Most difficult book you've read?

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

After seeing many recommendations for George RR Martin's "Song of Ice & Fire" series, I picked up the first book "A Game of Thrones". However despite my best efforts I couldn't make it beyond 1/5th of the story before giving up. There wasn't a single remotely likable character and in many cases someone is introduced and within no time at all is engaged in murder, rape or incest.

I'm not timid and have no problem with seeing the protagonists faced with the most dire of adversity, but there are limits. A Game of Thrones was simply full of despicable characters performing disgusting deeds for too damn long without any sign of anything fun, interesting, heroic, epic or worthwhile. Perhaps it really does live up to the sterling reviews it's garnered had I made it any further...but I'll never know

 

[Swny Nerdgasm]

The Lord of the Rings just trudged on, and on, and on.
It was a difficult read at the time, when I was eleven or twelve years old.

Me too! =D *hi five* But it was a damn damn damn good book. Even though I had to reread a few pages to get where I am. =P

In all 28 years of my life I still can't bring myself to get past the Tom Bombadil part, and I've trudged through Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and for some god-forsaken reason i've even gotten through Beowulf in Old English, but Tolkien? Fucker gets me every time

 

[Kegsen]

"House of Leaves" was a handful.
And as others have said, "Lord of the Rings"...had to restart the brick two times before I finally managed to read it all. Too much trees, nature and silly songs.

 

[Swny Nerdgasm]

After seeing many recommendations for George RR Martin's "Song of Ice & Fire" series, I picked up the first book "A Game of Thrones". However despite my best efforts I couldn't make it beyond 1/5th of the story before giving up. There wasn't a single remotely likable character and in many cases someone is introduced and within no time at all is engaged in murder, rape or incest.

I'm not timid and have no problem with seeing the protagonists faced with the most dire of adversity, but there are limits. A Game of Thrones was simply full of despicable characters performing disgusting deeds for too damn long without any sign of anything fun, interesting, heroic, epic or worthwhile. Perhaps it really does live up to the sterling reviews it's garnered had I made it any further...but I'll never know

It's gets slightly better, but not by much

 

[Safaia]

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

 

[Judgmentalist]

A English translation of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. At first it's not so bad, but in the translation I read each character had at least 2 or 3 different names (usually a common mans name, a family name and a respected name) which when a single character could be refereed to by all three names on one page made it rather difficult.

This reminds me of The Grass Crown, an in-depth and possibly needlessly detailed tracking of the beginning of the fall of Rome. Every character had at least two names, most of the men had three, and the best part was that like the respect rules the Japanese use when addressing each other, everyone seemed to call the same person by a different order of their names, depending on their status and relationship. I got so damn confused when one character was called 5 different permutations of his goddamn name by 5 different people. I wanted to put that book through a shredder.

 

[BringBackBuck]

I'd say A clockwork Orange. The author quite literally created his own slang that he used in almost every sentence. I didn't know what the hell he was talking about for a while (malchick? What the fuck is that?) But once you pick it up by the context then it becomes a bit easier, if you can get that far. Good story though.

If you're wondering, malchick means "male-chick", essentially "a guy". Needlessly complicated slang for the win!

Agree with this. It breaks the whole immersion thing when you have to stop reading to refer to a glossary to find out what the hell the author is talking about.

I found Trainspotting to be similar. It is written in a scottish accent so you have to sound words out. After a while you get used to it, but every time you put the book down you have to re-train yourself to read in a thick scottish accent. Also the content is pretty dark (much worse than the film).

 

[Flatfrog]

The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse.
Go on, you just try and read it. It's not that it's a difficult book, it's that it's a bloody difficult book. The language you can just about get past but it's about a game where the rules of the game aren't completely clear.

The sad thing is that most of these books are ones that I've read and loved - I've read the Glass Bead Game twice and think it's fabulous. I love a good dense read - Gormenghast, Riddley Walker,...

In my case the answer is The Redemption of Althalus by David (and Leigh) Eddings. Not because it was a difficult book in terms of the language, but because it was so unutterably crap that I had to struggle to keep going. It's the only book I've ever given up reading five pages from the end - when I suddenly realised 'there is no way this book will get better'. I'd been suckered in by an intriguing back cover blurb, but I should have known better: David Eddings = Good, lightweight fun. David and Leigh Eddings = Rambling, poorly plotted drivel.

 

[Flatfrog]

In all 28 years of my life I still can't bring myself to get past the Tom Bombadil part, and I've trudged through Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and for some god-forsaken reason i've even gotten through Beowulf in Old English, but Tolkien? Fucker gets me every time

Just skip that chapter - everyone else does.

