Reading chores that paid off?

[Op_Cit]

For some reason Perdita's thread the other day got me thinking about this one:

Stories and novels that were a real chore (for me) to read, and of those I completed, the small number of them with a whopping payoff.

So, what works did you find really hard to get through, yet when you finished the story you ended up enjoying it greatly or maybe it affected you profoundly?

The two that come to mind for me are:

Ivanhoe (Sir W.S.): it took about half of the book (which seemed like ages) for me to "get into it".

And a short story by C.J. Cherryh titled: Scapegoat. I was anoyed with it while reading it, and had I anything else to do, I wouldn't have finished it, but the point of the whole story affected me profoundly on many levels.

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Totally not in this category (thought it was a fun read) but it comes to mind: Did anyone else (even read, or) like the way "Memoirs from Antproof Case" brought all the crazy aspects about the story back together in total harmony?

 

[Alex De Kok]

I started 'Ivanhoe' when I was still at school, probably aged about 16 or 17. I finished it when I was in my thirties! So far as Cherryh is concerned, I love her 'Chanur' series, I love her 'Foreigner' series (Ilisidi is one of my all-time favourite characters) but her Merchanter Wars stories are sometimes hard going. I've tried more than once to get into 'Heavy Time' - heavy going! - and I'm stalled on 'Downbelow Station'. I just finished 'The Paladin' and loved it!

It took me until I was in my late fifties before I got around to reading 'Jane Eyre' and 'Pride and Prejudice' but I thoroughly enjoyed them both. I read them at least partly for period background for my 'Talisman' Chain story piece, 'Lucy McFey'.

So far as other 'heavy going' books are concerned, at my age if I don't get into 'em I give up. There are so many others waiting to be read.

Alex

 

[oggbashan]

I enjoyed Ivanhoe when I was about age 10. I still prefer it to most of Scott's books.

I keep trying to read some modern popular fiction. I have found very few that are worth it so I keep returning to the classics, Greek and Roman classics.

Og

 

[Guest]

 

[justathought555]

For some reason Perdita's thread the other day got me thinking about this one:

Stories and novels that were a real chore (for me) to read, and of those I completed, the small number of them with a whopping payoff.

So, what works did you find really hard to get through, yet when you finished the story you ended up enjoying it greatly or maybe it affected you profoundly?

The two that come to mind for me are:

Ivanhoe (Sir W.S.): it took about half of the book (which seemed like ages) for me to "get into it".

And a short story by C.J. Cherryh titled: Scapegoat. I was anoyed with it while reading it, and had I anything else to do, I wouldn't have finished it, but the point of the whole story affected me profoundly on many levels.

-----
Totally not in this category (thought it was a fun read) but it comes to mind: Did anyone else (even read, or) like the way "Memoirs from Antproof Case" brought all the crazy aspects about the story back together in total harmony?

For me it was Orwell's 1984. Great book, at least the first time I read it during my sophomore year in HS, but then I had to read it for another class later on, and that was tough. There were two reasons:

1. Even though it was supposed to be about the USSR, there are a LOT of parallels to our society;and

2. There is no hope in it, and that really just depressed me.

 

[scheherazade_79]

Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd when I was 15. It was my first experience with a classic, and I was told to read it over my Easter break. At first the pages of apparently meaningless description seemed like an utter waste of time, but once I was taught that the novel operated on several different levels and that the descriptions were symbolic, the craftsmanship of it completely knocked me out.

I've been a Hardy fan ever since

 

[NoJo]

I finished Joyce's Ulysses at the third or fouth attempt. Worth it.
I never finished any Russian Novel except Gogol's Dead Souls, in spite of my mother telling me constantly how brilliant they all were.

 

[BlackShanglan]

I was in graduate school before I made it through "Heart of Darkness" in a really serious and in-depth read. I found it very much worth it.

"Moby Dick" took me about four tries at various stages of my life. I'm still not convinced it was worth it. Only Melville can take the scene of a giant, enraged white whale destroying a whaling ship and make it dull.

Shanglan

 

[NoJo]

"Moby Dick" took me about four tries at various stages of my life. I'm still not convinced it was worth it. Only Melville can take the scene of a giant, enraged white whale destroying a whaling ship and make it dull.

Shanglan

I was going to read it, but now you've given the story away. Thanks afucking lot.

 

[BlackShanglan]

I was going to read it, but now you've given the story away. Thanks afucking lot.

It might still be worth it to get the "squeezing sperm" scene. Nothing like the good fellowship and warm cheer of a shipful of sailors squeezing sperm together. That and the "bestriding the great main mast" passages.

Shanglan

 

[NoJo]

It might still be worth it to get the "squeezing sperm" scene. Nothing like the good fellowship and warm cheer of a shipful of sailors squeezing sperm together. That and the "bestriding the great main mast" passages.

Shanglan

I watch the Gregory Peck version where Cpn Ahab spears Dick's blowhole and gets washed away in the spume.

 

[BlackShanglan]

I watch the Gregory Peck version where Cpn Ahab spears Dick's blowhole and gets washed away in the spume.

Freud is a joy and charm forever.

Shanglan

 

[TheEarl]

Dune. Took me a while to get into it and I did nearly give up, but now I know that there's a payoff for the world-setting that covers half of the book, I love it. One of my favourites.

The Earl