Short Little Difficult Books
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Short Little Difficult Books
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Re: Short Little Difficult Books
#2> Moby-Dick remains perhaps the best reading experience of my life.
I sometimes half-jokingly maintain that Moby-Dick was really written as part of an early BOOK-IT [1] reading incentive program to improve literacy among whalers by disguising a novel as a cetological guidebook.
There are entire chapters devoted to the harpooning process, sperm whale anatomy, maritime legal disputes over whale harvesting, etc.
Re: Short Little Difficult Books
#3Nice little article.
Another personal suggestion in this vein: The Queue by Vladimir Sorokin (trans. Sally Laird), which consists entirely of unattributed dialogue. It's challenging at first but once you get a feel for the rhythm and start recognizing characters by how they speak, it becomes a really charming read.
Re: Short Little Difficult Books
#4I happened to have been assigned Moby Dick in 9th grade English class. Foolishly put off reading it until the night before the book report was due. Got about 1/3 of the way through and went through life thinking it was boring. Fast forward decades, I'm now reading it for real. It hilarious, it's pause encouraging, I love it! (And I'm still only 1/3 through.)
Re: Short Little Difficult Books
#5> Moby-Dick remains perhaps the best reading experience of my life. I sometimes half-jokingly maintain that Moby-Dick was really written as part of an early BOOK-IT [1] reading incentive program to improve literacy among whalers by disguising a novel as a cetological guidebook. There are entire chapters devoted to the harpooning process, sperm whale anatomy, maritime legal disputes over whale harvesting, etc. [1] - h…
Moby-Dick really is a great book. If you want a dolphin-sized taste of Melville, try Billy Budd.
Re: Short Little Difficult Books
#6Nice little article. Another personal suggestion in this vein: The Queue by Vladimir Sorokin (trans. Sally Laird), which consists entirely of unattributed dialogue. It's challenging at first but once you get a feel for the rhythm and start recognizing characters by how they speak, it becomes a really charming read.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy is like that. It's best read in the pit of a cold winter.
Re: Short Little Difficult Books
#7> Moby-Dick remains perhaps the best reading experience of my life. I sometimes half-jokingly maintain that Moby-Dick was really written as part of an early BOOK-IT [1] reading incentive program to improve literacy among whalers by disguising a novel as a cetological guidebook. There are entire chapters devoted to the harpooning process, sperm whale anatomy, maritime legal disputes over whale harvesting, etc. [1] - h…
You suckered me into reading the article by mentioning Moby Dick.
Re: Short Little Difficult Books
#8What prepares one to read Finnegan's wake?
Re: Short Little Difficult Books
#9What prepares one to read Finnegan's wake?
A little bit Ulysses, a little bit knowledge of every language ever.
Re: Short Little Difficult Books
#10I happened to have been assigned Moby Dick in 9th grade English class. Foolishly put off reading it until the night before the book report was due. Got about 1/3 of the way through and went through life thinking it was boring. Fast forward decades, I'm now reading it for real. It hilarious, it's pause encouraging, I love it! (And I'm still only 1/3 through.)
It is very likely that a book funny to adult you would went over 9th grade you regardless of reading speed.