Most boring/difficult books you've ever read.
- Thread starter ALuckyChance
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I'm a big Tolkien fan, but the silmarillion was like reading a bible that made less sense than the bloody bible!!!
Second this. Gravity's Rainbow is absolutely unparalleled in terms of pure useless difficulty. It's also pretty damn good. I will never ever be able to unread the dominatrix scene though . . . thanks Pynchon . . . thanks a bunchGloatingSwine said:
I just CAN'T read Tolkien. For some reason the words just don't register with me when I try to read it.
Oh, and "A Clockwork Orange".
I'm sure it's a masterful story that delves into the human psyche, but when the insane language the author has made up to write it confuses me so much I can read through a rape scene and 2 murders without realising it, I don't think it's my kind of book.
Oh, and "A Clockwork Orange".
I'm sure it's a masterful story that delves into the human psyche, but when the insane language the author has made up to write it confuses me so much I can read through a rape scene and 2 murders without realising it, I don't think it's my kind of book.
Hmm difficult, I'd say Silmarillion was one of them. I liked Children of hurin though, it was easier to read than Lord of the rings (Which were sorta hard as well). There are quite a few books that I found a tad boring or just plain difficult to get through. Catcher in the Rye and Emma for instance, but most of them redeemed themselves in the end.
However, there's one book, that will always stay with me as the most difficult read, EVER.
There's this book called The Discovery of Heaven, and I read it when I was about 15 and besides the main plot which never quite made a whole lot of sense to me (I think it's about a dude with lapiz lazuli eyes bringing back the 10 (even though there are 14, if not 600+)) commandments back to heaven, as in those two tablet things) the rest of the text was peppered with references to political situations and in general cultural references that were relevant in the 70s/80s and most of them just flew right over my head. Also, damn thing's like 1000+ pages long. It was mind boggling and I still don't get the ending (something weird happens with the angels who orchestrated the whole thing, and it's just...wth?).
However, there's one book, that will always stay with me as the most difficult read, EVER.
There's this book called The Discovery of Heaven, and I read it when I was about 15 and besides the main plot which never quite made a whole lot of sense to me (I think it's about a dude with lapiz lazuli eyes bringing back the 10 (even though there are 14, if not 600+)) commandments back to heaven, as in those two tablet things) the rest of the text was peppered with references to political situations and in general cultural references that were relevant in the 70s/80s and most of them just flew right over my head. Also, damn thing's like 1000+ pages long. It was mind boggling and I still don't get the ending (something weird happens with the angels who orchestrated the whole thing, and it's just...wth?).
The Lord of Rings. All I could think while reading it was "Wow, this is beautifully written...and I hate it."
I prefered the Hobbit. A talking dragon or fat drunken dwarf would have mixed things up a bit.
I prefered the Hobbit. A talking dragon or fat drunken dwarf would have mixed things up a bit.
This. I couldn't make it through the whole book as I was so damn bored and tired of the whole thing. That class also introduced me to two other books which I despise: The Great Gatsby and Ethan Frome.Amethyst Wind said:
THE PICKLE DISH. OH GOD THE PICKLE DISH.
I was told to read the Grapes of Wrath for summer reading before my senior year of high school. I got 10 pages into it and decided I would rather not torture away my summer. i have never been that bored reading a book in my life.
I love this thread, I'm a bookworm extraordinaire! I must disagree with quite a few posters here, I love all of the Middle Earth books, I read them all as a child and they really captured my imagination.
I read Mice and Men in secondary school; I must admit my English teacher was absolutely fantastic and really managed to get her class interested in a rather boring book; most of my class managed to pass her lessons with pretty high grades and I think it must have been down to her enthusiasm The education system should take into account the age of the kids they're teaching to when they choose books for Literature classes, I reckon most kids couldn't care less about racism in the deep south of America in the last century, or some guy and his family who suffer because of his job loss.
Despite my teacher's enthusiasm, I hated Death of a Salesman. I yawned through every page and just hated the book. It didn't fire up my imagination and I had no empathy for the characters whatsoever, although I think being older might change my mind.
I haven't read the whole thread through yet, but one author who I love, yet struggle with at times is Steve Aylett. Slaughtermatic is a great book and it owes a real debt to Clockwork Orange, but I found myself getting lost in places.
...don't get me started about James Joyce *hatehatehate*
I read Mice and Men in secondary school; I must admit my English teacher was absolutely fantastic and really managed to get her class interested in a rather boring book; most of my class managed to pass her lessons with pretty high grades and I think it must have been down to her enthusiasm
The education system should take into account the age of the kids they're teaching to when they choose books for Literature classes, I reckon most kids couldn't care less about racism in the deep south of America in the last century, or some guy and his family who suffer because of his job loss. Despite my teacher's enthusiasm, I hated Death of a Salesman. I yawned through every page and just hated the book. It didn't fire up my imagination and I had no empathy for the characters whatsoever, although I think being older might change my mind.
I haven't read the whole thread through yet, but one author who I love, yet struggle with at times is Steve Aylett. Slaughtermatic is a great book and it owes a real debt to Clockwork Orange, but I found myself getting lost in places.
...don't get me started about James Joyce *hatehatehate*
Homer's Odyssey & Illiad. Oh and Virgil's Aeneid, they may be epic works, but to a modern audience they are so bloody sluggish.