If you couldn't finish these books, you shouldn't feel too bad about it any longer. If your average Australian reader couldn't finish them, hardly anyone could be expected to.
These are books mentioned on an afternoon radio show down here in Sydney. To prove the point I've failed repeatedly with 1-6. One particular solution mentioned was to listen to the corresponding audio book, perhaps also accelerating the playback speed to 1.3, 1.5, even 2 times normal. The high-speed solution was thought especially useful for non-fiction books, or for narrators who have a ponderous delivery (not that uncommon in the antipodes.)
In broader terms, works by "The Russians" were mentioned as particularly difficult to complete. Interestingly, I quite enjoy reading Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Pushkin et al. Mind you, my half-Polish background might explain this aberration.
