By this I mean, a book you had to brace yourself to read, and you feel proud for having read. Did you enjoy the process of reading it?

  • angelsomething
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    141 year ago

    Seven eves. The author indulges a little too much in technical details. At points, for pages.

    • @Omentree@sopuli.xyz
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      91 year ago

      I thought it was very good. Stephenson does have a tendency to get really into whatever the subject matter of his story is, eg. cryptography in cryptonomicon, MMOs and gaming in REAMDE, Alan turing and AI in The Diamond Age etc. I find it to be an endearing aspect lf his writing. Definitely recommend Seveneves.

    • @CmdrUlle@feddit.de
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      31 year ago

      End then, as typical, the “end” is done in a haste. My only gripe with him (and this book in particular)

    • @clgoh@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      I thought it was the easiest Neal Stephenson’s book. (That I’ve read.)

      • @JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca
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        41 year ago

        I chose it for an English literature class, as I was always fascinated by Arthurian legend. The teacher thought I was mad, and was probably right. But it was more that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

        I was adept at French, which really helped. But it was a long slow read. Looking back I don’t know how I managed other than to ignore the parts I really didn’t understand. It was pre internet hahah.

        In the end, I’d say yes, I did enjoy it. It’s always stuck with me, and I automatically compare every Arthurian story (book, movie, etc) to what I remember from it - which I guess makes sense.

        But ultimately it’s very sad. Almost depressing. And the dryness of it makes it feel like it could have really happened.

        Damn, your question is enticing me to it up again!

  • @Silversaurus@lemmy.world
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    91 year ago

    I haven’t read that much, but kinda proud of reading Hyperion. It starts super slow, and I find that the writing style is like he’s omitting too much, if that makes any sense.

    • @bloopernova@programming.dev
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      51 year ago

      Definitely be proud of reading Hyperion! I know exactly what you mean about it seeming to leave out stuff. I guess it is part of the mystery that we find out as we go, and we experience things from the point of view of the protagonists. You’ve made me want to read it again!

      • @Silversaurus@lemmy.world
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        61 year ago

        The poetry is also something I’m not familiar with which maybe makes me miss out? Still, I did enjoy it a lot, especially the planet itself. Also vagina with teeth hmm

    • @tetrachromacy@lemm.ee
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      51 year ago

      Hyperion is not like any other book I’ve read before. It puts together a lot of disparate events and individuals, and you sort of need to let the story happen as it’s not entirely clear at first what is going on. I love it and recommend the sequel. The third and fourth books for me were more difficult reads but they were still good. They were more traditional in the way they told the story. I liked the first two better, but I recommend the whole series.

    • Cross_Rhythm
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      11 year ago

      Kudos! I think I would have ended up skimming it quite a bit if I had read it, but I went with the audio book instead in that instance. I will say, the audio book is a full cast and very entertaining. I would recommend it if you ever wanted to go through the story a second time.

  • @bloopernova@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco. I enjoyed reading it, but it demanded my full attention to appreciate it.

    EDIT: I enjoyed it like hard exercise, a long hike, or landscaping a garden. It’s tough, you’re tired, but you’re also proud.

    • @Eq0@literature.cafeOP
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      11 year ago

      By Eco I only started “The Name of the Rose” and abandoned it after a short while. I should give it another go.

  • Xariphon
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    81 year ago

    Julius Caesar’s Commentarii De Bello Gallico in Latin. And… yes I did enjoy it. There are some points where translation just cannot capture Caesar’s wit. I wish I still knew enough Latin to read it again.

    (Why yes I am a huge fucking nerd, how could you tell?)

    • @kromem@lemmy.world
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      31 year ago

      For anyone wondering what kind of wit this might be, an example is the opening line:

      Gail est divisa tres partes (“Gaul is divided into three parts”)

      With divisa (‘divided’) dividing the phrase exactly.

  • @Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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    81 year ago

    Don Quixote de la Mancha, in the original castillian. Super tough read for me since I only know as much Spanish as I did when I left home at 8. But I’m glad I powered through it

    • @Eq0@literature.cafeOP
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      11 year ago

      Don Quixote is the main reason I’d like to know Spanish. Maybe one day I will learn it. What did you particularly enjoy about it?

      • @Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
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        11 year ago

        I just liked the story of this old man who just can’t let go, running amok and becoming increasingly insane, while most characters in the book are either indifferent to him or think he’s nuts. He’s just trying to live out his own reality one last time I think, one last adventure in a world that doesn’t exist anymore.

  • KingGeedorah
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    61 year ago

    The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. Rewarding slog but a slog for sure.

    • Bebo
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      21 year ago

      I am reading it now. Little beyond 80%. Except for the initial ~20% I found it to be a page turner. Loving it!

