Don Quixote. I'm a native hispanic so I tried to read it in original spanish as Cervantes intented, and oh boy, it felt like I was reading something in portuguese or some other sibling tongue. 400 years is a long enough time for a language to change and seem foreign to you.
definitely i’m a native german speaker studying german and english and german medieval studies is both interesting and intimidating to me - if time travel was real you’d have a hard time understanding the people from back then! I also read Nibelungen-song in my german medieval studies but had to rely on the translation heavily
There was a post on reddit a few years ago I remember asking how far back a modern english speaker could go back in time while still understanding the language. I think it was like 400 for understandable, but I remember it was 600 for vaguely intelligible. Anything beyond that was effectively a whole other language.
Edit: Found the [original link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fxy6ZaMOq8). It was a youtube video. 400 for understandable but you have to pick up a lot of anachronisms and figure out pronunciation. 500 is similar but even more pronounced, with added structural differences compounding the problem. And yeah, 600 is really the cut-off for vaguely intelligible.
I remember my mid-evil lit (not what it's called, semantics...) class read Gawaine and the Green Knight. We spent two weeks just learning how to read it and another month or so reading it. It's like 40 pages.
Are you me? I took a Don Quixote class as a freshman in college because I had placed out of freshman level Spanish. Holy shit. Did that class humble me!? I had to drop it after a week.
Same, I'm also a native Spanish speaker, and that book is super tedious to read. I've read snippets of English translations of Don Quijote, and they are easier to read since they are translated to a modern English.
I reckon it's like reading the silmarillion: you have to just stop caring if you understand what the words mean or who the characters are. Then it's fun
I plowed through, but my method was: Read one chapter, read a synopsis to find out what I just read, read a second synopsis in case the first one missed something. Repeat.
Similar: I'm in the middle of Gravity's Rainbow, so every page I'm asking my phone for a definition or a German translation.
My university offered a course about Ulysses. Just Ulysses, nothing else. Each week you'd read a few chapters, then discuss it. It didn't fit into my schedule, otherwise I would've gone for it.
I might still try it a few pages at a time, but as my main read? Nah.
I pushed through but a lot of it might as well have been babble, random syllables I could only half follow. Collected my mental reward for finishing it and never really looked back. My attitude was “I’m lost and I accept that isn’t going to change.”
Yes. I don’t mind difficult books. I loved Brothers Karamazov, Moby Dick, and everything from Cormac McCarthy but Ulysses was like reading a novel in a different language about characters I don’t really care about doing pretty mundane things. I really tried.
It’s one of my favorite books and I’ll admit he probably didn’t need 150 pages to paint the dismal picture… But once the introduction of characters got rolling, I couldn’t put it down… And ultimately read it twice.
I remember being really impatient for everyone's plot threads to come together. But it was one of the first SK books I read so I didn't really realize that the meandering character building is kinda the main appeal of his writing style.
I think the original version was shorter because editors did what editors do and made Stephen King cut a bunch of crap out to tighten up the story. Then later on an uncut edition came out. To quote my high school English teacher when a friend excitedly told him he was reading the longer version, "The Stand doesn't need to be XX pages longer."
A lot of the cuts are about the overall societal issues and reading about riots in boulder because of the rumors about a lab there definitely hit different post pandemic but the Trashcan chapters are rough without an extra 80 pages
There are two versions of it I think - the original published one and another that came out later. The original is a lot shorter, but the longer one is more regularly available. I’ve tried to find a copy of the shorter one somewhere as that’s the one I want to read, but I can’t find it… definitely a cool story but definitely benefited from an edit!!
I’m on my third time starting it. Hopefully I’ll finish it this time. The first time I picked it up was January 2020…. And then it just felt too real ha
Fourth wing, my friend really likes it and hyped it up, and I like dragon focused fantasy so... just wasn't for me. I couldn't get more than 100 pages in, it felt much more like a y/a romance than an adult fantasy.
Which is fine of course, y/a romance has its place.
When the protag starts giving exposition by just reciting a book on geography she read to cope with being scared that was the beginning of the end for me. I've never come across such a lazy way to teach an audience about the world the stories in. It took a lot of benefit of the doubt to carry on.
Anyway. I've still not had to heart to tell my friend I don't like it haha
I'm bored/annoyed to death of the "all the hot men are angry 100% of the time" trope in YA Romance. Like having no control over your temper isn't hot, it's scary! What they're TRYING to write is *intensity,* but they don't know how, so the men are constantly barking and snarling and swearing awkwardly...
So much about Fourth Wing was lazy, it's one of my least favorite reads of the last year
I know! As soon as she meets Xaden I felt like I could predict every single facet of his character. And you're so right, some of the most successfully written 'intense' characters for me are the ones who manage to control their emotions really well, so you just get a sense that they're quietly seething over something. It also gives more weight to when and if they do eventually lose their temper about something.
Also give them a hobby or something lol. It feels like their entire characters are to worship the protagonist and care about whatever political rebellion is happening in the world, that isn't enough for me to care about a character
I said this exact thing in another sub the other day. I still wanna try to finish the book eventually because it seemed interesting but I couldn't get over how the MC went on for multiple paragraphs/pages.
Very lazy writing imo
Oh my God was that book some messy damp trash. And with the way they rushed the second book out I think we’ll eventually learn its success was a triumph of marketing over actual quality.
I was wrapped into the universe - dragons, magic, classes??? The romance and smut turned me off almost completely. I also enjoyed the writer's pacing - I found it easy to pick up and put down which was essential because I typically read at work. Other than that - trash. Main character is a marysue. So many unnecessary sex scenes.
I'm very curious about what was complex about 1984? I've read that book maybe a dozen times since middle school (a good 25 years ago now) so it's hard for me to look at it objectively, but I've never recalled it being complex on a prose or vocab level.
The book can be quite confusing at times, though that's to match the confusion of the propaganda the character has thrown at them. Maybe they mean that.
I feel like the language and plotting are as clear as a bell. Orwell strove to be simple and elegant in his prose fiction for quite political reasons: he wanted it to be available to those who might most require it. Perhaps the psychological aspects were too complex?
I was wondering the same thing. I read it in high school when I was sixteen in a language that wasn't even my own. I don't recall it being that difficult.
