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Of all the books you have read, what has been your most challenging read?

For me it has to be Wolf Hall. I had to concentrate so hard to just follow the story, at about half way through I didn't really know who was talking to who and all the political stuff was complicated. I finished it, and all I can say is that it was just such a relief !

I have just finished Umbrella by Will Self which had no chapters , sentences which morphed from one character to another in a stream of consciousness and need for a dictionary every few words! I wouldn't have carried on but for our group doing the booker and there being none of others in library. I enjoyed Wolf Hall but know a lot people who had similar views. I also struggled with On the road but it was a group book and the version I got was the original scroll version with no chapters , paras etc nightmare!!

I tried a Will Self book once ...
Its the only book I have given up on.

I've tried to read One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez several times, and although I feel there is a good story in there somewhere, I somehow can't seem to extract it....

I absolutely loved Wolf Hall, and have recently read Bring Up the Bodies which I thought was equally brilliant, but a good friend of mine hated Wolf Hall, even though we usually like the same books....it led to some good discussion, though.

I may try again but I just couldn't get going with Midnight's Children, I'm afraid I ditched it. I kept going through Anna Karenina and One Hundred Years of Solitude but the thing that slowed my progress with both those books is the character names. It was tricky to get my head around the Russian names especially the adding of an A to the end of female characters and as for the several generations in Solitude, all of which have the same name with a slight alteration, I spent a lot of time looking at the family tree when reading that.

Otherwise, the first half of Catch 22 is pretty hard going although I'd say worth the effort once you've got beyond it.

Loved Wolf Hall, looking forward to Bring Up the Bodies - that one I was fine with!

Of ones I completed, the 2 that stand out are Dante's Inferno in Italian lol and Beckett's Waiting for Godot....both hugely layered but both stunning when you get to grips with them. Gave up on Wolf Hall early doors.

It's interesting what constitutes a challenge. I read an anne Tyler book years ago, it wasn't a hard read, but I hated the lead character from p1. That one was a struggle !

I read One Hundred Years of Solitude, great story spanning the generations but confusing as all the names are the same or similar. Also characters have multiple names if I remember correctly. I used the family tree a lot too. It was invaluable.

I absolutely loved Midnight's Children and liked Anna Karenina.

Ian wrote: "Of ones I completed, the 2 that stand out are Dante's Inferno in Italian lol and Beckett's Waiting for Godot....both hugely layered but both stunning when you get to grips with them. Gave up on Wol..."

Really Ian, in Italian ? Very impressed.

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett which I loved but took ages to read and have the next in the series to read now!

A Clockwork Orange was quite challenging; just getting used to the lingo was a big part of that.

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: "Fall of Giants by Ken Follett which I loved but took ages to read and have the next in the series to read now!"

Was it a different pace than The Pillars of the Earth? I couldn't put that book down, all 1000+ pages of it, up till 3am reading etc,etc.

Bill, I have never read A Clockwork Orange. Seems a bit too sadistic for my tastes. I've seen clips of the movie, they eye bit - ewwww shivers go down my spine. Leading to my next comment :

I forgot to add the other challenging book I read : 50 Shades of Grey. Total crap !

@ Nikks - Yes it is a different pace than The Pillars of the Earth, I read that in a matter of hours!

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: "@ Nikks - Yes it is a different pace than The Pillars of the Earth, I read that in a matter of hours!"

I actually own Fall of Giants, but havent got around to reading it yet. Shame its not like The Pillars of the Earth. That is total escapism, I felt like I was helping to build that cathedral ! lol

Bill wrote: "A Clockwork Orange was quite challenging; just getting used to the lingo was a big part of that."

Yes, you're right. It was!

Fifty Shades of Grey was the most challenging book I have ever read. It was just so bad! It took me so long to read.

You speed right up if you read first and last word of each paragraph like I did.

Becca wrote: "Fifty Shades of Grey was the most challenging book I have ever read. It was just so bad! It took me so long to read."

It took me ages too, I read at least 2 other books during 50 shades.

wow! I couldn't put Fifty Shades down!!! maybe it's the hopeless romantic in me... :)

Catherine wrote: "wow! I couldn't put Fifty Shades down!!! maybe it's the hopeless romantic in me... :)"

I think its just one of those love it or hate it books, the reviews seem to range from the extremes of 1 or 5 !

