What was the most challenging book you've read? Include in your post
- why you decided to read it
- why it was challenging for you
- what you learned or how you grew as a result of rising to the challenge
- what advice you would give a classmate who might want to tackle this text
For example, the most challenging book I've read was Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian. I decided to read it over the summer in 2003 when I was expecting my first child, partly because I'd been curious about it since Gao Xingjian won the 2000 Nobel Prize in literature and partly because I knew it would be a long time before I had the freedom to tackle such an intense work once I had kids.
This book was incredibly difficult for me. There isn't a "plot" in the traditional Western sense, and perspective shifts between first, second, and third person. I frequently had to reread in order to understand the different threads that run through the text. The translation/cultural barrier added another, profound layer of difficulty. The book is translated from Chinese and draws heavily on Chinese tradition. Additionally, the author, although Chinese, has been living abroad in exile for many, many years. Because I lack an extensive background in Chinese culture and history, I found myself rereading and researching to understand some of the allusions. I'm sure I missed most of them.
However, when I did finish the text, I felt a great sense of satisfaction. The writing is incredibly beautiful, almost like poetry, and the text is thought-provoking. I found myself for months afterwards mulling over the issues of exile and loss that Gao Xinajiang explores. I'd like to reread this book, perhaps next summer when Sam is a little older and I have a little more freedom again.
If you are interested in reading this book, I would suggest reading translations of classical Chinese literature first and researching the author. I would also suggest that you have great determination and patience, as this is a radically different type of text than most of you have experience reading. I might even suggest waiting a few years.
22 comments:
hey its bedell15d
i know i haven't posted a comment under the other April option, but i think i can respond better to this one.
the book that i can say so far in my life has been the most difficult to read is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. i've always known it was a classic, but i only became interested in reading it when it was mentioned in another book i was reading. i was really excited to read it, but i got really frusterated. i'm not used to the sort of language used or Bronte's paricular style of writing, and it took me a while to get into the book. at first i didn't understand the book and i had to re-read several parts. the book requires more thinking then i'm used to using when reading just for fun, which only made finishing the book more difficult. however, when i finally got through it, i really enjoyed. i think it was worth my time and energy because now i am more comfortable with a different form of writing. it actually is a really great book if you take the time to understand it. if anyone else decides to read this book, don't start it expecting to finish it in a week, because i know everyone's used to finishing books really fast, but this book is a little more difficult to understand (at least it was for me). i was really proud of myself for finishing this book, and i might even read it again. maybe :)
bedell13m said...
HEY CLASSMATES!!!
The most challenging book I have ever read would probably be the book Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt. We were given this book to read in 7th grade. Across Five Aprils was based on the time period during the Civil War. For some reason this book was to confusing for me. I remember it was very hard for me to keep all the characters straight throughout the book. Although, I still learned a lot of background information about the Civil War. I would recommend that you read Across Five Aprils if you are researching the Civil War or if you are just interested in it. I might consider reading it again to see if I understand it better the second time. Bedell13m
My name is Bedell25j and it is against the law to mispronounce "Arkansas" in Arkansas.
Anyway, the most challenging book I've probably ever read was George Orwell's 1984 (I don't read many challenging books). I'll admit, the only reason I read this book was because last year, I had to read it in English class. It was pretty good, but challenging. It was challenging because back then I wasn't able to comprehend the text as well as I was able to now. I didn't know what some of the words mean and some of the parts of the book just didn't makesense when I read them. Reading back over it, it makes much more since than it did a year ago. Reading this book has allowed me to increase my wordiness and become a better reader. If anyone wants to "tackle" the book, I recomend that you research a little on Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Union, and Communism in general before you read this book. Overall, I thought it was a good, yet challenging book.
Signing off,
Bedell25j
hey its bedell15d
this in response to bedell13m's post on Across Five Aprils. i really did NOT like this book. some parts were captivating, but it was mostly just boring. in my opinion, though, i think the book wasn't necessarily a great challenge, just a stuggle, because it was used for the wrong purpose (mrs. sherman made me read it last year). anyway its over now and i;m never going ot read it again, so everything is ok.
thanks
bedell15d
This is a response to Bedell15d's comment. I understand what you mean when you say it was hard to read that book. I read it and was equally confused. I only really understood it when i reread it. It was kind of like Pride and Predjudice for me in that i had to pay attention to the text or i'd get lost.