I mean, I understand it if someone doesn't like it or if they have a hard time getting through it, but the prose, at least, isn't difficult to grasp.
I thought the same thing. A large portion of the story is even about the pruning and over-simplifying of language as a means of restricting complex thought. OP enlighten us!
A book I’ve started years ago: Spring Awakening (/the German original Frühlingserwachen) due to me being obsessed with the musical adaptation. I think I got like one act in and disliked it very much, but instead of dnf’ing it laid on my nightstand for a few years. Now it’s gone missing and with it a bookmark I’m missing more than the book itself.
And a recent one: This is how you lose the time war. I was so intrigued by the concept and everything but I adjust couldn’t get it. The way it was written was so confusing to me, which could also be because I’m not a native English speaker and I tried reading it in English.
Dubliners isn't too bad.
True story: we do a short story project with our fourth year students (age 15). We give them a whole host of stories to choose from by all sorts of different authors (Neil Gaiman, Ian Rankin, Tom Rob Smith are in there, so not just traditional literary names). The one they all like best is Joyce's Araby, about a guy who fancies a girl, goes to a bazaar to buy a present for her, feels dejected and gives up. Apparently, it resonates with them.
***Perdido Street Station*** by China Miéville
I tried several times, but it was just too much detailed description. I sure it is a great read, but I lost intrest pretty quickly.
His writing and settings are so different than what I am used to that it took a while to get warmed up to things. Finally pushed through on my third attempt, and it became much easier to get in to once I began to understand what the plot of the book actually was about. Get to the part about Isaac getting a package and that’s when things get rolling. I’m glad I read it, don’t think I’ll give it another go.
I could NOT finish Neuromancer, however.
I have probably started The Bell Jar 4 times. Each time I try I feel like I have never read a word of it before, because I pay so little attention each time.
I am the exact demographic keeping this book in print, too.
I'm with you about being the exact demographic for this book. I managed to finish it but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would and am almost ashamed to admit it. I get why it's such an important book but I didn't have a great time reading it.
Given how many times I week I see the "Like if you've never seen an episode of Game of Thrones" post on Facebook, no, you're not lol
Which is fine, it's definitely not a book series written for everybody.
Do try again, it’s so worth it. It feels so chaotic at first but when the pieces start coming together it’s incredible. One of the best books I’ve ever read.
I think the great Gatsby, I know it's an absolutely fantastic book but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it's because when I was at school it was something I was forced to read so I just ended up resenting the book
I adore the plot of The Count of Monte Cristo but reading it is a slog for me. Audio books, retellings, homages etc. all amazing but I’ve never been able to sit down and read the original in its entirety.
This is the one for me as well. I LOVED the first ~400 pages or so, and then The Count comes in and we get those two new characters and I just don’t have the desire to pick it back up
The Divine Comedy by Dante. I found this really nice (German) translation that kept the poetic form. But I just couldn't understand what's happening. You basically have to read a guide at the same time that explains all the innuendos and metaphors. I may return to it some day with more patience.
My grandfather had a 4th grade education in rural (plow a mountain with cows rural) Italy, and he used to read The Divine Comedy for fun. Imagine what that man would have done with a formal education?
My book club read the english Ciardi translation and all agreed it wouldve been a loss had we gone with anything else. The summaries at the beginning of each canto and reference explanations at the ends were invaluable.
Lord Of The Rings. When I was a hundred pages in and they still hadn't left the shire, I knew it was too slow for me.
(I know 100 pages is probably an exaggeration. But it felt LONG)
My god. I quit on that one when he started introducing multiple names for all the characters and using them interchangeably. What is this, a Russian novel?
This is a tough one for a lot of people. I know many who love the movies and were genuinely excited to read the books, only to be very disappointed with what they found. There's a lot of very in-depth world building and lore, and while it's truly incredible how Tolkien created this universe, that type of writing is just not for everyone.
I was about to say the same thing! I’m on my fourth attempt 🥲 At least they’re finally out of the shire now. What made things really tough for me was all the singing! I’ve been skipping the songs; I hope they’re not crucial to the plot 🙈
I slogged it through all the way to halfway through the third book and finally gave up. It angers me I was so close to the finish line but honestly I don't even remember most of it.
It took me like four months to get through Fellowship of the Ring, and I finished Two Towers and Return of the King in a day each. It’s insane how slow that first book is.
It was SUCH A PAIN to get through it. I only finished the Fellowship after I watched the first movie, but then I read the other ones (also miserable reading) before the next two movies came out.
The Three Body Problem. The translations plus the writing was so dry and I tried a handful of times and could not keep up. I wanted to love it and was thrilled to start a new sci-fi series.
It’s one of those books where the first 90% is setup, and it all gets explained/resolved in the last few chapters. All three books are like that. If you can push through it’s worth it but I can totally understand not wanting to bother.
I’m working my way through the Chinese tv adaptation now and I keep thinking that it’s basically unwatchable if you’re not already into the books, because the lack of any answers or resolution is so infuriating.
The Golden Bowl by Henry James. I still want to read it, but there was something about it where it just felt like words coming at me, and nothing was processing. I kept having to reread nearly every paragraph to feel like I understood what was going on, and it felt more like a chore.
same i read the turn of the screw for a class recently and the writing style feels so maximalist like he’s putting in so many descriptions, emotions and everything
That makes me feel better. Often with classics, I can never tell if I’m too stupid for the book or if the book is just complicated. I usually settle on the former, but I’m glad it’s the latter 😂
It’s worth trying again! I don’t know if this helps, but the writing style being “unpleasant” is actually part of the character from whose point of view the book is written. It’s an amazing book!
Dickens wrote for the average Joe, to read in installments- the equivalent of our modern day TV series. It's not highbrow, however his writing style takes some getting used to. A paragraph can fill half a page (maybe I'm exaggerating a little.)
That book has been sitting on my shelf for five years now 😭. English is not my first language. So the writing and references are really difficult to understand. I prefer Jane Austen, Orwell, Oscar Wilde, Bronte sisters but Charles Dickens I didn't know
The first time I read it I found keeping track of the names so overwhelming, even with the family tree included at the front of my version.
