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand
- "Solenoid" by Mircea Cărtărescu
- All works by James Joyce
- The trilogy by Samuel Beckett
- All works by Thomas Pynchon
- "Mrs. Dalloway" and "To the Lighthouse" by Virginia Woolf
- "Nightwood" by Djuna Barnes
- "2666" by Roberto Bolaño
- "Underworld" by Don DeLillo
…and these are just off the top of my head.
For a bit of a change, I've also ventured into philosophical texts, including Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason," Wittgenstein's "Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus," and Derrida's "Writing and Difference."
The one book that has thus far eluded me is Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit," but I am determined to conquer it this summer.
Looking ahead, I plan to read Vollmann's "Europe Central," Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey," and Cervantes' "Don Quixote." I also have my sights set on the monumental "Bottom's Dream," as well as Marguerite Young's "Miss MacIntosh, My Darling" and Alexander Theroux's "Darconville's Cat." Other substantial tomes on my radar include Vollmann's "Rising Up and Rising Down" and John Barth's "The Sot-Weed Factor."
In addition to literature, I aim to broaden my horizons with more non-fiction works such as "Gödel, Escher, Bach" by Douglas Hofstadter, Gibbon's "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," and Burton's "The Anatomy of Melancholy."
At 23, I feel I have ample time to explore and challenge myself with even more demanding works. I am keen to hear about the difficult books others have read and am particularly interested in obscure recommendations, whether in literature or philosophy. I am always up for a challenge, regardless of genre.
by Necessary-Scarcity82