This is BEDELL11M, and the most challenging book i've ever read, is probably the 6th harry potter book. it was really boring with sooo many pages and words, i kept getting lost. Thankfully the 7th was not as painful to read, but the amount of words on a page in those books hurts my brain.
Hey everyone! The most difficult I probably tried to read was Siddartha, by Herman Hesse. This was one of my least favorite books, because I just could NOT get interested. The text goes on and on, making it almost impossible to read. The novel is loosely based on Siddartha Guatama (the founder of Buddhism) but tells the story of a devout Hindu (Brahmin Class) that tries to obtain enlightenment.. It might have just been the age that I had tried to tackle the book at or that I didn't really know much about the Hindu and Buddhist religions but this book is INSANELY difficult. For those that might want to try this book, I highly advise tasking it step by step.. try and focus on what you're reading and not what's to come. Also, look for deeper meanings in the text because little messages are intentionally woven into the words to help you further understand the novel. This book, while it is thin, takes a while to complete.. I also don't suggest reading through more than a small section per night, just because the book is so deep.
- bedell14s
P.S. if you have an other questions, feel free to ask me in person or just reply to this post
Dear bedell15d
I have to agree. Not that I've read that book but that when book are supposed "classics" I believe it sometimes makes them harder to read and take in. You expect so much. The thing is the classics are normally the really well written literature that you have to dig deep to get the real point and plot. That obviously makes it a harder read.
-bedell06e
Hello, bedell24l speaking:
The most challenging book I have ever read is Treasure Island. It was an assigned book given to my class by Mr Glass in the sixth grade. First of all, it was a challenging book because it was written a long time ago, and I had to interpret the meaning of words used by people at that time that are no longer used now. It was also hard because I was only 11, and jumping from elementary books to novels was somewhat intense. Large vocabulary words in the text made this book frusterating as well. I learned a lot of new words from Treasure Island, and reading it majorly helped me for all the novels assigned to me in later years. The only advice I would give to someone that would like to try and read it would be to read it slowly, and read many parts more than once to get the whole meaning.
bedell24l is back!!
This is in response to bedell15d and bedell06e:
You guys were talking about Across Five Aprils.
First of all I'd like to say that I completely disagree with you. Across Five Aprils wasn't that hard. Sure, it was more challenging than others, but still not that hard to read. Also, it wasn't that bad of a book either, it was boring when nothing happened, but it had a pretty good plot. So plhh to you.
I think the most challenging book i have read was the first Harry Potter book in the first or second grade. Even though it is REALLY easy to read now, most of the people in my class were reading ten page books titled "The Tiny Bunny" or "Three Little Pigs". I decided i didn't like those books anymore so i read the first Harry Potter book. I think i mostly read it because my brother did,and he was older and "cool", but i also did it because i was sick of the dumb books in my classroom. Even tho0ugh it took me weeks to read it, i loved the story, and i have been re-reading it since.
bedell22l
I think the most challenging book I have read is Tom Sawyer. I think this was challenging because it had so much anticipation. Because it was dubbed a "classic" I automatically expected it to be some amazing story. I thought it would be mind blowing and to have some crazy interesting twist at the end. It was good. But it was just good, not amazing or mind-blowing. The Actual hardest part of reading this book was getting through the book and to keep reading. It seemed I just kept expecting something big and it didn't come so I was not that interested in reading it.
I've learned from reading this that there are some books you just have to read (in this case it was for class) and push through them no matter what. I also learned that when books are considered classics it is just a general opinion and not necessarily true for you. For another student that wants to read these books I say go for it. Just because I didn’t like it doesn’t mean you won't.
-bedell06e
Hey everybody!! This is bedell19m.