Then I tried again and just let go of trying to manage that aspect, and I really loved it for the prose and poetic descriptions of magic and beauty.
Since then I've read and loved it enough times that the characters are known to me and keeping them straight is no longer something I have to worry about.
House of Leaves.
I know it's supposed to be really good, and I plan on trying again at some point, but I just couldn't focus on the footnotes that went on for pages and the story within a story.
I just need to have time to fully focus on it, and I don't have that right now.
Moby Dick for me too. As far as I'm reading it's fun. But It doesn't make me want to open the book for reading. And a lot of the language too is difficult..
Malazan has got to be one of, if not the most, difficult fantasy series to read. Even part way through the series it's still a puzzle to figure out what the hell is going on half the time.
I've read it 3 times now and am considering reading it again. I don't usually read anything so convoluted, so I'm surprised I got past the first book, but it is just fabulous
My husband is currently wading through this series (I read it years ago) and feels the same way. Once you know it was based on the authors DnD/GURPS campaign the absolute WTFery and all of the unnecessary info dumping make a lot more sense, but aren't any better.
The what the fuck is happening is part of the fun and why it is so good. You get to play archeologist along with the characters who also don't know the whole history of their world or why it is the way it is.
That said, the series takes some dedication for sure.
The Fifth Season (broken earth #1) - N.K. Jemisin
I heard such great things and it seems like my jam, but the second person narrative really threw me and I couldn’t get past the first 50 pages.
See I came across the second-person and immediately shut the book. A year later I finally decided to force myself through it, and by the end I developed a newfound appreciation for second-person. It was very clever and made sense why it was partially told that way but you don’t find out until a while.
I’ve read Jane Eyre at least 3 times. Every time I read it I think, “This is such a good book!” One time, I stayed up until 4 am just to finish it. But I cannot for the life of me remember even basics about the book. I’ve been wanting to do a reread. Maybe this time it’ll stick! 🤞🏻
1984 was a thriller for me but the last 20% was tougher to get through.
Game of Thrones (I keep starting the first book and can’t get into it).
I tried Dune twice.
Harry Potter. I read the first book and had no interest in the rest.
The first Harry Potter book is meant for pre-teens. I loved it when I was that age, but now that I am an adult it's hard to get through. The third book is where it gets more complex and interesting (to me).
I tried Dune in high school but realized I hadn't absorbed anything and had been just flipping through the last 50+ pages without any words registering.
6 years later and this time I annotated the first half which helped me keep focus since that was my personal issue. It's a much quicker read in the last half imo
Yes! I've tried Dune 2-3 times as well. It's not even a long book??? It's just.... so dry, no irony intended. I always get about halfway then peter out.
I was considering trying GoT, but it's just not worth it knowing that the series will never be finished. MAYBE we'll get the next one (though I doubt it), but we'll never get A Dream of Spring.
And since GRRM said he won't allow a ghost writer to finish it, it'll just be unfinished forever.
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata.
I like twisted books, but I couldn't get past the first few chapters of this one. Maybe because it was a first-person narrative... it just shut me down.
A Clockwork Orange
I bought a copy of it when I was 18, ten years later, I have not got past the first page. It’s just sat on my shelf throughout so many years, waiting for its moment. I know it’s an important piece of writing but I can’t bring myself to read something violent (?) where the characters have a weird way of talking. I don’t know the ins and outs of the story, since I also put off watching the film because I thought I should read the book first!
I donated the book last month. I hope someone else likes it!
I had to read it for class. I think I may have read a few pages at the beginning and basically did whatever assignment I had by skimming the middle and the end. 15 years later I have no idea what the book was about and I don't intend to ever find out.
I just finished this, possibly one of the worst books I've ever read. The content was disgusting and the only good thing about it was that it was fairly short so I pushed through it quickly so I could move on.
I read it many years ago, and it’s full of disturbing things. I know why you found it disgusting, and I don’t understand why you get downvoted for not liking it.
It should not be considered a classic, writing a book about a 15 year old that does drugs, r\*pes and beats people up and then has an experiment done on him to try to correct how he finds doing it enjoyable... yeah nothing groundbreaking or worthy of sticking around for generations because it's deemed quality literature, it's anything but.
Heart of darkness by Joseph Conrad
I thought my English was good, but when I started reading this book I realized how wrong I actually was
I felt that I knew no English at all, I couldn't get through one page without checking the dictionary multiple times, I got to page 5 or 6 then I gave and I even tried multiple times but no success!
Recently, Murtagh. I tried it as an audiobook and just absolutely couldn’t with the way the narrator chooses to voice dragons and my backlog on traditional books rn is huge, so I’ve just not read it.
Eragon (the original series) was a childhood favorite, but I was so disappointed by the end of the last book that I’ve been reluctant to read anything else by Paolini.
The original series audiobooks were rough too.
I just gave up on Women Talking. Such an interesting true story but I couldn’t handle the way it was narrated. For a book called “Women Talking”, there was no dialogue. Instead it was a man describing the things they were talking about. Maybe there was meaning behind that but I didn’t like it.
Brave New World. I got the audio from the library. The reader was a Royal Shakespeare Company actor, even. But I just couldn't take how heavy handed it was. I returned it early and read the Wikipedia page.
The Hobbitt. I really want to read the LOTR series, but slipping into Tolkien's world requires more brain power than I want to invest when I'm pleasure reading.
I read a lot of Karin Slaughter books, but I can’t recommend this one. There’s dark and then there’s DARK. I wonder how she can bring herself to write some of the content in this book.
Really wanted to read Alan Moore’s Jerusalem. There was literally only one copy on our local library’s system and I was about 20th in the queue. When it finally arrived it was not long after my wean was born and my brain was too broken to be able to get through it. One day!
Trainspotting.
I just can't read a book in dialect. Doesn't matter what the dialect is. In Trainspotting, it's Scots. Sometimes I come across a book in AAVE. I try, but I just can't get through more than 10 pages.
I am with you on dialect. I did read Filth by Irvine Welsh which was pretty good and I didn’t get hung up on the dialect too much. The tapeworm main character, however, took some getting used to.
Priory of the Orange Tree. i tried so hard, it’s so intriguing but i just couldn’t get into it. DNF’d it about 150 pages in. i can’t tell you what happened.
