Difficult books and why you should read them anyway
By Xenia Ramirez-Espain
Books, particularly novels, have many different purposes. Some may aim to transport us to a different country, world or universe. Others help us to relax at night after a particularly harrowing day or to provide an alternative perspective on life. This ‘aim’ as such, is decided by the author, and they strive to write the novel in a manner that will accomplish their aim. On more than one occasion, I have picked up a novel that tested me, it fought me on every page. Every sentence, every word, every three-page long paragraph tested my perseverance and quite often I’ve finished the novel full-heartedly believing that the author aimed to break my spirit and rob me of my love of reading. However, In the last year, I have uncovered a newfound respect and even perhaps a tentative love for these challenging books, and in doing so I have broadened my horizons beyond anything I ever considered possible. Therefore, I intend to convince you that it is unquestionably worth the initial pain to read these infamous novels, which are some of the most difficult novels that I have ever attempted to read.
“It's been a prevalent notion. Fallen sparks. Fragments of vessels broken at the Creation. And someday, somehow, before the end, a gathering back to home. A messenger from the Kingdom, arriving at the last moment. But I tell you there is no such message, no such home -- only the millions of last moments . . . nothing more. Our history is an aggregate of last moments.”
― Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow
Gravity’s Rainbow has a reputation for being impenetrable, many have warned me that it is impossible to read and therefore I shouldn’t even try. When researching the hardest book to read, out of curiosity, I found that this novel is one of the first to pop up and, in a sense, these naysayers were right. In the first 100 pages alone you meet a talking dog, an octopus trained in combat and a man who chased said dog through the ruins of a building with a toilet bowl stuck to his foot.
Large amounts of the novel are designed to be incomprehensible to the average person, you will find quantum mechanics and random formulae littering the pages. You may emerge from the wreckage at the end of the story without having a single clue what as to what it was about. To be completely frank, I don’t think Thomas Pynchon entirely understood what he was trying to say. It is a complete mess and yet time and time again, I found myself in awe of the prose. I have never been one to write in books, but for Gravity’s Rainbow, I made an exception. Entire paragraphs have been underlined in my copy for me to revisit and wonder over the beauty of the prose.
Keep in mind that this novel is not for the faint-hearted,; it is full of crass language, characters named Mexico or Pointsman, subplots that appear only to immediately disappear and a plot which I don’t even want to attempt to explain to you because it is almost entirely irrelevant for most of the book. Gravity’s Rainbow is an adventure and I recommend reading other, simpler, books at the same time to give yourself a break every so often, however, I truly believe that it is a work of art and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
“Wherever they might be they always remember that the past was a lie, that memory has no return, that every spring gone by could never be recovered, and that the wildest and most tenacious love was an ephemeral truth in the end.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
Despite the rather ominous title, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a remarkable book. The story spans seven generations of the Buendía family and introduces us to many characters, most of whom are named Aureliano, and therefore is understandably complex. However, the novel has received global recognition and countless prizes across the world. If that isn’t a reason to at least give it a try, I’m not sure what is.
What makes this book difficult to read is the complexity of the prose. Some sentences span entire pages and can therefore be hard to follow. Additionally, the novel falls in the genre Magical Realism, where myth and reality intertwine so tightly that it is often difficult to see what is real and what is a fabrication. I found that the most difficult aspect of this novel was the lack of a traditional plot. Due to the fact that the story is woven over many years and involves so many characters, it can be difficult to keep up with the different storylines let alone determine what direction the plot is taking.
Despite all this, its portrayal of Latin American history and culture makes for a fascinating read and the theme eventually emerges quite clearly. The novel is a brilliant commentary of the inevitable fact that history will repeat itself. I certainly found it to be a change of pace from the books normally studied in schools, and I believe it is a more rewarding read as a result.
“Every life is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love, but always meeting ourselves.”
― James Joyce, Ulysses
Ulysses by James Joyce is a novel that takes place over the course of 24 hours in the life of one Leopold Bloom on the 16th of June 1904 in Dublin, Ireland. There is a reason I left this book for last; it is unquestionably the most difficult book of the three I have mentioned, and it is equally difficult to describe. There is very little I could say to do justice to this book and therefore I will instead try to describe to you the facets of this critically acclaimed masterpiece that make it such a worthwhile read.
James Joyce delights in bending, breaking or outright ignoring all the rules of the English language. He frequently decides that English just didn’t cut it, and instead he uses entirely different languages or makes up whole new words to suit his needs. This results in words such as “mumchanciness” or “pelurious” cropping up. Whilst this makes reading the novel that much harder, it also makes it fun to read, something few classics can claim to be.
In Ulysses, Joyce mimics reality in a way I have never seen before. He mimics what it would be like to enter a stranger’s stream of consciousness through his writing. Every fragmented thought, every unnameable emotion and every stray memory is another piece of the puzzle and we just have to put it together. It is the most invigorating experience and I truly believe that to not read this book due to its reputation is a travesty.
I sincerely hope that I have encouraged you to pick up one of these books - or perhaps another challenging novel you haven’t yet gotten up the courage to read - and that they prove to be as rewarding and inspiring as I found them to be.