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?

      •  JohnnyCanuck   ( @JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca ) 
        4•1 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!

  •  bloopernova   ( @bloopernova@programming.dev ) English
    8•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.

  •  Xariphon   ( @Xariphon@kbin.social ) 
    6•1 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?)

  •  Squids   ( @Squids@sopuli.xyz ) English
    5•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.

    •  Eq0   ( @Eq0@literature.cafe ) OP
      2•1 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.

    •  Eq0   ( @Eq0@literature.cafe ) OP
      1•1 year ago

      Are you reading it in Italian or in a translation?

      I read most of it in high school and the rest on my own. Reading it fully on your own is a feat! Do you have a commented edition? What do you like of it?

  •  TheCrispyDud   ( @TheCrispyDud@kbin.social ) 
    4•1 year ago

    Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky it got a bit interesting after the halfway mark but damn was it dry in the first half.

    For a pure joy read there was the unabridged Romance of the Three Kingdoms. For a book the size of an encyclopedia it was a fast feeling read.

  •  amio   ( @amio@kbin.social ) 
    4•1 year ago

    I read through Adventures of Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn at one point. They were fine, had to google a few archaisms. Not exactly thrillers, but even as a euro, I just felt the Americana, I guess. Charming as a period thing.

    On the other hand, I read 1984 and was actually surprised at how engaging it was. Major bummer, obviously, but I expected it to be an effort. It held its own and kept me reading.