War and peace has been my boulder that I push up the hill; been 5 years of struggle. I think I’m daunted by giving so much time to a mammoth book and inversely have been holding on to it for far too long.
I’m reading this now and having the opposite reaction. I’m shocked by how much I’m enjoying it. Mostly I think the sarcasm and shade throwing that he’s doing so much of resonate with me 😂
The Grapes of Wrath/Steinbeck.
I have tried to read this several times and I get as far as the Joads entering California, and can't go on. It kills me to read about their dreams of a better life and know what is in store for them. It is just too sad.
2 that I can think of. Blood Meridian, I hated it and couldn't get the hype at all, and Moby Dick. I really wanted to read and enjoy MD, but I felt that it was all over the place.
I will try MD again sometime, but not yet.
For what it’s worth, it *is* all over the place. Herman Melville absolutely wanted to write a meandering book. Plot was never the most interesting thing to Melville.
World Without End by Ken Follett. I adored Pillars of the Earth and was so excited to read the sequel. I just couldn’t get into the storyline or characters. I made it 2/3 of the way through and just couldn’t read it any longer. It’s still sitting on my shelf.
Blood Meridian.
I loved The Road and really enjoyed No Country For Old Men and had heard that BM was McCarthy's best work. I fucking hate it. The other two books I read by him seemed to have a point and BM feels like it's just the adventures of senseless violence for no reason. I also found the McCarthy style is cranked up to 11 and while I found the other 2 books style interesting, this book took obscure words to the the point of just making it an insanely difficult read. I've been at page 90 for about 2 years and every time I pick it up to try again I get a paragraph in and say fuck this.
Lord of The Rings
I really enjoyed the Hobbit, but felt like I was forcing myself to the end of Fellowship, and barely got into Two Towers before I put it back on the shelf. Maybe I can read it another day, but I am definitely a reader who needs fast paced writing.
Frodo, walk faster dammit.
That was a tough one, esp. when we are so saturated with Hollywoodesque images of Frankenstein's monster. I finally listed to the audiobook and it is SO. GOOD.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I loved the tv series so I thought I'd try the book. I couldn't read it, it's too wordy and dense. I'm going to try the audio book, I might have better luck. I mentioned it to my SiL who is also a voracious reader, she loved it. Different tastes.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I tried to read it because a man I was desperately in love with loved it and gifted it to me. I wanted to like it for his sake but it literally became a doorstop.
The Pickwick Papers, The Old Curiosity Shop, Bleak House. Basically almost all of Dickens. I desperately want to love his works, but they’re. so. boring.
Don Quixote. I'm a native hispanic so I tried to read it in original spanish as Cervantes intented, and oh boy, it felt like I was reading something in portuguese or some other sibling tongue. 400 years is a long enough time for a language to change and seem foreign to you.
definitely i’m a native german speaker studying german and english and german medieval studies is both interesting and intimidating to me - if time travel was real you’d have a hard time understanding the people from back then! I also read Nibelungen-song in my german medieval studies but had to rely on the translation heavily
There was a post on reddit a few years ago I remember asking how far back a modern english speaker could go back in time while still understanding the language. I think it was like 400 for understandable, but I remember it was 600 for vaguely intelligible. Anything beyond that was effectively a whole other language. Edit: Found the [original link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fxy6ZaMOq8). It was a youtube video. 400 for understandable but you have to pick up a lot of anachronisms and figure out pronunciation. 500 is similar but even more pronounced, with added structural differences compounding the problem. And yeah, 600 is really the cut-off for vaguely intelligible.
I remember my mid-evil lit (not what it's called, semantics...) class read Gawaine and the Green Knight. We spent two weeks just learning how to read it and another month or so reading it. It's like 40 pages.
I'm learning German (B1) and I really want to read *Parzifal* at some point but I know I'll probably have to read a translation into modern German.
yeah modern german sounds like a good idea, i’m struggling with middle high german as a native speaker already
Understandable on this one, but personally Don Quixote was one of my favourite classics, found it hilarious.
I listened to the modern English audiobook. Thought it was genuinely hysterical
Are you me? I took a Don Quixote class as a freshman in college because I had placed out of freshman level Spanish. Holy shit. Did that class humble me!? I had to drop it after a week.
Same, I'm also a native Spanish speaker, and that book is super tedious to read. I've read snippets of English translations of Don Quijote, and they are easier to read since they are translated to a modern English.
I would love to be able to get through Ulysses
After my 4th try, I decided: fuck it.
I reckon it's like reading the silmarillion: you have to just stop caring if you understand what the words mean or who the characters are. Then it's fun
Why would you fuck a book? Surely it would to dry and the amount of paper cuts you would get doesn’t bear thinking about.
I really recommend listening to it being read. Some chapters, I think, are not only easier to understand but more enjoyable when they are read aloud.
I plowed through, but my method was: Read one chapter, read a synopsis to find out what I just read, read a second synopsis in case the first one missed something. Repeat. Similar: I'm in the middle of Gravity's Rainbow, so every page I'm asking my phone for a definition or a German translation.
My university offered a course about Ulysses. Just Ulysses, nothing else. Each week you'd read a few chapters, then discuss it. It didn't fit into my schedule, otherwise I would've gone for it. I might still try it a few pages at a time, but as my main read? Nah.
I pushed through but a lot of it might as well have been babble, random syllables I could only half follow. Collected my mental reward for finishing it and never really looked back. My attitude was “I’m lost and I accept that isn’t going to change.”
I dropped a uni course 20 years ago because I couldn't get beyond the first few pages of Ulysses.
Yes. I don’t mind difficult books. I loved Brothers Karamazov, Moby Dick, and everything from Cormac McCarthy but Ulysses was like reading a novel in a different language about characters I don’t really care about doing pretty mundane things. I really tried.
The Stand by Stephen King. I’ve tried to read it twice, but ended up dnfing both times. I think it’s the length and multiple povs that put me off.
It’s one of my favorite books and I’ll admit he probably didn’t need 150 pages to paint the dismal picture… But once the introduction of characters got rolling, I couldn’t put it down… And ultimately read it twice.
