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Difficult Reads

A list of 20 novels often considered to be highly difficult often due to complex language, radical experimentalism, heavy themes, relentless length, encyclopedic content, or some combination of these things.
487 users · 1,770 views
 
made by hollis frampton
avg. score: 3 of 20 (17%)
required scores: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 
type to search

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1
Absalom, Absalom! (William Faulkner)
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner
2
Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
Atlas Shrugged
Ayn Rand
3
Clarissa (Samuel Richardson)
Clarissa
Samuel Richardson
4
Finnegans Wake (James Joyce)
Finnegans Wake
James Joyce
5
Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon)
Gravity's Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon
6
Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
7
House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski)
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski
8
In Search of Lost Time (Marcel Proust)
In Search of Lost Time
Marcel Proust
9
Jr (William Gaddis)
Jr
William Gaddis
10
Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)
Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov
11
The Man Without Qualities (Robert Musil)
The Man Without Qualities
Robert Musil
12
Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
Moby Dick
Herman Melville
13
Naked Lunch (William S. Burroughs)
Naked Lunch
William S. Burroughs
14
Only Revolutions (Mark Z. Danielewski)
Only Revolutions
Mark Z. Danielewski
15
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (James Joyce)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
James Joyce
16
The Recognitions (William Gaddis)
The Recognitions
William Gaddis
17
The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
The Sound and the Fury
William Faulkner
18
Ulysses (James Joyce)
Ulysses
James Joyce
19
War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy
20
The Waves (Virginia Woolf)
The Waves
Virginia Woolf
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