Challenging Books

[Justadreamer]

Would anybody be able to suggest some challenging books that make you think.

[DFNorfolk]

Here you go, took me 4 times to finally finish it, it’s “difficult”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unconsoled

[toasty]

Ulysses by James Joyce - Each chapter is in a different writing style. It's a real slog to get through.

Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand's epic on objectivism. Great tale but, damn, it dragged on at times.

Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy - Relentlessly grim view of 19th century scalp hunters in America.

100 Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez's torturous book where nearly all the men have the same name.

[zbc]

Surely only one answer here Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

[Super Sonic]

Do you want fiction or non-fiction? Brian Greene's "The Fabric of the Cosmos" starts easy, and gets more difficult. It's about space and time, matter and energy etc.

[vixen1700]

zbc said:

Surely only one answer here Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I kind of got into that, up until the point where I had no clue what it was about.

[Slow.Patrol]

The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Glass_Bead_Game

And Mere Christianity by CS Lewis.

Not that I am a church goer, I wanted to try and understand the reasoning.

[Blue62]

Anything by Will Self.

Agree on Ulysees.

I’ve started Marcus Aurelius, going to be a long summer.

[zbc]

vixen1700 said:

zbc said:

Surely only one answer here Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I kind of got into that, up until the point where I had no clue what it was about.

I reread it every ten years or so. On my fourth trip now. Each time I read it I find a different part is relevant and clearer to me as I go through life/career. Having said that, by extrapolation I need to live to about 217 to fully understand it

[Sporky]

Hard sci-fi maybe? Greg Egan for example; the Orthogonal trilogy is superb, but requires getting your head around a universe with different physics.

[Justadreamer]

Thanks for the suggestion so far. I ll look into purchasing some of them. Any others?

Edited by Justadreamer on Tuesday 26th May 19:25

[BobToc]

I’m likely a philistine but Ulysses is an almighty slog and having attempted it on numerous occasions I’ve never managed to get anything out of it. And Atlas Shrugged is less challenging and more an adult wielding a child’s certainty about how the world works.

[DFNorfolk]

Justadreamer said:

Thanks for the suggestion so far. I ll look into purchasing some of them. Any others?

Edited by Justadreamer on Tuesday 26th May 19:25

Blimey you’re greedy! Jokingly……not sure all these are challenging but they are somewhat different:

Most of Paul Austers books
Ian Banks Wasp Factory
Carlo Rovelli Helogoland, not different but it is all about “modern theoretical physics” so could mean you have to concentrate.

I’m not at home at the moment so I’ll see tomorrow if I’ve got any others…..

[toasty]

BobToc said:

I m likely a philistine but Ulysses is an almighty slog and having attempted it on numerous occasions I ve never managed to get anything out of it. And Atlas Shrugged is less challenging and more an adult wielding a child s certainty about how the world works.

I’ve possibly cheated as I listened to both via Audible. My eyes and neck can’t deal with books of that length.

I like your take on Atlas Shrugged. It’s a flawed philosophy that backfired somewhat in her later life.

[InductionRoar]

Moby Dick and Finnegans Wake have a reputation for being difficult reads.

[otherman]

zbc said:

Surely only one answer here Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I guess you got stuck.

Joke only for those who actually read it.

[toasty]

Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita could be a challenge as it’s two books in one. The main one is about the Devil visiting 1930s Russia and the other is about Pontius Pilate in biblical times. The chapters alternate.

Brett Easton Ellis’ American Psycho is another tough read for more than one reason. There are frequent lists of what the protagonist is wearing and who made them. Unlike the film, there is little humour. It’s darker and more grisly.