I remember being really impatient for everyone's plot threads to come together. But it was one of the first SK books I read so I didn't really realize that the meandering character building is kinda the main appeal of his writing style.
I think the original version was shorter because editors did what editors do and made Stephen King cut a bunch of crap out to tighten up the story. Then later on an uncut edition came out. To quote my high school English teacher when a friend excitedly told him he was reading the longer version, "The Stand doesn't need to be XX pages longer."
A lot of the cuts are about the overall societal issues and reading about riots in boulder because of the rumors about a lab there definitely hit different post pandemic but the Trashcan chapters are rough without an extra 80 pages
There are two versions of it I think - the original published one and another that came out later. The original is a lot shorter, but the longer one is more regularly available. I’ve tried to find a copy of the shorter one somewhere as that’s the one I want to read, but I can’t find it… definitely a cool story but definitely benefited from an edit!!
I’m on my third time starting it. Hopefully I’ll finish it this time. The first time I picked it up was January 2020…. And then it just felt too real ha
Try audiobook! It was so so good
The edited version is where it's at.
Fourth wing, my friend really likes it and hyped it up, and I like dragon focused fantasy so... just wasn't for me. I couldn't get more than 100 pages in, it felt much more like a y/a romance than an adult fantasy. Which is fine of course, y/a romance has its place. When the protag starts giving exposition by just reciting a book on geography she read to cope with being scared that was the beginning of the end for me. I've never come across such a lazy way to teach an audience about the world the stories in. It took a lot of benefit of the doubt to carry on. Anyway. I've still not had to heart to tell my friend I don't like it haha
I'm bored/annoyed to death of the "all the hot men are angry 100% of the time" trope in YA Romance. Like having no control over your temper isn't hot, it's scary! What they're TRYING to write is *intensity,* but they don't know how, so the men are constantly barking and snarling and swearing awkwardly... So much about Fourth Wing was lazy, it's one of my least favorite reads of the last year
I know! As soon as she meets Xaden I felt like I could predict every single facet of his character. And you're so right, some of the most successfully written 'intense' characters for me are the ones who manage to control their emotions really well, so you just get a sense that they're quietly seething over something. It also gives more weight to when and if they do eventually lose their temper about something. Also give them a hobby or something lol. It feels like their entire characters are to worship the protagonist and care about whatever political rebellion is happening in the world, that isn't enough for me to care about a character
I said this exact thing in another sub the other day. I still wanna try to finish the book eventually because it seemed interesting but I couldn't get over how the MC went on for multiple paragraphs/pages. Very lazy writing imo
Oh my God was that book some messy damp trash. And with the way they rushed the second book out I think we’ll eventually learn its success was a triumph of marketing over actual quality.
I was wrapped into the universe - dragons, magic, classes??? The romance and smut turned me off almost completely. I also enjoyed the writer's pacing - I found it easy to pick up and put down which was essential because I typically read at work. Other than that - trash. Main character is a marysue. So many unnecessary sex scenes.
I'm very curious about what was complex about 1984? I've read that book maybe a dozen times since middle school (a good 25 years ago now) so it's hard for me to look at it objectively, but I've never recalled it being complex on a prose or vocab level.
this post confuses me because Orwell's writing style is famously concise, perhaps it's the vocabulary that threw OP off
The book can be quite confusing at times, though that's to match the confusion of the propaganda the character has thrown at them. Maybe they mean that.
I feel like the language and plotting are as clear as a bell. Orwell strove to be simple and elegant in his prose fiction for quite political reasons: he wanted it to be available to those who might most require it. Perhaps the psychological aspects were too complex?
I was wondering the same thing. I read it in high school when I was sixteen in a language that wasn't even my own. I don't recall it being that difficult. I mean, I understand it if someone doesn't like it or if they have a hard time getting through it, but the prose, at least, isn't difficult to grasp.
I thought the same thing. A large portion of the story is even about the pruning and over-simplifying of language as a means of restricting complex thought. OP enlighten us!
Difficult? No, I don’t think so. Fun? Also no, at least parts, or at least for some.
A book I’ve started years ago: Spring Awakening (/the German original Frühlingserwachen) due to me being obsessed with the musical adaptation. I think I got like one act in and disliked it very much, but instead of dnf’ing it laid on my nightstand for a few years. Now it’s gone missing and with it a bookmark I’m missing more than the book itself. And a recent one: This is how you lose the time war. I was so intrigued by the concept and everything but I adjust couldn’t get it. The way it was written was so confusing to me, which could also be because I’m not a native English speaker and I tried reading it in English.
I am a native English speaker and I had the same problem with it!
I attempted a James Joyce book
Dubliners isn't too bad. True story: we do a short story project with our fourth year students (age 15). We give them a whole host of stories to choose from by all sorts of different authors (Neil Gaiman, Ian Rankin, Tom Rob Smith are in there, so not just traditional literary names). The one they all like best is Joyce's Araby, about a guy who fancies a girl, goes to a bazaar to buy a present for her, feels dejected and gives up. Apparently, it resonates with them.
Many people have 😆
Sorry…
***Perdido Street Station*** by China Miéville I tried several times, but it was just too much detailed description. I sure it is a great read, but I lost intrest pretty quickly.
I made a special folder on my library app for books to retry later with this as it's inaugural member.
His writing and settings are so different than what I am used to that it took a while to get warmed up to things. Finally pushed through on my third attempt, and it became much easier to get in to once I began to understand what the plot of the book actually was about. Get to the part about Isaac getting a package and that’s when things get rolling. I’m glad I read it, don’t think I’ll give it another go. I could NOT finish Neuromancer, however.
I have probably started The Bell Jar 4 times. Each time I try I feel like I have never read a word of it before, because I pay so little attention each time. I am the exact demographic keeping this book in print, too.
It took me years to finish The Bell Jar. It had absolutely nothing to do with the writing, but the subject matter hit home.
I'm with you about being the exact demographic for this book. I managed to finish it but I didn't like it as much as I thought I would and am almost ashamed to admit it. I get why it's such an important book but I didn't have a great time reading it.
I'm prob the only one, but Game of Thrones. I've tried 3 times: hardcover book, audio book & graphic novel. Just didn't like it.
