Most boring/difficult books you've ever read.

[EchetusXe]

For me it would have to be "The Sound and the Fury", by William Faulkner. Although its final act was decent, the whole book would have had a much greater payoff if I could've just figured out what the fucking plot was.

haha, yes, I had a read a couple of William Faulkner novels so when I came to the blurb on that and it said it was particularly complex I thought "oh crap". Thank god I read the blurb which said chapter 1 = no sense, chapter 2 = I may be getting some of it, chapter 3 = I think I have a vague idea of whats going on, chapter 4 = well that explains it all... I think?

So I persevered and got through it. Had to look up on Wikipedia what exactly happened and the suicide was a complete revelation to me! Apart from that I just about picked up on the plot by the time I had finished reading.

 

[Phantomess]

The Cider House Rules. I really struggled through that book.

 

[Mikri Shogun]

I couldn't agree more with Nightmonger (i forgot to quote,lol)...
I really enjoy reading Tolkien's books, but they aren't just for everyone.
Because, Tolkien, is too much descriptive and he immerse the stories and enviroments around his characters,it's like reading the "history" of the mythical world that he created -which is enormous-,it's not an easy read.
Personally,I really like Tolkien's extensive descriptiveness,I have read The Silmarillion twice.
The first time I read it in my language,greek and the second in english.

 

[Nikolaz72]

Twilight. Yea as one of the few people who hate it i took my time to read through the first book. Its like a Semi-Erotic teenage novel with sparkly vampires aimed at girls at the age of 15-30. Wait, isnt that what all the people who havent read the book already think? (What a waste of time that was)

-My sister had it lying around and there was nothing else to do than read that or bang your head against the wall and i wanted to avoid the loss of braincells. I should have banged my head against the wall.

 

[kintaris]

This is interesting, as all of my most difficult reads actually became some of my favourite books.

Silmarillion, Orlando by Virginia Woolf (does the woman know that sentences are meant to be less than 2 pages long?), War and Peace (I LOVED it), the complete works of Shakespeare, all were very difficult but ultimately very satisfying. I guess I like to be challenged.

Book that I found too boring to continue with was The Stand. Self-indulgent to the point of tedium, the story and characters didn't have anywhere near enough weight to sustain a book that long. Which is surprising as I have liked a few of King's books.

But even now I'm thinking, damn, I never finished that book, and it preys on my mind. Man, if there was a gamerscore for book reading, I probably wouldn't rest til I was top of the list.

 

[AcacianLeaves]

Without looking at this thread, I can accurately predict most of the responses:

Response Type 1: Books you were forced to read as a student and never tried to actually enjoy, rather you were forced to study and analyze them. (IE Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath)

Response Type 2: Books that literary critics have labeled as 'classics' that you wanted to read just so you can say that you did, but you couldn't finish them because you were never really interested in the premise in the first place. (IE The Great Gatsby)

Response Type 3: "Important" books that were relevant and changed society at the time of publishing, but the language use and situations do not translate well to modernity so you have no idea why people think highly of them. (IE anything by Jane Austen)

Response Type 4: Books that heavily influenced or created genre fiction. Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror are all about pushing boundaries, and the boundaries of 100 years ago aren't as scintillating to today's reader. (IE Dracula, Frankenstein, Lovecraft)

Response Type 5: Literary fags raging about today's reader not enjoying classic works of fiction in their own context.

 

[Dr.Sean]

Atlas Shrugged is boring. Anthem ftw

 

[Grimlock Fett]

I tryd to read the divine comedy! I got one page in and was like F this.......

 

[CycloKyle]

Twelfth Night. I had to read that for school, and I've never been so bored in my life.

 

[Cazza]

For school. To kill a Mockingbird. I got up to the fence & pants part with boo radley or whatever. So for my assigment I did how the character development of scout effect their point of view. Got a B.

 

[Darth Pope]

The Dark Tower series are pretty difficult to read, I never finished the series.


Although I've heard The Stand is ten times worse.

Meh. I've read them both. I didn't fine either particularly hard. The only thing that really makes The Stand harder than the Tower books is the sheer number of characters. (And if you think The Stand had a ton of characters, try Under the Dome on for size)

 

[Darth Pope]

Absolutely hated Gone With the Wind. Most godawful uninteresting book. Also The Catcher In the Rye. Outside of Mark David Chapmen, why is this book so damned popular? It's about a kid goofing off, big woop.

