Oooh… I suggest giving it another try… it’s one of the most intense books I hve ever read, and I find I have to walk away in parts of it because they squick the hell out of me!
My unreadable King is the Tommyknockers. Got about half way thru several times and just can’t do it.
I am re-reading the LOTR trilogy right now; I saw the movies first and LOVED them, thought I had to read the books. Literally forced myself thru them. Horrible writing style. It’s been several years and I thought I’d try they again, maybe they’ve grown on me.
Nope. Still horrible writing style. Just on the first book right now, asnd seriously doubt I’ll msake it thru all 3 again with my sanity intact.
William Gaddis’s JR. I tore through The Recognitions and his other works with ease, but there’s something about this one - the immense length, all the dialogue - that makes it very difficult to follow.
Bleak House. I was meant to read it for some course at university. I had a job which involved long periods of sitting doing nothing, and let me tell you I read many books both good and bad during that job. I’m also one of the fastest readers I know. Fucked if I could finish Bleak House. I was trying to read it for such a long time that one of my friends made me a bookmark that said, “Teacake will be reading Bleak House for the rest of time”. I’ve read (and even taught) other Dickens, though I’ve never really liked any of it. If only they hadn’t paid him by the word.
I have gotten through *Atlas Shrugged *many times, including the speeches. In fact I actually read Galt’s speech first, before having read the novel. And I also made it through unabridged *Les Misérables *a couple of times.
But I cannot make it through any Hemingway or Joyce. In fact I’ve quit trying.
There are so many! I’ll have to go with Atlas Shrugged too because it was my most recent failure.
BTW, The Grapes of Wrath is my all-time favorite book. The first time I skipped all the historical stuff and focused on the story. When I was older I appreciated those parts too.
I love Atlas Shrugged, speech and all. I read it the first time when I was 13, and had a much easier time getting through that than I did *Moby Dick *or Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
Oddly, I could never get through *The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy *until I finally listened to it on an audiobook. The British accent made all the difference. After that, I loved it.
I made it through (and was entertained by) Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, but I’ve never been able to get past the first chapter or so of The Silmarillion.
Another vote for Tolkien. I made it through The Hobbit after several starts but I’ve tried hacking my way through FOTR in print several times and even audio book on a long road trip and just absolutely cannot do it.
It’s funny, Morphy, because almost everyone whose tastes are similar to mine and whom I respect loves both books. I’ll no doubt try them again (or at least Lolita - the Toole I’ve tried enough that I don’t think it’s for me).
I don’t understand the aversion to LotR. I’ve read all three books from cover to cover umpteen times and my life would have been all the poorer if I hadn’t.
I really enjoyed Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell, I really did. It took forever, but I got about 3/4 of the way through. The end was in sight. But I couldn’t finish it, I just could not read one more page. Never did find out how it ended. I’ve been waiting for a movie version but as my grandpa used to say, ‘I’d hate to be hanging, waiting for that movie version’.
this is mine. I’ve tried three times but I always get tripped up by the way all the male characters have the same dang name. I want to like it, but I just get lost.
Let’'s see, when I was younger, I couldn’t force my way through the Lord Of the Rings trilogy. Still Alice by Lisa Genova lasted about 25 or so pages before I was tired of the extra thick foreshadowing, laid on extra thick and extra gooey.
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Seth Grahame-Smith is really good at writing in the style of the author he’s writing “with”, because I couldn’t stand Pride and Prejudice, even without the zombies.
The God Delusion. I agree with what Dawkins says, I just have a hard time reading someone agreeing with me.
The Family. Lots of research went into it. I’m a little over half way and I just can’t take it anymore. I’m sure I’ll come back later.
Moby Dick. I tried reading it when I was…I dunno, eleven, or something, and couldn’t get past the second chapter. I tried reading it again about six months ago…couldn’t get past the third chapter.
Also…Naked Lunch. I suppose this one isn’t quite in the spirit of the thread, since I did read the whole thing…but by “read,” I mean “I turned all the pages and looked at all the words.” I’d read one page, turn it to the next, and literally forget what I’d just read. Ask me what it’s about, and I couldn’t tell you.* I don’t even know why this is, either. It’s like the words tried to make their way into my brain but took a wrong turn and vanished into a black hole instead. It was very perplexing.
Worse, after I’d read it, a sudden realization struck me. “Wait a minute,” I thought, “someone made a MOVIE out of this book.” Somehow, that was even more perplexing.
*The stock answer I give to whoever asks is “drugs. It’s about drugs.”
“Cryptonomicon”. Friends raved about it so I picked it up - Stephenson must be getting paid by the pound. He writes like the infamous “unabridged” The Princess Bride.
R.e. Stephen King - I think he writes fantastic short stories. Up to about 100-200 pages he can just nail it but any farther than that and he tends to get mighty boring.
Yeah. From all I’ve heard about it, it’s a book I should love, but for several months now it’s been under my bed with a bookmark at page 200. There’s some good stuff in it, but there are plenty of other books that have a significantly higher good stuff to slog through ratio.
Yar, I like Stephenson quite a bit, but Cryptonomican almost caused me to not pick up Anathem, which was significantly better the second time through but still a little…something. Worth it, though. Makes me miss the simplicity of Snow Crash, though. I want more of that, though I know it makes me sound like a child.
