ITT books that you will never finish

pleb general?

>>8516135
No, I wouldn't say so. I don't find it difficult to read books in general, just this one specifically. Challenges are fun, but for some reason reading Ulysses just doesn't feel rewarding at all. Jung's critique of the book is very accurate.

>>8516141
Same here.
Same book.

>>8516135
yeah pretty much

Harry Potter I always get a few chapters in, but it just gets too difficult to keep up with all the characters and who's a wizard/who isn't.

>>8516141
wtf I hate Jung now!

>>8516141
>Jung's critique of the book is very accurate
how do you know if you haven't read it?

Jung is wrong in many aspects and what happened to him happened to a lot of writers, artists and scientists, they were jealous, of his writing and his intelligence, a poor "queasy undergraduate" who wrote the greatest masterpiece in literature. They also felt stupid for not understanding it, but hey were so focused on trying to understand the book when in fact they should've tried to understand Joyce

The motifs and metaphors and all the puzzles and hidden shit are just a plus, Joyce might be one of the few artists who really pushed his craft to the farthest corners, he wasn't trying to show off like many people think, he was trying to see what is possible, he wanted to show us what is possible with just... words

Only Borges and Nabokov understood back then Joyce's ambition with writing, it is meant to inspire and be studied, not to be envied

It's all about the jinglish janglage friendo

>>8517838
wow, you make me want to read Joyce

I finished Ulysses yesterday. You're making a big mistake imho.. There are some parts that are kind of a chore to get through (at first!) but the book is mostly rewarding, even more so on repeated readings.

File: 1468113089773.jpg (11KB, 240x229px) Image search: [Google]

11KB, 240x229px

>>8516199
dude, what's up with all those goofy names and latin spells, i can't read this shit

>>8518379
I'll admit maybe the first section is hard to pierce, but anyone who's read Portrait and has any goodwill for Stephen will probably want to read on. Besides, that first Bloom section is like a breath of fresh air, comfy and epicurean. People who give up in the first 50 pages are missing out big time (same goes for Proust, >>8517742).

>>8517838
>>8518379
Well I'm reading it right now, currently doing a consistent pace and have gotten to the sixth episode since posting this thread. I've gotten back into Joyce's style since getting to the third, but this book has been bothering me for so long that it's gotten to quite an intimidating state. But Gravity's Rainbow was the same way and if I can read to the end of that book then I can do this one, too.

And I actually find the Stephen bit in the second and third episodes to be much more enjoyable than the Bloom bits. Bloom's thoughts are easier to read but they're also so erratic that I don't really get much from them. The beauty is all in Stephen's sections. So far, at least.

1984. George Orwell can't write for shit.

>>8519145
I'd also like to advise everyone to stay the fuck away from the Oxford Press edition pictured above. The book is so packed with unnecessary commentary, errata, introductions, and other garbage that the pages don't easily stay open. Even in the middle pages, it needs to be forcefully held open and holding the book with one hand is horribly uncomfortable. And this isn't even to mention all the typos that come with the facsimile of the 1922 text. I deeply regret getting this edition of the book instead of the slightly more expensive but vastly superior one.

>>8516130
>with the aim of finally striking it off my list
if that's your only motivation, reading it so you can say you did, then that's why you can't get through it

>>8519164
Well fuck, I just received this edition in the mail today.

Seemed like the right choice to make because I wanted the original text. Which (more expensive) edition are you referring to? Gabler's? I've heard some bad things about his revisions

File: image.jpg (640KB, 2048x1152px) Image search: [Google]

640KB, 2048x1152px

My diary, desu.

File: joyce_ulysses.jpg (342KB, 761x1169px) Image search: [Google]

342KB, 761x1169px

>>8519571

just get the penguin classics edition

Ayn Rands fountain head and atlas shrugged. They are the most bland and poorly paced books I have ever looked into. But at the same time im interested in her pespective on individual incentive. Could anyone point me to some of her essays and where to get them for free?

A History of Gravity

>>8519663
Which edition is it?
I'll just stick with my Oxford copy anyway, after reading some of the appendices I can confirm that it's actually not as bad as the other anon said in terms of readability.

>>8519571
No, I think it was the Vintage edition. It had the title written in big letters from the top down and the U was wearing a hat. I don't usually put much thought into which editions I get, so I just went with the slightly cheaper one.

>>8519555
That wasn't my intention at first. The reason why I started reading it was because of how much I loved A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but I lost interest after only 100 pages. I'm reading it much more faithfully now, so I'm back at the point where I left off the first time.

Gravity's Rainbow.

Pychon is such a wise-ass/sarcastic/shit-talking writer that I can't stand him for more than 10 pages at a time.

File: 1463269659666.jpg (70KB, 306x475px) Image search: [Google]

70KB, 306x475px

>>8520170
Sorry, it was from the bottom up and the S was wearing both a hat and a pince-nez. It looks like this.

>>8520183
nigga that's my favorite book aside from portrait. take that back right now.

>>8516130
any Kafka books tbqh

>>8516130
The Count of Monte Cristo

It just sucks, I've restarted it about three times now. I don't care about any of the characters and I don't like the prose. It's like a better written, longer James Patterson novel.

>>8520459
Even the Metamorphoses ?

>>8520535
Then why do you keep starting it ?

>>8520548
I had a phase where I was determined to read all of "the classics" so I could call myself well read. Also, there is still a lot of praise for the book, maybe not so much from truely literary circles but back then I didn't know any better.

My copy of it is right on the bookshelf behind me. I'll probably donate it ,eventually.

>>8520678
Well there are plenty more classics than just Monte Cristo

>>8520459
Thats weird as fuck
Kafka is not difficult to read

Maybe you just dont like his way of writing. If thats the case, just dont read him

>>8520459
Nice one desu

>>8520535
>it just sucks
It doesn't

I dislike the second part. But when he is in prison its very interesting imo.

>>8517838
>the greatest masterpiece in literature
I hope this is shitpost.
I'll agree it was very innovative in technique and content but calling it the greatest masterpiece of literature is nothing short of idolatry.

>>8522244
I hope this is a shitpost. Also hope for you to neck yourself.

>>8522244
>idolatry in literature

Gee who'd a thunk it