--- On Wed, 16/6/10, Andre Manoel <an...@corp.insite.com.br> wrote:
> From: Andre Manoel <an...@corp.insite.com.br>
> Subject: Re: [silk] Ten toughest books to read
> To: silklist@lists.hserus.net
> Date: Wednesday, 16 June, 2010, 19:59
> On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 3:42 AM, Anil
> Kumar <anilkumar.naga...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Calling the attention of the bibliophiles on Silk -
> >
> >
> >
> > 1. Finnegans Wake, James Joyce: Internet searches on
> “most difficult” and “hard to read” novels
> unfailingly recognize Finnegan’s Wake as the most
> difficult work of fiction in the English language. Written
> partially in a made-up language of mindbendingly convoluted
> puns, this novel is often considered unreadable.
>
> I didn't get past the first few pages of Finnegans Wake.
> This is the
> book that taught me humility. I was pretty sure I had good
> command o
> English but after this I saw that I was really not a native
> speaker.
True. Baffling prose, even for native speakers, I understand.
> > 6. Foucault’s Pendulum, Umberto Eco: Fans read Eco
> with a dictionary at hand, raving that his books are “for
> the strong of spirit, people with perseverance, willing to
> struggle in order to reach the ultimate truth that only the
> very few have mastered.”
>
> I'd disagree. I found this one to be a page-turner.
It's puzzling what people found so abstruse about it.
> > 10. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy: Fans say it’s best
> to read a few chapters at a time, keep notes, rent the film,
> and then be sure to “do something special” to celebrate
> after you’ve finished it. In fact, many people have read
> it just to say they did.
>
> This is one of the coolest books I've read. I think I have
> a thing for
> Russian literature of the nineteenth century, though. I
> loved "War and
> Peace", but also "Crime and Punishment", and "Fathers and
> Sons". But
> my all-time favorite book is certainly "The Karamazov
> Brothers".
Obviously you like 'the Russians'; acid test: did you like the Inspector
General? But this lot, well, War and Peace was as good or as bad as one of our
contemporary multi-volume swords-and-sorcery fantasies; and had the virtue
moreover of being firmly grounded in contemporary reality. Crime and Punishment
was incredible but like other Russians, needs unflagging concentration. Haven't
read Fathers and Sons, and Brothers Karamazov.
>
> Andre
>
>
