Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Rewind

This week's prompt is fun.

Top Ten Tuesday Rewind:
Pick a past Top Ten Tuesday that we've done
that you didn't get a chance to participate in.
Look here for past topics.

I missed the first nine prompts.
Of these, I chose this one for this week's Rewind:

Top Ten Most Intimidating Reads


Moby Dick

Middlemarch

Infinite Jest

Ulysses

Gravity's Rainbow

The Magic Mountain

The Sound and the Fury
 Proust's In Search of Lost Time

Beloved

War and Peace
 
 
Foolishly, I vowed to try to read the last two titles this year.
 
How about you?  What titles intimidate you?
Any suggestions about how to get through these?



Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!



Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND sign Mister Linky at the bottom to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Don't worry if you can't come up with ten every time..just post what you can!

31 comments:

  1. The Last of the Mohicans had sentences that went on for two pages. Took awhile. And while I enjoyed White's The Once and Future King, it took two whole weeks of reading. For the most difficult book ever, however, I have to go with The Silmarillion!

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  2. This is a great topic! I would have to add some of the really old stuff like 'Paradise Lost' and 'Dante's Inferno'. *gah*

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  3. Ulysses is one that I have tried and tried, and given up on :(

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  4. Magic Mountain messed me up. It took three hundred pages and I was on my back, wondering where I was, or what day we were.

    Good call on Gravity's Rainbow. It's a bully.

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  5. I agree with all your choices--except Middlemarch. I read it for the first time as a teenager and several times since. It's a wonderful novel. Long, yes, but not intimidating once you get into it.

    And I would add Henry James--almost any of his novels, except The Turn of the Screw. For some reason every time I pick up one of his books I break into a cold sweat.

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  6. Wow I've read three of these!

    War & Peace is intimidating only for its length; I found it to be very readable and though I didn't love it I did enjoy it.

    Proust is harder, there's a sort-of plot in there somewhere but his rambling on and on and on gets annoying.

    Unless you have an annotated edition (and the one displayed in your post is not -- that's the one I used) do not put yourself through the agony of Ulysses. So not worth it.

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  7. Your list is a very intimidating one. It's probably why I haven't picked any of them up yet. I want to read Moby Dick and War and Peace, though, someday.

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  8. Great topic. There are a few books you've listed that have been sitting on my shelf for a long time... and I don't know if I'll ever read them.

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  9. Oh, not Middlemarch! Poor old George Eliot definitely deserves a chance; I love all her books. Totally agree with you on Ulysses and War &Peace, I don't think I'll ever tackle those. Thanks for stopping by my blog :-)

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  10. Melville, Joyce and Tolstoy are definitely on my list of intimating to-reads. :)

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  11. I have tried and tried to get through MOBY DICK and have failed abysmally. As for the other books on you list - talk about INTIMIDATING! The only one I might consider is MIDDLEMARCH for my Victorian Reading Challenge. But first, I think I'm going to read some Trollope - that's challenge enough for me. :-)

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  12. I definitely understand being intimidated by Moby Dick. I had to read it a few years ago for an English class. I was surprised to find some scenes hilarious. Reading until the end nearly killed me though.

    I love Beloved. I read it for the first time in December. It's so beautiful. If you ever want to do a buddy read of it, let me know. :-)

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  13. Thank you for your words of encouragement. I will be sad if I die before I read these books so many have praised.

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  14. Ulysses and War & Peace definitely make my Intimidating Books list! I do hope to tackle W&P one day but I'm not sure about Ulysses. I am pretty sure that I will never give Proust a go!

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  15. I loved the Magic Mountain, but it is pretty daunting. Very true on all of these.

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  16. Oh my gosh! These ARE intimidating reads!!

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  17. I read the Sound and the Fury in college. At the time, I was so clueless--even with the cliff notes. LOL I think I would enjoy it more now that I am used to non-linear, multiperspective lit. I have Moby Dick, Ulysses, and Beloved on my list to read before I die.

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  18. I am halfway through War and Peace, and been that way since ages!! I'm definitely intimidated by it, but it's an incredible read, and that keeps me going! Nice list!!
    Here's mine: http://peskypiksipesternomi.blogspot.com/2011/04/top-ten-tuesday-1.html

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  19. War and Peace sounds really intimidating!
    Thanks for stopping by my blog! =D

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  20. I'm happy to say, I've read a few of these: Moby Dick, most of Ulysses, Beloved, Middlemarch. There are also some that are on my most-intimidating list: Gravity's Rainbow, for sure.

    Here is my list

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  21. Thanks for dropping by my blog. I would concur that you have many intimidating books on your list, but don't be afraid of Beloved. I read it last week and it was inspiring.

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  22. I know what you mean about Moby Dick, I had to study it in my reading group and I just couldn't get my head around it :s

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  23. All intimidating reads there Debbie. I don't know that I've tried any of them. I did watch the Middlemarch miniseries, and it wasn't intimidating. I haven't heard a lot about Infinite jest, but did see it recently on sale for $5- I flicked through it and was astonished at how unreadable it looked. There are too many good books to try and read to bother with those that have set out to make themselves unreadable.

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  24. The book that I just stared at and just couldnt do was to kill a mockingbird... idk just couldnt do it...

    GFC Follower - Loveangel132

    loveangel132@yahoo.com

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  25. Goodreads Friend + comment - Heidi Larsen

    loveangel132@yahoo.com

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  26. Oh, yes, Moby Dick and War & Peace...by far the most intimidating books I've ever seen. I don't know if I could handle them, though I have tried reading Moby Dick. :) Ishmael just didn't do it for me, sadly.

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  27. Moby Dick is excellent-definitely worth tackling though, if only for all the stuff you'll learn about whales! I am terrified of Ulysses though- just the thought of it brings me out in a cold sweat... And Proust seems pretty darn scary too (but the film Little Miss Sunshine assures me he's amazing, so... we'll see).
    I hope you find the reading courage to get to some of these soon though! I face my Anna Karenina fear this year, and it was SO worth it :)

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  28. All of these are really good choices! War & Peace is the only of these I have read and it was definitely daunting.

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  29. Thank you for the comment. I can't say that I've read any of those books on your list. I probably never will either. I have a horrible track record with classics. Other than Jane Austen and Mark Twain, I don't really have a strong desire to read classics. :\

    - Cassandra @ Wickedly Delicious Tales

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  30. Yes to Ulysses, yes to Proust. Beloved is short and, I think, worth it. Great list.

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  31. All of those intimidated me. I keep meaning to read some Jane Austin but can't bring myself to start.

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