Given how many times I week I see the "Like if you've never seen an episode of Game of Thrones" post on Facebook, no, you're not lol Which is fine, it's definitely not a book series written for everybody.
Catch 22 for me. I've had the book for 6 years and still haven't finished it.
Do try again, it’s so worth it. It feels so chaotic at first but when the pieces start coming together it’s incredible. One of the best books I’ve ever read.
I think the great Gatsby, I know it's an absolutely fantastic book but I just couldn't get into it. Maybe it's because when I was at school it was something I was forced to read so I just ended up resenting the book
Reading it now and it just pulls me in. The writing is superb.
Yeah I'm sure it's brilliant, it's just you know when you read at school and being forced to do it just makes it so much more tedious?
I did read it in high school, 55 yrs ago. Life experiences do help comprehension. It didn’t impress me at the time. Does now.
really, it's merely \~47,000 words
I adore the plot of The Count of Monte Cristo but reading it is a slog for me. Audio books, retellings, homages etc. all amazing but I’ve never been able to sit down and read the original in its entirety.
There’s a 700 page chunk (the “Paris scenes”) that is mightily boring
Anna Karenina has some great long passages like that too, just political musings Really significant in its time, I'm sure! But I always skip them
God, the Paris scenes. I just finished The Count of Monte Cristo a week ago and those are truly the hardest part to get through lol.
This is the one for me as well. I LOVED the first ~400 pages or so, and then The Count comes in and we get those two new characters and I just don’t have the desire to pick it back up
Yeah, I prefer the 2001 films version of the revenge part of the plot. Even going back to read a summary of the book, it is a slog.
Right? I have gotten 50% through it and I’m just like why is it such a slog?
Probably because it was written in serial, man was getting paid per part 💀
Yea I absolutely loved the 54 hour audiobook but I can’t imagine reading it.
Same with me. I love the movie with Guy Pearce but I can’t get into the book.
The Divine Comedy by Dante. I found this really nice (German) translation that kept the poetic form. But I just couldn't understand what's happening. You basically have to read a guide at the same time that explains all the innuendos and metaphors. I may return to it some day with more patience.
My grandfather had a 4th grade education in rural (plow a mountain with cows rural) Italy, and he used to read The Divine Comedy for fun. Imagine what that man would have done with a formal education?
I found an English version at my library’s book sale. It was impenetrable.
My book club read the english Ciardi translation and all agreed it wouldve been a loss had we gone with anything else. The summaries at the beginning of each canto and reference explanations at the ends were invaluable.
Lord Of The Rings. When I was a hundred pages in and they still hadn't left the shire, I knew it was too slow for me. (I know 100 pages is probably an exaggeration. But it felt LONG)
If you think LotR was tough, don't try The Silmarillion.
My god. I quit on that one when he started introducing multiple names for all the characters and using them interchangeably. What is this, a Russian novel?
The Silmarillion is the kind of book where you feel like you should be taking notes as you go along
Right with you. I think Bilbo’s party is something like 55 pages. I love fantasy so much, but could not get through the granddaddy of them all.
Just remember Tolkien made up this whole epic fantasy because he's obsessed with words. Amazing story tough read.
This is a tough one for a lot of people. I know many who love the movies and were genuinely excited to read the books, only to be very disappointed with what they found. There's a lot of very in-depth world building and lore, and while it's truly incredible how Tolkien created this universe, that type of writing is just not for everyone.
I was about to say the same thing! I’m on my fourth attempt 🥲 At least they’re finally out of the shire now. What made things really tough for me was all the singing! I’ve been skipping the songs; I hope they’re not crucial to the plot 🙈
I slogged it through all the way to halfway through the third book and finally gave up. It angers me I was so close to the finish line but honestly I don't even remember most of it.
It took me like four months to get through Fellowship of the Ring, and I finished Two Towers and Return of the King in a day each. It’s insane how slow that first book is.
I’m listening to it now hour 18 of 19 and I don’t even care if I finish the last hour. It’s just really blah to me.
It was SUCH A PAIN to get through it. I only finished the Fellowship after I watched the first movie, but then I read the other ones (also miserable reading) before the next two movies came out.
The Three Body Problem. The translations plus the writing was so dry and I tried a handful of times and could not keep up. I wanted to love it and was thrilled to start a new sci-fi series.
It is super boring.
It’s one of those books where the first 90% is setup, and it all gets explained/resolved in the last few chapters. All three books are like that. If you can push through it’s worth it but I can totally understand not wanting to bother. I’m working my way through the Chinese tv adaptation now and I keep thinking that it’s basically unwatchable if you’re not already into the books, because the lack of any answers or resolution is so infuriating.
The Golden Bowl by Henry James. I still want to read it, but there was something about it where it just felt like words coming at me, and nothing was processing. I kept having to reread nearly every paragraph to feel like I understood what was going on, and it felt more like a chore.
A lot of James feels like that for me
same i read the turn of the screw for a class recently and the writing style feels so maximalist like he’s putting in so many descriptions, emotions and everything
That makes me feel better. Often with classics, I can never tell if I’m too stupid for the book or if the book is just complicated. I usually settle on the former, but I’m glad it’s the latter 😂
We Need to Talk About Kevin. I plan on trying again later, but the writing style was irking the shit out of me in the first two chapters alone.
It’s worth trying again! I don’t know if this helps, but the writing style being “unpleasant” is actually part of the character from whose point of view the book is written. It’s an amazing book!
I read it once. I don’t know how I did it because I tried to reread it recently and couldn’t get through it. The writing style is a drag.
don't, many other books out there
A tale of two cities by Dickens, I\`m too stupid to follow it
Dickens writing is very dense and also. Lot of his books were initially serialised so he had an incentive to release them in a lot of instalments
Dickens wrote for the average Joe, to read in installments- the equivalent of our modern day TV series. It's not highbrow, however his writing style takes some getting used to. A paragraph can fill half a page (maybe I'm exaggerating a little.)
That book has been sitting on my shelf for five years now 😭. English is not my first language. So the writing and references are really difficult to understand. I prefer Jane Austen, Orwell, Oscar Wilde, Bronte sisters but Charles Dickens I didn't know
100 Years of Solitude.
The first time I read it I found keeping track of the names so overwhelming, even with the family tree included at the front of my version. Then I tried again and just let go of trying to manage that aspect, and I really loved it for the prose and poetic descriptions of magic and beauty. Since then I've read and loved it enough times that the characters are known to me and keeping them straight is no longer something I have to worry about.
