What’s the most challenging book you’ve ever read?
Les Miserables, but I was 13 years old. Duh. I must have understood a bit of the story as the local library had the book in two volumes. Finished the first so I had to read the second.
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Cloud Cuckoo Land, I really did not like it however so many people did like it. I am thinking it was not the right time for me to read it and I will reread but not this summer !!
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For me it was Moby Dick. I don’t have the excuse of being young, either! I think I was in my 40s or 50s when I decided to tackle it.
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I had the exact feeling about that book. I gave up on it because it was a challenge to understand the plot. I was relieved to learn you had the same experience because you are an expert reader.
It was very disappointing since I adored All the Light You Cannot See by Doerr.
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All the Light You Cannot See was wonderful! So like you that also added to my disappointment!
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Without a moment’s hesitation–Moby Dick!
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I still haven’t managed to get through Emma (Austen) and I’ve tried at least three times. I had no issues with any of the others and I am still determined to finished it someday.
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Once again, I’m struck by how different we are when it comes to what appeals to us. I loved Cloud Cuckoo Land. It’s still one of my all-time favorites. But I completely understand that we all have different tastes in books. That’s the joy of a group like this - being able to share opinions about books even if we disagree. I’m thrilled this is such a safe zone for respectful disagreement. Y’all are amazing!
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Salmon Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children” was a challenge, but I plodded through it. In the summer of 2020, I decided to (finally) read “War and Peace.” I had it in my head that “real readers” read it. So I did. I was expecting a 1,200-page slog. I was happily surprised! It was WONDERFUL. I looked forward to reading it every day.
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War and Peace. Keeping the names for some of the characters was a huge challenge. But I was 17 and persisted because I wanted to understand how the war evolved and what happened to the 4 children.
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This was challenging. I think the only way I got through this book was because I saw the play 3 times (amazing sets and music!) and wanted to understand more about jean Valjean beyond what was presented in the play.
@Cathryn_Conroy my reactions were exactly the same as yours to both of those books. Midnight’s Children was a DNF for me. LOVED War and Peace. It’s really great historical fiction! I’ve no idea how it got such an undeserved reputation as a hard book. True, it’s long, but these days many books are! (I just ordered a copy of The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai and it’s nearly 700 pp.)
Can I or should I count The Holy Bible? I’m not nearly even through the Old Testament and I find it to absolutely be the most challenging book I will ever read. While reading I ask myself continually if I am understanding passages correctly. I am fortunate to have an NEV Bible which has great study notes, but even then it can be difficult to understand the nuances and the historical context. I’m also fortunate to be part of a great study group with a leader who has a great knowledge of the Bible and members who don’t hesitate to discuss or disagree.
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NanK, pretty impressive that at 13 you even attempted to read this—yet alone did.
Well there was limited comprehension at that age but enough that I finished the book. Decades later now the movie and stage production on PBS helped me understand the history. 
I agree! I was in my 40’s, and it took me a whole summer. But I did enjoy it and am glad I read it.
@Cathryn_Conroy I was actually supposed to review Midnight’s Children but it got to be such a plod that I told Davina I couldn’t do it.
Still, plodding is a review! I searched through my reviews (I write one for every book I read, even those that are not available on BookBrowse). This is what I wrote, which is far “nicer” than I remember now thinking of the book. Note the part especially that I highlighted in bold below, which is displayed between two **
This is truly a masterpiece of literature.
That said, it’s not always an easy book to read—parts of are confoundingly confusing and parts of it are sluggishly boring—but I always thought it was worth my time to read it. Not only did this novel by Salman Rushdie win the Booker Prize in 1981, but also it was honored with the special prizes of the Booker of Bookers (1993) and the Best of the Booker (2008).
Written in the style of magical realism—that is, not quite true-to-life but not quite fantasy—this is the life story of Saleem Sinai, as told by him in the first person beginning two generations before his birth and continuing until he is 31. The book is essentially a compendium of dozens of stories that are by turns charmingly heartwarming, laugh-out-loud hilarious, confusedly baffling, bizarrely fantastical, unspeakably violent, daringly political, and even mildly erotic.
All of them are grounded in the central, most important story of the book: Saleem is born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, which is also the birth of India’s independence. As such, he is a special child, honored by his country. Saleem, whose life story follows that of India’s history, develops telepathic powers that give him extraordinary access to others’ thoughts and a connection to the other 1,000 children born in India on August 15, 1947 between midnight and 1 a.m., all of whom also have magical abilities. And in a clever nod to Bollywood, there is a devastating secret behind Saleem’s birth that we readers know instantly but is not revealed to Saleem and his shocked family for 11 years.
This novel is an English major’s dream, filled with imagery, symbolism, and enough metaphors to be the only textbook in a class on metaphors.
But before you run to pick up this book, know this: It is long and convoluted, but most of all, it is very difficult to read. The story is circuitous, the unexplained cultural references are daunting, and the narrative is sometimes bewildering. While reading it, I often felt stunned (as in dazed), sometimes absolutely engrossed, and other times nearly falling asleep.
Still, it is an ingeniously plotted and wildly original family saga that truly is one of those books every serious reader should read.
Moby Dick is for me too! Absolutely…and I finished it just to say I did…it was laborious