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Flavorwire's 50 Incredibly Tough Books for Extreme Readers

For those of you who count yourself tough, here’s a list of books for you: some absurdly long, some notoriously difficult, some with intense or upsetting subject matter but blindingly brilliant prose, some packed into formations that require extra effort or mind expansion, and some that fit into none of those categories, but are definitely for tough girls (or guys) only. This list is limited to works of fiction, so straightforward philosophy is out, and a single book per author, so you’ll see Finnegans Wake (obviously) but not Ulysses. Don’t worry, the Ulysses is implied. Check out the list after the jump, and tell everyone just how tough you really are, you bookworm you.
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from flavorwire.com · made by thedemon33
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Nightwood (Djuna Barnes)
Nightwood
1
Djuna Barnes
Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy)
Blood Meridian
2
Cormac McCarthy
Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
Moby Dick
3
Herman Melville
Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace)
Infinite Jest
4
David Foster Wallace
JR
JR
5
Finnegans
Finnegans
6
The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
The Sound and the Fury
7
William Faulkner
Bad Behavior: Stories (Mary Gaitskill)
Bad Behavior: Stories
8
Mary Gaitskill
In Search of Lost Time (Marcel Proust)
In Search of Lost Time
9
Marcel Proust
Alphabetical Africa
Alphabetical Africa
10
Geek Love (Katherine Dunn)
Geek Love
11
Katherine Dunn
Naked Lunch (William S. Burroughs)
Naked Lunch
12
William S. Burroughs
The Faerie Queene (Edmund Spenser)
The Faerie Queene
13
Edmund Spenser
Trainspotting (Irvine Welsh)
Trainspotting
14
Irvine Welsh
Pet Sematary (Stephen King)
Pet Sematary
15
Stephen King
Coin Locker Babies
Coin Locker Babies
16
Battle Royale (Koushun Takami)
Battle Royale
17
Koushun Takami
House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski)
House of Leaves
18
Mark Z. Danielewski
To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf)
To the Lighthouse
19
Virginia Woolf
The Painted Bird (Jerzy Kosinski)
The Painted Bird
20
Jerzy Kosinski
Wittgenstein's Mistress (David Markson)
Wittgenstein's Mistress
21
David Markson
Johnny Got His Gun (Dalton Trumbo)
Johnny Got His Gun
22
Dalton Trumbo
Dhalgren (Samuel R. Delany)
Dhalgren
23
Samuel R. Delany
The Making of Americans (Gertrude Stein)
The Making of Americans
24
Gertrude Stein
The Silmarillion (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Silmarillion
25
J.R.R. Tolkien
Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Heart of Darkness
26
Joseph Conrad
Hopscotch (Julio Cortázar)
Hopscotch
27
Julio Cortázar
Out (Natsuo Kirino)
Out
28
Natsuo Kirino
2666 (Roberto Bolaño)
2666
29
Roberto Bolaño
Tampa
Tampa
30
War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
War and Peace
31
Leo Tolstoy
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Laurence Sterne)
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
32
Laurence Sterne
Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon)
Gravity's Rainbow
33
Thomas Pynchon
The Canterbury Tales (Geoffrey Chaucer)
The Canterbury Tales
34
Geoffrey Chaucer
Underworld (Don Delillo)
Underworld
35
Don Delillo
Almanac of the Dead (Leslie Marmon Silko)
Almanac of the Dead
36
Leslie Marmon Silko
Kosmos
Kosmos
37
The Conservationist
The Conservationist
38
Sophie's Choice (William Styron)
Sophie's Choice
39
William Styron
Clarissa (Samuel Richardson)
Clarissa
40
Samuel Richardson
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