The most difficult book you've ever read?

[Eldritch]

For myself, in the non-fiction department it is Stephen Wolfram's A New Kind of Science. It is the size of a concrete slab, weights about as much as an anvil, and you'd probably have to immerse yourself in it for several months to really understand what the hell it is about.

As for fiction, I'd say it is Cormac McCarthy's excruciating Blood Meridian. One I never managed to finish was Roberto Bolaño's 2666. I tried to read it in the original Spanish -- bad idea.

[Murphy]

The Holy Bible.

[Cato]

Anything by Teilhard de Chardin.

[Tabiti]

Might have been some textbook in Economics or book-keeping, since I'm totally lost when it's about money. Theory in Higher Math is also fun, but at least there is some logic you can catch.
"Unfinished Tales" by Tolkien wasn't very pleasant one as well...Sorry Tolkien fans, but that sucks!
First pages of "Catch 22" are difficult until you "catch" the manner of the author. Few 19th and early 20th century Bulgarian writings are also terrible, because the language and style of writing. And mostly the fact YOU HAVE to read them for school.

[Svanhild]

The mathematics book for my senior classes. Analysis, integral calculus, stochastics and all the other things I never understood.


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[Lutiferre]

Thus Spoke Zarathustra in its Danish translation (Således talte Zarathustra) was really hard until I got used to the language style. The style was very different from normal modern day Danish and seemed highly convoluted but was really just very delicate, but once I got used to it, understanding started getting smoother, the images were conveyed more succesfully, and it was wonderful to read.

[Eldritch]

The Holy Bible.

Somehow I knew you'd say that.

[Murphy]

Somehow I knew you'd say that.

I know it's God's word and all, and God is a cool dude etc., but he could have done with a better editor .

[Tabiti]

Analysis isn't that bad actually once you catch the meaning of "function", "graphic", "derivative", "integral" and "differential". Math teachers usually suck, not the subject.

[Lutiferre]

I'd have to say anything by Kant is really the most difficult, Kantian clinical and convoluted terminology is a poet's personal fiery hell.