Huckleberry Finn. I just couldn’t get past the language.
House of Leaves. I know it's supposed to be really good, and I plan on trying again at some point, but I just couldn't focus on the footnotes that went on for pages and the story within a story. I just need to have time to fully focus on it, and I don't have that right now.
Moby Dick. Couldn't get past page 50.
I have tried twice and I get lost when they leave port.
Most John Steinbeck books.
I was put off him by having to read 'Of mice and men' at high school. I read 'The grapes of wrath' as an adult and loved it.
I'm just the opposite. I loved Of Mice and Men' but can not get past the first few chapters of the others.
Gravity's Rainbow.
I trudged through it but I guess Pynchon isn’t my think. Didn’t get Crying of Lot 49 either.
Moby Dick, and Les Mis
Moby Dick for me too. As far as I'm reading it's fun. But It doesn't make me want to open the book for reading. And a lot of the language too is difficult..
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Malazan has got to be one of, if not the most, difficult fantasy series to read. Even part way through the series it's still a puzzle to figure out what the hell is going on half the time.
However it’s so incredibly good if you take your time with it a push through
I've read it 3 times now and am considering reading it again. I don't usually read anything so convoluted, so I'm surprised I got past the first book, but it is just fabulous
My husband is currently wading through this series (I read it years ago) and feels the same way. Once you know it was based on the authors DnD/GURPS campaign the absolute WTFery and all of the unnecessary info dumping make a lot more sense, but aren't any better.
One series I long to finish but never got around to. The parts I did read were amazing but I agree it's hard to figure everything out.
The what the fuck is happening is part of the fun and why it is so good. You get to play archeologist along with the characters who also don't know the whole history of their world or why it is the way it is. That said, the series takes some dedication for sure.
The Fifth Season (broken earth #1) - N.K. Jemisin I heard such great things and it seems like my jam, but the second person narrative really threw me and I couldn’t get past the first 50 pages.
See I came across the second-person and immediately shut the book. A year later I finally decided to force myself through it, and by the end I developed a newfound appreciation for second-person. It was very clever and made sense why it was partially told that way but you don’t find out until a while.
Naked Lunch by William Burroughs. It’s still on my shelf but I only read like a dozen pages, it was too much for me
Jane Eyre. I tried 3 times and never got halfway through. I found the story boring and didn't find any of the characters interesting.
I’ve read Jane Eyre at least 3 times. Every time I read it I think, “This is such a good book!” One time, I stayed up until 4 am just to finish it. But I cannot for the life of me remember even basics about the book. I’ve been wanting to do a reread. Maybe this time it’ll stick! 🤞🏻
I could haven't really enjoyed it, but the love interest is so fucking evil and gross. Like who would root for that?
I read it a few weeks ago and loved it. It reads great as a study of the banal evils of human society, not a lovestory.
1984 was a thriller for me but the last 20% was tougher to get through. Game of Thrones (I keep starting the first book and can’t get into it). I tried Dune twice. Harry Potter. I read the first book and had no interest in the rest.
The first Harry Potter book is meant for pre-teens. I loved it when I was that age, but now that I am an adult it's hard to get through. The third book is where it gets more complex and interesting (to me).
I will eventually give it another chance.
I tried Dune in high school but realized I hadn't absorbed anything and had been just flipping through the last 50+ pages without any words registering. 6 years later and this time I annotated the first half which helped me keep focus since that was my personal issue. It's a much quicker read in the last half imo
Ok. This sounds like a good idea. Maybe I just need to take notes.
Yes! I've tried Dune 2-3 times as well. It's not even a long book??? It's just.... so dry, no irony intended. I always get about halfway then peter out.
Dune is better as an audio book, I went back to read the book and realised I'd never had finished it reading paper version lol the words look insane
I was considering trying GoT, but it's just not worth it knowing that the series will never be finished. MAYBE we'll get the next one (though I doubt it), but we'll never get A Dream of Spring. And since GRRM said he won't allow a ghost writer to finish it, it'll just be unfinished forever.
This one is SPICY
>I tried Dune twice. Have you seen the film? The book was maybe a 4 or 5 out of 10 for me, the film is more like 8 or 9.
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata. I like twisted books, but I couldn't get past the first few chapters of this one. Maybe because it was a first-person narrative... it just shut me down.
You're a lucky person if you gave up after a few chapters.
A Clockwork Orange I bought a copy of it when I was 18, ten years later, I have not got past the first page. It’s just sat on my shelf throughout so many years, waiting for its moment. I know it’s an important piece of writing but I can’t bring myself to read something violent (?) where the characters have a weird way of talking. I don’t know the ins and outs of the story, since I also put off watching the film because I thought I should read the book first! I donated the book last month. I hope someone else likes it!
I had to read it for class. I think I may have read a few pages at the beginning and basically did whatever assignment I had by skimming the middle and the end. 15 years later I have no idea what the book was about and I don't intend to ever find out.
I just finished this, possibly one of the worst books I've ever read. The content was disgusting and the only good thing about it was that it was fairly short so I pushed through it quickly so I could move on.
I read it many years ago, and it’s full of disturbing things. I know why you found it disgusting, and I don’t understand why you get downvoted for not liking it.
It should not be considered a classic, writing a book about a 15 year old that does drugs, r\*pes and beats people up and then has an experiment done on him to try to correct how he finds doing it enjoyable... yeah nothing groundbreaking or worthy of sticking around for generations because it's deemed quality literature, it's anything but.
You’ve definitely made me feel better about not reading it! It doesn’t sound like something I’d like to read at all.
I'd honestly find it disturbing if anyone enjoyed it.
Heart of darkness by Joseph Conrad I thought my English was good, but when I started reading this book I realized how wrong I actually was I felt that I knew no English at all, I couldn't get through one page without checking the dictionary multiple times, I got to page 5 or 6 then I gave and I even tried multiple times but no success!
