Books that are too difficult, out of your league, too long

[Va_treehugger]

I had a hard time with Umberto Eco's Name of the Rose. It wasn't that he used difficult words to understand, but the way the sentences were structured. But I stuck with it and about 1/3 of the way through I finally got into the groove. So glad I did...

[Steeleholls]

I had a horrible time reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (I didn't finish it because I thought it was so bad). I tried to read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I was like it's only 20 something pages. How hard could it be... I could not do it! I loved the first part of Dracula, but I could not continue reading those letters! And Stephen King's Dreamcatcher was way out there for me. I usually like Stephen King and anything Scifi/fantasy, but that book was just not doing it for me. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey is difficult too, but I plan on coming back to that one.

[smurphy-]

I recently had to give up on a book that I just 'didn't get'. Usually I force myself to finish a book but I just couldn't in this case. It was 'A Suitable Boy' by Vikram Seth. I found myself enjoying certain characters and wanting to find out what happened with them but there were SO MANY characters. I kept having to flip back to the front of the book and look at the family trees (there were four of them) to identify who was who. If it had been 500 pages I would have finished it anyway but it was 1500 pages and there were still many characters that I hadn't even met yet. So I guess this one also falls under the 'too long' category. Although I have enjoyed the long novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.

This question reminds me of when I picked up a couple of novels in a bookstore that were written by Leonard Cohen: 'The Favourite Game' and 'Beautiful Losers'. I hadn't realized that he had written any novels but I am a huge fan of his music and poetry. I have to say that I did not think that it was possible for a book with that much sex in it to be that boring. I finished both of them (they were mercifully short) but I have never picked them up again. I'm not saying that they were bad, but they were definitely not for me. No disrespect, Mr. Cohen!

[The Bookaholic]

Although I loved Les Mis the movie, I just couldn't get into the book.

[klickaal]

I had to read London Labor and the London Poor by Henry Mayhew when I was in college. Tedious reading.

[Nathrad Sheare]

How do you mean?

[Madcap Syzygii]

I really have to admit something horrible, but I have tried so hard to read this book and I absolutely do not have the patience to finish it. I'm sorry to those who are extreme fans of this book, but some understand, "The Scarlet Letter." I was just talking about it today and I said, "I CAN'T EVEN GET PAST THE FIRST FOUR PAGES!! Every other word takes me to the dictionary! I feel like I'm reading the dictionary instead of the book." I guess picking up the dictionary for light reading like my brother would have been a good idea. I'd better get crackin. I still want to read it though! I WILL PERSIST!!!!!!

[amok917]

The Waves by Woolf is wonderful IMO. Also Ulysses. There was a time early in my life when The Pale Fire was beyond me. Dhalgren was a tough but not impossible read.
But....FINNEGAN'S WAKE?! What the heck Ramsey is Riverrun??

[Nathrad Sheare]

"Finnegan's Wake." I've been thinking about trying it out...

[amok917]

"Finnegan's Wake." I've been thinking about trying it out...

Be sure you research it up before you try. There are a couple dead languages and several different myths including Celtic.

[Nathrad Sheare]

Already my imagination's been kindled...

[Aithne]

I would agree with some others that books cannot be too difficult but they can be too slow, tedious, badly written or in a subject uninteresting to me.

[Nathrad Sheare]

Amen!

[DATo]

Peace, by Gene Wolfe.

A borderline sci-fi book which I found incredibly difficult. Sometimes just one word or idea found at the beginning of the book would collate with an idea near the end of the book. The plot is alllllll over the map and though you can get a general idea of what is going on it would require at least 3 reads from front to back, then at least one more while taking notes all before you ever have an opportunity to begin connecting the dots.

I would have enjoyed this type of book when I was younger but I don't have the energy to take on Olympian literary challenges this late in the game. It is considered one of the greatest sc-fi books ever written and has won many awards but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are really willing to work.

EDIT: I DID figure it out but it damn near killed me.

[Nathrad Sheare]

I've read books that have had very disorganized plots, but never one that hasn't come to make sense halfway through or near the end by some trick of the author's talent with detail. It's a wonder that some of these books are so popular. One thing every teacher of the writing craft stresses is attention to consistency and simplicity. I guess an author's success really is a gambler's result, isn't it?