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Who is the hardest read?

I think Dubliners can be a bit deceptive where Joyce is concerned, especially as the format wouldn't have really worked with his usual dense style. Have a look at a page of Ulysses next time you're in the library and you'll see what we mean - made-up words and nonsensical onomatopoeia aplenty. Still I highly recommend him, as it's generally worth the effort. Mind you, I don't know how well 'snotgreen and scrotumtightening' and others would translate, so unless you're confident about your English (which it looks like you should be) it might be a bit ambitious.
 
Jennifer said:
The thing with Joyce I think you have to remember is that sometimes, especially in Ulysses, he was deliberately trying to confuse and perplex - trying to keep the academic community guessing for years, in which he succeeded. If your copy has good notes it should tell you some of the key figures, but I think with Portrait I wouldn't worry about the politics and suchlike too much. It's a bit more crucial with Ulysses.
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Well he certainly has succeeded in confusing me a few times and I'm only 139 pages through Portrait. And it certainly is the style causing the confusion. I'm worried that if I'm not comprehending a sentence how much of the symbolism am I missing? I've detected a lot of repetition, which thankfully does make comprehension a little easier. But if there's symbolism beyond the emphasis it is lost on me.

My copy is a library loan that was printed in 1966. The library stamp inside the cover indicates it became their copy in 68. There are no notes. Something it does have which is odd is a letter printed at the bottom of certain pages parallel to the page number on the left side close to the spine.

On page 33 there is the letter 'B'.
On page 129 there is the letter 'E'.
On page 161 there is the letter 'F'.
On page 193 there is the letter 'G'.
On page 225 there is the letter 'H'.
On page 227 there is the letter 'H*'.

This was a relatively quick scan so I might have missed one or two but I think I got them all. If these are footnotes they're not included in the book and there is no statement or word labeled with the corresponding letter on the same page to indicate what is being noted. I see no evidence of pages being removed. Maybe there is significance to be found after the book is finished? :confused:

Jennifer said:
I'm currently doing some coursework on Portrait (voluntarily, instead of About a Boy, thank goodness) so if anyone fancies an in-depth chat or wants some comments or help or whatever I'll second czgibson's offer.

I agree it's a hard one - as said before, it's not really the words but the style. Also, to English readers, the lack of speech marks can be confusing.
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I am pretty sure I will have questions about this book. I think maybe instead of using private messages we could create a thread about Portrait, provided one does not already exist for us to move in on. I have not searched yet. If it does not exist I will create one*. This way I won't be the only one to gain from the insights of Jennifer and czgibson if any one else is interested. I will also do some independent study if I am truly curious as I believe it's polite and responsible of me to search for answers to my questions before I just ask someone.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Thread*
 
The hardest I have ever found to read was in Robinson Crusoe. The main charachter was talking to Man Friday, so there was accented bad impersonated 1800s english! AAAAAAAAAA!
 
hm...let me think. well, see, english isnt' my first language but i speak it as if it was. so anyway, um...i guess charles dickens is not exactly hard to read but BORING. ivanhoe was kinda difficult for me. oh, and little women, but i was little then.
 
I hate all Dickens I have tried. They're not exactly difficult to read, well maybe they are, but I have never gotten very far to try it, but they are so slow! Every Christmas I try Christmas Carol, but can never manage it.

Finnegan's Wake is very very difficult. I haven't read Portrait, but Dubliners and Ulysses are two of very favourite books, with Finnegan's Wake, he went a bit over-the-top, IMO.

Shakespeare is quite hard to read sometimes too, but that may be the 'play' format, as the sonnets are ok.

The bible is hard to read too.

And Les Miserables, and Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter, and The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco was quite tough in some parts, but ultimately worth it. I agree, too, with someone way back in this thread that said Philosophy texts are tough.
 
The one book that I cannot (and will not) finish reading due to the unreadableness (That is NOT a word!) of it is Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I didn't like how indepth it got with the subjects of cryptography, etc. I don't care to learn anything about it so my attention span is short.

I found The ame of the Rose hard as well but I finally managed to finish it.
 
Geenh said:
unreadableness (That is NOT a word!)
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unreadableness
noun

1. Difficulty or tedium to read.
2. Illegibility.
3. Said of facial expression, a remark, etc: uninterpretable.
 
Miss Shelf said:
-books whose characters speak in dialects that I have to "translate"-this is fine if it doesn't go on for the whole book. As I get older, I find I have less patience for books that make me work. After all, I'm not in school anymore (thank God) and I'm reading for pleasure most of the time.

-books where people use phrases in a foreign language and the author doesn't bother to translate for us. Sometimes I look it up; others I just skip it but I'm disgruntled and it kind of ruins the rest of the book for me.
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Dialects don't bother me too much once I get used to them. Once in a while I find myself reading portions outloud to myself to get a grasp on it.

I HATE when authors right in a foreign language and then don't translate. Especially when it's dialogue. Whatever the character is saying must be important or the author wouldn't include it, so I don't know why they automatically assume we can all speak that other language.
 
My hardest read so far was Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. But most philosophy spews turgid prose. On the fiction side, Thomas Pynchon and Nabokov reign as my biggest challenges so far.
 
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