    • @Eq0@literature.cafeOP
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      21 year ago

      I liked it much better than the beginning of Crime and Punishment. It helps that I love philosophical side-quests.

      • KingGeedorah
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        11 year ago

        It is my favorite book and the philosophical side quests are why I love it but it is a long, dense read

  • Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. It’s been a while and I don’t quite remember a lot of details, but I’m proud I was able to read it and did enjoy the process of reading it.

  • Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

    No I don’t enjoy finishing things and I have the same issues with videogames because of my ADHD.

      • This is true. I used to be a dishwasher and farm hand and listen to hundreds of books, anything, because I couldn’t keep up with new music to listen to. I loved it.

  • @Squids@sopuli.xyz
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    1 year ago

    Ulysses! The Joyce one. Honestly I enjoyed it - for how esoteric and sort of distant it is, the base plot itself is kinda mundane so it’s not like the base structure of the book is massively hard to follow (especially if you’re familiar with The Odyssey) once you get over the constant writing style shifts. It’s randomly funny and weirdly relatable (like being stuck in a conversation with a chatty American) and gives you so many reasons to hate the British. I really like how it’s adapted the story of The Odyssey and I think more adaptions of Greek works should be like it - an adaption of the themes and vague plot beats rather than just taking the characters and doing whatever the fuck you want with them, and also should have one guy who inexplicably thinks he’s actually in an adaption of a Shakespeare play instead.

    I will say though, my copy of Ulysses is one third appendix, which explains out the schema and has footnotes for most of the references that will just go right over your head if you don’t happen to be James Joyce and I genuinely don’t understand how you could read that book without it. It really turns every confusing reference and story moment into something clear and understandable which elevates the text around it. If I didn’t have it I most definitely would’ve dropped the book

    Also I’m nowhere near finished but I’ve started reading Dream of the Red Chamber (aka Story of the Stone) which is an 18th century Chinese novel infamous for being really long (I think it’s like over 2k pages? My copy is divided up into like five books) and difficult to follow with way too many characters in it. It’s a big long deconstruction of Confucianism and nobility following a chunk of the heavens who’s reincarnated into a failing noble family because he wants to see what it’s like being human, only to be treated like absolute shit by his family because everyone see him as a divine blessing and want to use and abuse him as much as possible for their own ends. He spends a lot of time around the women of the house and watches their own tragedies unfold, hence the length and excessive characters. Hasn’t gotten too bad yet, but I’m also barely into it relatively speaking.

    • @funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      I’ve read Ulysses and Infinite Jest (the latter multiple times), all of Samuel Becketts novels, and the complete works of Italo Calvino and Georges Perec.

      I maintain that although the prose was much much easier, 120 Days of Sodom was the hardest to pick back up after putting down. It’s so tedious and repetitive but also about coprophagy, pedophilia and extremely detailed gore, with 0 plot or characterisation. I feel no sense of achievement for having read it and my life is worse for having done so.

    • @davefischer@beehaw.org
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      21 year ago

      I read Dream of the Red Chamber a looooong time ago. Might try it again some time soon…

      I enjoyed The Scholars much more. (And reread it recently.)

  • SokathHisEyesOpen
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    1 year ago

    Probably Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad. It’s so damned bleak that I had to force my way through it. It’s a great book, but I didn’t enjoy it.

    • @Eq0@literature.cafeOP
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      21 year ago

      I understand. I disliked every bit of it, because it was bleak and dark in a sticky way, if that makes sense. I think it’s a good book because it definitely achieve to criticize the economy of the time, but it doing it it becomes an un-enjoyable book.

  • Joseph Conrad’s book, Nostromo, was a bit dense for me. I did enjoy it though. Not sure if that meets the requirement. There are a few books I’ve been bracing myself to read that I’ve chickened out on starting. Things like Cormac McCarthy’s books.

  • BetoA
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    51 year ago

    Gödel, Escher, Bach. I was only able to read the whole thing because I was in a ship for a month without TV or internet.

      • BetoA
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        21 year ago

        Yeah, I want to read it again! Maybe when I’m retired! 🙂

    • amio
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      21 year ago

      Shit, I meant to get back to that at some point.

    • @marron12@literature.cafe
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      21 year ago

      I think it’s the descriptions. I got an audio book of the first volume and it seemed like the descriptions went on for ages, but not a whole lot happened. Normally I love fantasy, but so far I can’t warm up to this series.

        • @WestwardWind@lemm.ee
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          21 year ago

          It just turns into such a slog for so long. The highs are great but the meandering lows are so frustrating. I read them all back to back over about 8-10 months and it gets really noticeable when you do that