The Sleeping Doll by Jeffrey Deaver was a challenging book for me to read. I chose this book because the author is actually a family friend of ours. Also, Jeffrey Deaver is an outstanding author who's had many awards for adult books and even a movie, The Bone Collector, made in his honor. I wasn't sure what to expect before I read it. It turned out to be a crime novel. There are some challenging vocab words so always make sure you have a dictionary on hand as you're reading. I got frustrated as I was reading because you had to remember everything that you read. A lot of times I had to read through chapters again just to remember what one paragraph was talking about. Although it was frustrating to have to keep searching through the book, I greatly enjoyed it. The only part that I didn't enjoy was going to bed before finishing the book. Even though this book was written for adults, there is action and mystery which I think many kids would enjoy. Reading this book gave me more confidence when it comes to choosing books. Sometimes the more challenging books are actually a little bit better because you get into them more. I would recommend this book to someone who has a lot of time to read it. Over the summer would probably be best.
Dear Bedell11m,
I definitely agree that the Harry Potter books were challenging to read. I stopped reading them after the 5th (mostly because I didn't have time). One of the reasons I didn't have time was because there were so many pages.
hey bedell15d in response to bedell18e...
i agree with you about reading "classic" novels like Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights, but I think really its mainly because i'm not used to reading books like that. i hope i'll get more comfortable reading those kinds of books, though, because it really frustrated me that it took me longer then usual to finish Wuthering Heights, and then i had to reread one part because i hadn't been paying close attention the whole time i was reading. its a lot harder to have to pay such close attention and really think so much about what i'm reading, because books are usually so easy to read and i can enjoy and understand them without a lot of effort on my part.
I would have to say one of the most difficult books I have ever read was the Ruins by Scott Smith. I'm still actually in the middle of the read, the part when things start to really get interesting. The reason I started to read it was because I had heard so much about the book through conversation between my parents. I went to the beach one weekend and my uncle recommended it to for the ride home. And I couldn’t put it down till’ it was time for bed. It's challenging in a different way for me. Being like something I have never read before. It seems like a never ending book! I think it will be a great summer read for anybody that is bored. I've learned that you don’t have to be watching a movie just to be scared. In this book you get to create your own picture of what's going on. It makes everything so much better. For anybody that thinks they will like this book...you will! My advice is to have nothing to do for the next 8 hours or so.
The most challenging book I ever read, or more attempted to read, was the bible. It is a very daunting book and horribly boring. It has been translated so many times some of it does not make sense. Also another problem is that most of the stories in the Bible are from 2000 years ago and take place in the Middle East so that there is a huge culture difference.
I did not really grow from this expeirence as i did not manage to get very far into it but i will, maybe this summer, try to read it again.
If you are Christian or just want to bash the bible you might to read it so as to be knowledgable.
Bonjour!!
The most challenging book i've ever read would have to be Pride and Predjudice. Although this book was pretty short and had not that hard of a plot, I found it really hard to follow and understand. Also, i was confused as to which character was which. This was probably due tho the fact i was reading it in a pharmacy and there was music playing. Normally, that doesn't bug me but i guess i was having an off day. After i had spent 15 or so minutes struggling with it, I gave up and now i frankly have no desire to try again. I decided to read it because it was a classic and i was splurging on classics at Barnes and Nobles. I learned that it was probably best to set up a "good reading enviroment" before starting a new book. Advice i would give to anyone who wanted to read it would be: Make sure you can follow a plot, Make sure you understand the language used, Make sure you can follow the characters, and don't read in a distracting enviroment.
Ciao!!
This is a response to BEDELL14S. I applaud your effort just to attempt to read Siddartha. But you actully finished it! HIGH FIVE. I have been trying to start that book for a while but have not yet developed the will power to force myself to read it. I shall eventully read it, maybe this summer.
in response to bedell06e,
I disagree when you say you thought it was hard just to finish Tom Sawyer. I thought the book had a lot of adventure in it and i couldn't wait to see what happened at the end. Over all I thought Tom Sawyer was a good book.
bedell13m
in response to bedell13m...
Across Five Aprils was a really difficult book, and i was extremely confusing for me too!!!
~bedell12a
Hey guys!
The most difficult book that i have ever read is A Long Walk to Freedom, by Nelson Mandela. In addition to being incredibly dense and loaded with information, it is brilliantly written. I have to have time to read all 743 pages whenever I sit down with it. It is a masterful biography, and i strongly recommend it to all.
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