@Nikks if building cathedrals gets you excited have you read Sarum: The Novel of England by Edward Rutherfurd - came out years ago.

I loved it as at the time I lived at Larkhill nr Stonehenge (could see it out of bedroom window and could walk to it) and Salisbury.

When my daughter did her work experience as a 6th former she went to Salisbury catherdral to do stone masonary and worked on the tower so her name is in the tower too.

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: "@Nikks if building cathedrals gets you excited have you read Sarum: The Novel of England by Edward Rutherfurd - came out years ago.

I loved it as at the time I lived at Larkhill nr Stonehenge (cou..."

Lynne, I now have it in my tbr list. It sounds great, like a cross between Pillars of the Earth and 100 Years of Solitude :-) Thanks.
I love how your environment added to your enjoyment of the book. I read James A Micheners Hawaii whilst there. It really made me appreciate my surroundings so much more.

Quite right Nikks, I read The Fog by James Herbert because I knew Amesbury which is mentioned in the book!

Catherine wrote: "wow! I couldn't put Fifty Shades down!!! maybe it's the hopeless romantic in me... :)"

My best mates with you on that one Catherine, she LOVED it and read it approximately one day (virtually unheard of!)

I didnt really enjoy wolf hall, but thought I learnt a lot from it, I never knew about Henry and his leaving church etc etc before (head in clouds mostly me) so am going to read bringing up bodies at some point.

I struggled ALL THE WAY through Enduring Love by Ian McEwan.. all the way, and felt so let down that it never improved I actually threw the book at the wall.
and when I returned it to its owner, he said "oh, I didnt like it, couldnt finish it"
arghhhhhh

I decided I just wasn't smart enough for wolf hall, either that or distracted.
I read American Psycho. I finished it but was sick to the stomach & horrified most of the way through !

I see several of you said you had trouble with Wolf Hall....I haven't read it yet, but I do believe that you have to be in the right frame of mind to deal with a lot of historical fact, and you have to really pay attention to the characters too... I have it on my tbr list...I will get to it.

I love historical fiction...but I find if I'm not in the "mood" for it..I don't enjoy it....I also think sometimes it helps when there is a romantic story, or some kind of mystery to the story...but overall..I enjoy these types of books :)

Just finished reading The Diary of Anne Frank. It's not overly long, and for the most part it's a relatively mundane to go through - large parts of it are just usual teenage girl stuff, arguments with her parents, talking about boys, etc.

Then it just suddenly ends.

The afterword is about two pages long, explaining what happened to her and the people she was with.

I can't help but feel angry about it. One of the weirdest reading experiences I've ever had.

I too struggled with Wolf Hall; I finished it and really wanted to like it but found it fairly impenetrable. Having said that, I am going to give it another go just to see if it got me on a bad day.

The most challenging book I've ever read is another Mantel: A Place of Greater Safety, set around the French Revolution. I also struggled through this one but there is no way in the world I'd ever go back a second time for that torture!

Lol that's my exactly how I felt at the end of wolf hall.

Hi new to the group and a book i have been fighting to read but not managing to get into is House of Leaves .... I want to read it and most reviews are very good but its just hard going and a bit of a head scratcher !!

I haven't read it, but hope you start enjoying it soon.

Ty wrote: "Hi new to the group and a book i have been fighting to read but not managing to get into is House of Leaves .... I want to read it and most reviews are very good but its just hard going and a bit o..."

I loved this book with all its quirky bits and funny pages! Keep going!

Ty
House of Leaves is one of those books which is worth the effort.
Most challenging book Finnegan's Wake, complete gibberish much of the time, and a book I have no intention of ever reading again.

Deanne wrote: "Ty
House of Leaves is one of those books which is worth the effort.
Most challenging book Finnegan's Wake, complete gibberish much of the time, and a book I have no intention of ever reading again."

I'd forgotten House of Leaves, I read it a year or so ago. Definitely one of the most unusual books to come across!

I don't read hard to read books I dump them as that is all they are good for.

But hey I am only a writer so what do I know.

Why read '50 Shades' when the Original ~Fanny Hill~ by John Cleland is such a superb read, and so well written into the bargain.

