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Flavorwire's 50 Incredibly Tough Books for Extreme Readers

For those of you who count yourself tough, here’s a list of books for you: some absurdly long, some notoriously difficult, some with intense or upsetting subject matter but blindingly brilliant prose, some packed into formations that require extra effort or mind expansion, and some that fit into none of those categories, but are definitely for tough girls (or guys) only. This list is limited to works of fiction, so straightforward philosophy is out, and a single book per author, so you’ll see Finnegans Wake (obviously) but not Ulysses. Don’t worry, the Ulysses is implied. Check out the list after the jump, and tell everyone just how tough you really are, you bookworm you.
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Nightwood
Nightwood
Blood Meridian
Blood Meridian
Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
Moby Dick
Herman Melville
Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace)
Infinite Jest
David Foster Wallace
JR
JR
Finnegans
Finnegans
The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
The Sound and the Fury
William Faulkner
Bad Behavior: Stories (Mary Gaitskill)
Bad Behavior: Stories
Mary Gaitskill
In Search of Lost Time (Marcel Proust)
In Search of Lost Time
Marcel Proust
Alphabetical Africa
Alphabetical Africa
Geek Love (Katherine Dunn)
Geek Love
Katherine Dunn
Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs
Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs
The Faerie Queene
The Faerie Queene
Trainspotting
Trainspotting
Pet Sematary
Pet Sematary
Coin Locker Babies
Coin Locker Babies
Battle Royale (Koushun Takami)
Battle Royale
Koushun Takami
House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski)
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski
To the Lighthouse
To the Lighthouse
The Painted Bird
The Painted Bird
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Wittgenstein's Mistress
Johnny Got His Gun
Johnny Got His Gun
Dhalgren
Dhalgren
The Making of Americans (Gertrude Stein)
The Making of Americans
Gertrude Stein
The Silmarillion (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Silmarillion
J.R.R. Tolkien
Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
Hopscotch
Hopscotch
Out
Out
2666
2666
Tampa
Tampa
War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon)
Gravity's Rainbow
Thomas Pynchon
The Canterbury Tales (Geoffrey Chaucer)
The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer
Underworld
Underworld
Almanac of the Dead (Leslie Marmon Silko)
Almanac of the Dead
Leslie Marmon Silko
Kosmos
Kosmos
The Conservationist
The Conservationist
Sophie's Choice
Sophie's Choice
Clarissa (Samuel Richardson)
Clarissa
Samuel Richardson
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