Why read a difficult book?

>>8461189
It is. I only want to delude myself of the painful misery that is my life.

Some people use drugs, or tv, or videogames. I use books. It's all the same. We all want to forget who we are.

>>8461196
>Some people use drugs, or tv, or videogames. I use books. It's all the same. We all want to forget who we are.
If this is your reasoning for reading great books you probably didn't read much, skimmed or just read "easy" books (genre fiction and YA)

>>8461189
What is important to you in life? Literature seldom offers you objective returns, just like music and movies. Stopping to listen to a full Mahler symphony is a waste of time just like reading Proust is. They won't offer you knowledge to make more money, to be more successful in your job, or get a qt gf or be popular, in this sense it is a waste of time, like all art is. They are enterprises that you do for yourself, not just mindless entertainment.
Its a medium that offers you the oportunity to question your values, makes you go beyond your confort zone, they may make you regret some choices in life, but they can also make you laugh, they may offer you beautys that you otherwise would never experiment, they can teach you how to see others beyong our vapid social filters, ways to connect with people that are no more and understand their time, their view, their lifes, rejoice in their experience and in their tells. Reading Paradise Lost, Lusíadas, Decameron or Moby Dick requires effort, but you will only know their worth if you pay attetion, if you give them your time, and if they can provide to me all those experiences I can't say they are a wate of time.

>>8461189
>ranking the bible #1

who even was the author and why do the chapters keep repeating themselves?

>>8461189
I don't know, I suppose in some way it would add meaning to your existence and enrich your life.

>>8461680
How?

Some difficult books are highly rewarding.

If you have no desire for it then it would be a waste of time for you. If you feel no need to challenge yourself then don't, Just play videogames or something.

>>8461770
Well, assuming that the difficulty of the book pertains to the complexity of its ideas, maybe you could glean some useful knowledge or some idea that gives you meaning in your life.

Maybe you'd get more meaning jerking it to Chinese cartoons on a Finno-Urgic wresting forum, I don't know.

>>8461189
Seems like a waste of time

surely you can't be serious if you think any of the books in the chart are >difficult

>>8461669
It's basically an ancient version of The Legacy of Totalitarianism in a Tundra