And yes I only glimpsed Wolf Hall but wondered if it was 'Heavy' which might be the reason it won the Booker?

So to answer the Question, I suspect ~Crime and Punishment~ is my hardest read as it is so well worth reading but is a slog because of its length.

But then this brings me to a question, do none of you read factual books?

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith should be on all your lists, if only for the one reason you would understand why World affairs happen that do.

Why money works the way it does, and why you are always trying to catch up with why Politicians are making the decisions they are.

Many of the answers lie in Wealth of Nations, Published in 1776 the same year as another heavy read, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon, Wealth was seminal in our understanding of Economics.

So not one any of you lot is likely to read then ha ha.

Ha! I struggled with you post let alone the actual book in full!

I guess it depends what you want from reading, I generally read fiction so I can relax and escape into a book sometimes a challenging novel other times a easy thriller, an analogy would be listening to The Archers then 'in our time' ! Not sure if I'm up to Wealth of Nations most evenings!!

I too read for escapism, I love to get involved in someone elses lives, in another time and place. If I want knowledge I happily read some historical fiction, but dont feel I need anything heavier than that. Maybe thats a head-in-the-sand response ! lol

I dont think a hard or difficult read necessarily means a challenging read, I've read lots of hard to read books but thoroughly enjoyed them. I did however read My Sister's Keeper. Thats not a hard book to read per se, but I found the forced emotion excrutiating. I will never read another Jodi Picoult ! It was a challenge to read and at the end I was just relieved it was over.

Em wrote: "Ha! I struggled with you post let alone the actual book in full!"

Ditto Em! Lol! I read for pleasure not punishment! I have a rough job as a Marie Curie nurse dealing with patients who are at end of life and dealing with death and looking after beareaved relatives so I want something to read that allows me to wind down and escape.

As for knowing about world economics and polititians and world affairs you can keep it! I don't even read a paper or watch the news or listen to newsbroadcasts!

I read Wealth of Nations at uni.......I'd forgotten until mentioned above, which about sums up it's impact on me lol

I will add that I believe there are three types of person who read Wealth, those where it goes over their heads and all is lost, the majority for whom parts click, and they take something away from it.

And those of us in the vast minority that realise its importance and read it till we understand it, I had the luxury when I was reading it of being undistibured but also relieving boredom, and I would go back over parts.

But also I am a smarty pants with some things and I understood what smith was on about.

Some will find watching paint dry more appealing.

@ John....I shall bear it in mind that I am dealing with a superior intellectual being from now on....must be tough being as clever as thee lol

Becca wrote: "Fifty Shades of Grey was the most challenging book I have ever read. It was just so bad! It took me so long to read."

You know, it would have been perfectly okay to just throw it away ;)

For me, it's gotta be Ulysses. I got about half-way in and gave up.

Fifty shades was a difficult read for me also. The first was the worst it barely had a story.

Paradise lost I found a Lil difficult to read. I kept re-reading the same things over.

I've enjoyed some of those listed above, and not tried others.

I think the only book I've given up on as too challenging (i.e. interminable) was Proust's Swann's Way. However, there are a few others I've given up on as being too dull or badly written.

Ana wrote: "Fifty shades was a difficult read for me also. The first was the worst it barely had a story."

It's comforting for me to see you say that. I guess there is some hope left for this world ;)

Lord of the Rings - too much detail! That was a difficult read. I only got through Fellowship of the Rings and had to give up. That took me three months. I read a book a week! So I didn't bother with the others. It's a pity since I loved the Hobbit. I think the problem with Fellowship is it was too detailed, too dense, too slow, and plodding...and there were endless songs! I just couldn't take it ha ha. I LOVE the films though...

Will wrote: "Lord of the Rings - too much detail! That was a difficult read. I only got through Fellowship of the Rings and had to give up. That took me three months. I read a book a week! So I didn't bother wi..."

I'm the same – I like the movies way more than the books.

I did actually read the books, though, but it took me a long time. I would go about 50 pages, then put it down and read something else, then come back to it later.

Esp. in Two Towers – I mean, half the book is just Frodo and Sam walking, and walking, and walking. It's intensely boring.

And don't even get me started on the whole Scouring of the Shire stuff from RotK. How anti-climatic is that?

There are plenty of songs in The Hobbit, but hardly any in LotR.