 

[Asparagus Brown]

Without looking at this thread, I can accurately predict most of the responses:

Response Type 1: Books you were forced to read as a student and never tried to actually enjoy, rather you were forced to study and analyze them. (IE Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath)

Response Type 2: Books that literary critics have labeled as 'classics' that you wanted to read just so you can say that you did, but you couldn't finish them because you were never really interested in the premise in the first place. (IE The Great Gatsby)

Response Type 3: "Important" books that were relevant and changed society at the time of publishing, but the language use and situations do not translate well to modernity so you have no idea why people think highly of them. (IE anything by Jane Austen)

Response Type 4: Books that heavily influenced or created genre fiction. Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror are all about pushing boundaries, and the boundaries of 100 years ago aren't as scintillating to today's reader. (IE Dracula, Frankenstein, Lovecraft)

Response Type 5: Literary fags raging about today's reader not enjoying classic works of fiction in their own context.

That seems about right. If I were to post on topic, I'd probably be "Response Type 5." Then I'd list some kind of book that's considered difficult even by "literary fag" standards just to reinforce my unwarranted feeling of superiority.

 

[Darth Pope]

Stephen King's Dark Tower IV: Wizard und Glass.
The book is 99.99999[repeating]% a flashback, and the only parts worth reading are the parts that aren't a flashback. Keep in mind that the book is almost a thousand pages long.
This book should be formally recognize as a form of torture.

But it was such an interesting flash back. Although if it's not your cup of tea, try the graphic novel adaption Gunslinger Born.

Wait, is your user name a reference to THE Crimson King?

 

[Liberaliter]

Mine would be 'The Book of Dave' by Will Self. It's just... gah. Really hard to read on a basic level, the dialect of the people used is hard to follow.

 

[z3rostr1fe]

Mine would be... "Vanity Fair" by William Makepeace Thackeray... It's the British English... Or Old English...

 

[Retardinator]

Displaying my heresy here, I'll say ANYTHING BY TOLKIEN.

No, thats perfectly understandable. I've tried reading Fellowship of the Ring at least 5 times, I've never made it more than 100 pages in without trying something else.

Crime and Punishment is probably the longest I've spent on a book this year. On the other hand, its the good sort of difficult.

I've exactly the same problem with Tolkien. I gave up on Crime and Punishment about 300 pages in, mostly because I had to worry about other books to read for school. Otherwise I would've finished it. It's not even boring as much. And why does everyone keep saying "Tolkien gets better later"? Books should be written so they hook you in from the beginning. It ain't my fault Mr. Tolkien doesn't know how to keep me reading.

 

[KidGalaxy]

Without looking at this thread, I can accurately predict most of the responses:

Response Type 1: Books you were forced to read as a student and never tried to actually enjoy, rather you were forced to study and analyze them. (IE Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath)

Response Type 2: Books that literary critics have labeled as 'classics' that you wanted to read just so you can say that you did, but you couldn't finish them because you were never really interested in the premise in the first place. (IE The Great Gatsby)

Response Type 3: "Important" books that were relevant and changed society at the time of publishing, but the language use and situations do not translate well to modernity so you have no idea why people think highly of them. (IE anything by Jane Austen)

Response Type 4: Books that heavily influenced or created genre fiction. Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror are all about pushing boundaries, and the boundaries of 100 years ago aren't as scintillating to today's reader. (IE Dracula, Frankenstein, Lovecraft)

Response Type 5: Literary fags raging about today's reader not enjoying classic works of fiction in their own context.

That seems about right. If I were to post on topic, I'd probably be "Response Type 5." Then I'd list some kind of book that's considered difficult even by "literary fag" standards just to reinforce my unwarranted feeling of superiority.

ULYSSES! Do I win?

EDIT: No, even better: Finnegan's Wake.

 

[nelsonr100]

Great Expectations by Dickins and Emma by Jane Austin - I just CANT read this victorian nonsense

 

[Crystal Cuckoo]

I'm going to say The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It wasn't boring, but my GOD it was difficult to stay conscious as Tolkien proceded to describe the meal Frodo was having in such detail.

However, I finished The Fellowship, which I thought was a feat considering I was ten when I read it. Finishing it felt like an accomplishment, and I geared myself up for the Two Towers.

I got to chapter five before chucking the book out. FUCKING ENTS AND THEIR FUCKING SIX PAGE SONGS. FUCK YOUUUUUU, ENTS.