it doesn’t have to be your favorite book or anything. It can be any book that you find yourself thinking of with a sense of pride for having read it.
Personally, I am really proud of myself for not DNFing A Little Life and pushing forward. I read a very good chunk of that book with tears running down my face–mind you, I was reading it on my phone during lectures for the entirety of my first semester last year–and I was always on the verge of putting it down just because of the horrible content. Also, it was pretty long; too long, actually. So when I was done, I was simultaneously Heartbroken, broken (just like in general), and relieved. It was truly a feat.
An honorable mention is A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, because I swear to God I did not understand a single thing about it even 10 chapters in. Charles Dickens is too much.
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. I had to read it for uni. Hardest book I’ve ever read
If that was a grind for you in British Lit, be glad the prof didn’t assign Finnegans Wake.
I got a lit degree in Texas in the mid-late 2000s and I had to read Joyce AND Finnegan’s Wake. Good times.
There is a book club, in California I believe, that has been meeting for 25 years to discuss only this book. It was recently published in the newspaper. I applaud their commitment.
LMAO. Yeah, starting with moo moo. What the fuck did I get myself into? Great book either way
Is Joyce a cow
Just bought thrift copies or A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Dublineers yesterday for a dollar each. Popped open Dublineers and it seems straightforward. APOTAAAYM is really that tough? I wanted to start it after finishing Heart or Darkness.
Is it worth the read?
Finally got through it as an audio book.
it reads much easier as an adult
The sermon near the end almost did me in.
That’s weird, I remember Portrait being fairly straight forward. Read it for an Irish Lit class and absolutely adored it. One of the books that had a profound impact on me at the time. I last read it in 2006 or 2007, but left a lasting impression.
I came here waiting to see Joyce mentioned! I’ve been a big fan since my teenage, don’t ask me why. I loved A Portrait. Ulysses is a masterpiece that I keep coming back to. Finnegans Wake, I’ve read it piece by piece, over the years. It’s a book that always fascinated me, not that I’d pretend to really understand it, but the stylistic tour de force is enough to keep me interested.