I received Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake a few days ago for my birthday from a friend whose never read a book before. He must have looked them up on a list or something and obviously he won’t be able to distinguish between something challenging (in a cosy 'intellectual' way like a cryptic crossword) and something infuriatingly difficult. I doubt I'll ever read Finnegan's Wake. However I have read the entirety of In Search Of Lost Time (and started doing so a second time) which isn't difficult at all despite its length, with the books being split into separate stories, and the books not having to be read all in one sequence (i.e., being self-contained in a way).
|