Top Ten Tuesdays! Most Intimidating Books (to me)

Here's another Top Ten Tuesday for you! Be sure to check out others' views on this topic by going to The Broke and the Bookish, who give us these lovely topics to share with you.

Top Ten Most Intimidating Books (in no particular order):

--Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce

I don’t think people actually read this book. It’s Joyce’s experiment during the Modernist movement in literature. Here is a book where the syntax and vocabulary are all sorts of strange. Try getting through the first page and tell me it’s not frightening.

--A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

He made up a language for his narrator. There are dictionaries that exist to help you figure out the lexicon. I mean come on! If that’s not enough, the main character is messed up and does some pretty messed up stuff.

--War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Russian literature is difficult for me to pick up. It’s often heavy and bleak. I’m stereotyping, but I find it hard to go for a Russian novel. On top of that, it’s War and Peace the book used when you want to say you’re reading the blue whale of books. Depending on the publisher it weighs in at over 1000 pages!

--Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Look at the title. That should be a warning from the get-go. On top of that, it’s thick and it’s been made into a musical. Both of those points make me not want to read it.

--The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

This book isn’t even that big, but it’s Steinbeck. I just don’t like his writing. It’s depressing and about Great Depression/Dust Bowl-era America. A hard time to live through and something I don’t gravitate towards reading novels about.  I don’t understand why the grapes are so angry. Too many years of being squashed and made into wine? Maybe I should read it to find out.

--The Fountainhead & Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Atlas Shrugged has sat on my bookshelf since I was a naïve high-schooler who wanted to seem scholarly. These books are huge! Plus I’m not a fan of Rand’s philosophy of objectivism, which is featured in her books.

--Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

No. No. No. No way. Nein. Niet. Ne. Non. Nai. The dog dies. End of discussion.

--Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

I’ve tried. I understand why people like the books. Friends say, “you’d love it!,” but those books are very large. I can get past the size because the content is interesting. It’s so bloody. There are so many characters and character perspectives that you get lost.

--Needful Things by Stephen King

It’s about the devil. Creepy. It’s Stephen King. You hear so much about him that I feel the need to read his works. I tried reading this book, and kept waiting for something to happen and demons to slither from the pages into bed with me. No thanks. I’m good.

--Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Made into an award winning movie, this book was very popular in 2006 when it originally came out. Again, it’s really long and it’s nonfiction about history and politics. Kind of two subjects that are easily snooze-worthy, but it’s about one of our most popular presidents during an important period in American history. 

~Kristin M.

Should any of you wish to tackle these subjects, I have provided the links. If you do read them, let us know why!