In my case, I regret not having read The Iliad and The Odyssey sooner ;they’re much more modern and accessible than I ever imagined. I still have In Search of Lost Time by Proust and Ulysses by Joyce waiting on my shelf. Right now I’m reading House of Leaves by Danielewski, and I suspect that after this one, everything else will feel easy.
by Transeunte-perplejo
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I’m currently on page 400 and something of War and Peace after Austin Klein raved about it on his Substack. It’s been on my shelf for at least 7 years. Now wondering why I waited so long. Loving it. All human life is in there <3
The Road. Too depressing. I’ll try it again in a year.
Can certainly relate to this. In some cases I just didn’t connect with something despite my hoping to. Both Crime and Punishment and Stegner’s Angle of Repose fit here. Started them in my later 20s, but now know I was still too naive for them. 25 or so years later, both floored me. Don Quixote was similar, though for that book, it was more of my not being patient enough to enjoy it in my younger days.
Picked up Hofstadter’s Gödel, Escher, Bach at some point in the 90s and was totally intimidated by it. I knew I should read it, but there it sat. About 5 years ago I tired it out and it melted my brain. Can’t and won’t claim I grasped all within, but man what a book!
I have had Babel by RF Kuang on my shelf for two years now and for some reason every time I go to pick it up I put it down. It’s so intimidating, not difficulty wise but I find dark academia to be hit or miss