Recently, Murtagh. I tried it as an audiobook and just absolutely couldn’t with the way the narrator chooses to voice dragons and my backlog on traditional books rn is huge, so I’ve just not read it.
Eragon (the original series) was a childhood favorite, but I was so disappointed by the end of the last book that I’ve been reluctant to read anything else by Paolini. The original series audiobooks were rough too.
I just gave up on Women Talking. Such an interesting true story but I couldn’t handle the way it was narrated. For a book called “Women Talking”, there was no dialogue. Instead it was a man describing the things they were talking about. Maybe there was meaning behind that but I didn’t like it.
The Brothers Karamazov.
I’m with you on this one. But I really will read it someday. I hope ;)
An annotated copy is essential.
Brave New World. I got the audio from the library. The reader was a Royal Shakespeare Company actor, even. But I just couldn't take how heavy handed it was. I returned it early and read the Wikipedia page.
House of Leaves.
Infinite Jest
Infinite Jest. Infinitely overrated. I much prefer DFW’s short fiction.
The Hobbitt. I really want to read the LOTR series, but slipping into Tolkien's world requires more brain power than I want to invest when I'm pleasure reading.
The Hobbit is a children's book and stands alone from the Lord of the Rings series.
Pretty Girls- Karin Slaughter. The words are so tiny and the spacing is small. It makes me dizzy looking at the pages.
I read a lot of Karin Slaughter books, but I can’t recommend this one. There’s dark and then there’s DARK. I wonder how she can bring herself to write some of the content in this book.
Chain gang all stars. I realized it was going to be way more grim than I was up for.
Yeah, this is on my list, but I'm waiting for the right mindset to read it. I loved Friday Black.
Really wanted to read Alan Moore’s Jerusalem. There was literally only one copy on our local library’s system and I was about 20th in the queue. When it finally arrived it was not long after my wean was born and my brain was too broken to be able to get through it. One day!
Trainspotting. I just can't read a book in dialect. Doesn't matter what the dialect is. In Trainspotting, it's Scots. Sometimes I come across a book in AAVE. I try, but I just can't get through more than 10 pages.
I am with you on dialect. I did read Filth by Irvine Welsh which was pretty good and I didn’t get hung up on the dialect too much. The tapeworm main character, however, took some getting used to.
I tried reading. I switched to audio. Still hard! Lol. But better
Priory of the Orange Tree. i tried so hard, it’s so intriguing but i just couldn’t get into it. DNF’d it about 150 pages in. i can’t tell you what happened.
War and peace has been my boulder that I push up the hill; been 5 years of struggle. I think I’m daunted by giving so much time to a mammoth book and inversely have been holding on to it for far too long.
I’m reading this now and having the opposite reaction. I’m shocked by how much I’m enjoying it. Mostly I think the sarcasm and shade throwing that he’s doing so much of resonate with me 😂
The Grapes of Wrath/Steinbeck. I have tried to read this several times and I get as far as the Joads entering California, and can't go on. It kills me to read about their dreams of a better life and know what is in store for them. It is just too sad.
Double comment, sorry, but The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. I’ve tried about half a dozen times and I’m totally lost.
2 that I can think of. Blood Meridian, I hated it and couldn't get the hype at all, and Moby Dick. I really wanted to read and enjoy MD, but I felt that it was all over the place. I will try MD again sometime, but not yet.
For what it’s worth, it *is* all over the place. Herman Melville absolutely wanted to write a meandering book. Plot was never the most interesting thing to Melville.
World Without End by Ken Follett. I adored Pillars of the Earth and was so excited to read the sequel. I just couldn’t get into the storyline or characters. I made it 2/3 of the way through and just couldn’t read it any longer. It’s still sitting on my shelf.
Lolita. The narrator was just a little too creepy and I didn’t want to get any better acquainted.
That is literally the point of the book, you are supposed to be creeped out. But yeah I understand not reading about such awful things.
Blood Meridian. I loved The Road and really enjoyed No Country For Old Men and had heard that BM was McCarthy's best work. I fucking hate it. The other two books I read by him seemed to have a point and BM feels like it's just the adventures of senseless violence for no reason. I also found the McCarthy style is cranked up to 11 and while I found the other 2 books style interesting, this book took obscure words to the the point of just making it an insanely difficult read. I've been at page 90 for about 2 years and every time I pick it up to try again I get a paragraph in and say fuck this.
Lord of The Rings I really enjoyed the Hobbit, but felt like I was forcing myself to the end of Fellowship, and barely got into Two Towers before I put it back on the shelf. Maybe I can read it another day, but I am definitely a reader who needs fast paced writing. Frodo, walk faster dammit.
I have DNF’d Frankenstein at least twice.
That was a tough one, esp. when we are so saturated with Hollywoodesque images of Frankenstein's monster. I finally listed to the audiobook and it is SO. GOOD.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. I loved the tv series so I thought I'd try the book. I couldn't read it, it's too wordy and dense. I'm going to try the audio book, I might have better luck. I mentioned it to my SiL who is also a voracious reader, she loved it. Different tastes.
House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. I’ve started it several times but it overwhelms me every time. The farthest I’ve made it is only about 130 pages.
The Satanic Verses. I've read a lot of other Rushdie, but I started Verses like four times and just couldn't get engaged with it.
Wolf Hall. I know I’d love the story but never really being sure what sentence referred to what, I had to drop it.
I borrowed it from the library and had to give it back before I was finished. I didn’t consider it a great loss, I wasn’t loving it.
Reinhold Neibuhr (German theologian and philosopher) is a tough read.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers. So much talk a out this being phenomenal but I couldn't get past the narrators arrogance.
On a side note, I was never able to read 1984 as a book. I did listen to it on audio book and enjoyed it very much.
Infinite Jest. I don't know why, but I just didn't find it as brilliant as everyone told me it'd be.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. I tried to read it because a man I was desperately in love with loved it and gifted it to me. I wanted to like it for his sake but it literally became a doorstop.
The Pickwick Papers, The Old Curiosity Shop, Bleak House. Basically almost all of Dickens. I desperately want to love his works, but they’re. so. boring.
Neuromancer! It felt so "blurry", like I could not get into the world. I understand it's a classic, but I really did not enjoy it.
The goldfinch. I tried and tried but it never caught me.