 

[Swny Nerdgasm]

In all 28 years of my life I still can't bring myself to get past the Tom Bombadil part, and I've trudged through Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and for some god-forsaken reason i've even gotten through Beowulf in Old English, but Tolkien? Fucker gets me every time

Just skip that chapter - everyone else does.

that's something I can't do, I dunno why, but I'd rather stop reading something then skip ahead

 

[Flatfrog]

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (Longfellow translation). And...

Catcher in the Rye...

I hated the main character because he was a elitist brat who was masquerading as as a deep realistic character with complex thoughts and emotions when he was just a total douche, and he was nearly impossible for me to connect with on any level.

this. For those reasons. I've gotten to page 30. I want to finish this book, but every page is excruciating. I can't stand that kid.

It's funny, I've always had the impression that we were *supposed* to feel this way about him. I think he's supposed to be an unreliable narrator and we're supposed to feel sorry for his naivete. No one ever agrees with me.

 

[Flatfrog]

In all 28 years of my life I still can't bring myself to get past the Tom Bombadil part, and I've trudged through Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and for some god-forsaken reason i've even gotten through Beowulf in Old English, but Tolkien? Fucker gets me every time

Just skip that chapter - everyone else does.

that's something I can't do, I dunno why, but I'd rather stop reading something then skip ahead

Just do it - skip a dip, rip a dip, ring a down dillo. Me merrio me dearie. And all that shit. Trust me, everything gets better once they get to Bree, and things really kick in once you get past the Council of Elrond.

 

[GotMalkAvian]

Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard. Most people have only seen the movie (if that), and the worst part is that the movie is the exciting first half of the book. Everything after that is a dull slog through intergalactic politics. It was like watching CSPAN, but with different skin colors.

 

[Koski]

House of Leaves would probably be the most difficult thing I've ever read.

It's a book about someone reading a book about someone analyzing a movie that doesn't exist. That coupled with the footnotes referring to another footnote referring to a part of the appendix that doesn't exist.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED reading that book, and I whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone who likes getting that uncomfortable chill you get when you think someone's watching you.

It was just a bit of a mess trying to sort out which way to hold the book to read that specific one footnote (turns out it was mirrored.)

 

[Bloodysoldier]

'House of Leaves' by the "American" author Mark Z. Danielewski

Why is it so difficult? Pick up the book and you will know, and you will ask why...

edit: was ninja'd by post above sighgasm

 

[Randomologist]

I initially found Bernard Cornwell's Saxon series difficult to understand, as he uses the 9th century spellings for words, so say Winchester = Wintanceastre. The names are also unfamiliar, Saxon English has a very different sound to its modern counterpart.

Actually, just thought: Top prize goes to a religious bloke who handed me a book in the middle of Cardiff. It was written all in Sanskrit, and he didn't have the foggiest clue that I might not be able to read it. At all.

 

[Swny Nerdgasm]

In all 28 years of my life I still can't bring myself to get past the Tom Bombadil part, and I've trudged through Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and for some god-forsaken reason i've even gotten through Beowulf in Old English, but Tolkien? Fucker gets me every time

Just skip that chapter - everyone else does.

that's something I can't do, I dunno why, but I'd rather stop reading something then skip ahead

Just do it - skip a dip, rip a dip, ring a down dillo. Me merrio me dearie. And all that shit. Trust me, everything gets better once they get to Bree, and things really kick in once you get past the Council of Elrond.

Maybe I'll take your advice and try it again when I'm finished with The Wise Man's Fear

 

[Chani07]

Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.

What...the fuck. The first Dune was an enjoyable challenge, required some pondering to figure some of the messages out, but the next two, especially Dune Messiah was just one big ball o' esotheric what-the-fuck-ery. I'll probably have to read it 2 or 3 more times to properly understand it.

I read the entire saga. I went through it like a knife through butter. I found it so amazing and so easy to comprehend and it just felt so made for me. And it was weird that it happened that way, because i had never read anything SF before, but i guess it was just right. But that was 5 years ago. I should reread the entire thing, see if i have the same feeling.

Anyway, i had some problems with reading books by Russian authors. Amazing books, but very difficult to read. Crime and punishment, Anna Karenina, you know the drill. The only one that i just found really enjoyable to read was "The Master and Margarita", but i guess at that particular time i already had some training.

 

[VladimirSirin]

"As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner. I swear it gave me brain damage as well as psychological trauma.

It is entirely written in free-association-style writing, very little if any punctuation and entirely in thick Southern U.S. drawl.

Being an Australian, trying to get it to make sense in my head (and tying to read it while envisioning the accent) was hell.

Worst part was when this boy drills a hole into a makeshift coffin his mother's sealed into (he wants her to breathe) and drills right into his decomposing mother's head.

And an entire chapter consists of the words "my mother is a fish", which pretty much sums it up.

I'm from the southern US and couldn't understand that book. It wasn't difficult, it was nonsense.

Honestly, Faulkner was a drunk and a hack writer. I think even he conceded that point.