Difficult to read authors - Historum

betgo · November 17th, 2012, 03:16 PM

I think of Joyce in literature and Hegel in philosophy. Who else?

Top 10 Difficult Literary*Works | Listverse

Gudenrath · November 17th, 2012, 03:23 PM

Huh? Tolstoy, Melville and Ayn Rand? Nothing difficult with any of those unless you dislike long texts, they are quite straightforward in their prose.

Regarding the OT question I must add Søren Kierkegaard. I am a Dane and thus able to read his works in the native language, but apart from a few select texts (the Diary of a Seducer) I must admit it is all gibberish to me. I can't even begin to imagine how it must read in an English translation.

**infestør** · November 17th, 2012, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gudenrath

Huh? Tolstoy, Melville and Ayn Rand? Nothing difficult with any of those unless you dislike long texts, they are quite straightforward in their prose.

Regarding the OT question I must add Søren Kierkegaard. I am a Dane and thus able to read his works in the native language, but apart from a few select texts (the Diary of a Seducer) I must admit it is all gibberish to me. I can't even begin to imagine how it must read in an English translation.

i think nietzche also suffers from translation (i.e must be already *hard* in german, translation only adds to it). i read (tried to) 2 books of him in turkish, my my

**unclefred** · November 17th, 2012, 03:27 PM

I prefer books that many think too 'dense' or too much narrative. I did put down 'Gravity's Rainbow' although I like Pynchon's other books. I find Dickens rather tedious, and the same with Faulkner. I think it's all of the colloquial speech.

Gudenrath · November 17th, 2012, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclefred

I prefer books that many think too 'dense' or too much narrative. I did put down 'Gravity's Rainbow' although I like Pynchon's other books.

Heh. Good call. Mason & Dixon did (which I read in the orginal English, woe to any translator of that book!) put me off for the first couple of chapters, but once you got used to the fake archaic 18th century English it was as plain as day, not to mention one of the best historical novels set in the 18th century I have ever read. I have since reread it again with much pleasure.

I must admit I have also put down Gravity's Rainbow. Though I do intent to take it up again one of these days. The first handful of pages was very intriguing, although extremely perplexing.

**Davidius** · November 18th, 2012, 07:12 AM

I would agree with most of that list, apart from Moby Dick and War and Peace. I breezed through both of those (this was in my late teens though, when I did nothing else but read).

I find most philosophers really hard going but I have a pretty dim view of philosophy in general. As far as history goes Gibbon is a real chore and I have yet to finish Decline and Fall despite several attempts over the last two decades.

Young Guard · November 18th, 2012, 07:15 AM

I think Nietzche, Hegel, Heidegger and Wittgenstein.