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Goodreads Most Difficult Novels: 2021 Update, Now Much Longer

"Novels that made you work the hardest. Let's assume that you actually finished the book and felt that it was worth the effort" (Goodreads).
Despite the Goodreads instructions, in practice I think there were many different interpretations of 'difficult'. Hence the inclusion of "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer. Anyway IMHO the list could be used as a fairly wide-ranging and challenging TBR.
Criteria for inclusion: at least 3 votes OR 2 votes and 100+ ratings.
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made by Markd9528
avg. score: 43 of 353 (12%)
required scores: 1, 14, 28, 43, 67 
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Ulysses (James Joyce)
Ulysses
1
James Joyce
Finnegans Wake (James Joyce)
Finnegans Wake
2
James Joyce
The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
The Sound and the Fury
3
William Faulkner
Moby-Dick (Herman Melville)
Moby-Dick
4
Herman Melville
Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon)
Gravity's Rainbow
5
Thomas Pynchon
War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
War and Peace
6
Leo Tolstoy
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
Crime and Punishment
7
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace)
Infinite Jest
8
David Foster Wallace
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel García Márquez)
One Hundred Years of Solitude
9
Gabriel García Márquez
Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Heart of Darkness
10
Joseph Conrad
Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
Anna Karenina
11
Leo Tolstoy
Naked Lunch (William S. Burroughs)
Naked Lunch
12
William S. Burroughs
The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
The Brothers Karamazov
13
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)
Lolita
14
Vladimir Nabokov
Les Misérables (Victor Hugo)
Les Misérables
15
Victor Hugo
The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)
The Name of the Rose
16
Umberto Eco
In Search of Lost Time (Marcel Proust)
In Search of Lost Time
17
Marcel Proust
House of Leaves (Mark Danielewski)
House of Leaves
18
Mark Danielewski
Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
Atlas Shrugged
19
Ayn Rand
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (James Joyce)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
20
James Joyce
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Catch-22
21
Joseph Heller
Absalom, Absalom! (William Faulkner)
Absalom, Absalom!
22
William Faulkner
Mrs Dalloway (Virginia Woolf)
Mrs Dalloway
23
Virginia Woolf
Foucault's Pendulum (Umberto Eco)
Foucault's Pendulum
24
Umberto Eco
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
A Tale of Two Cities
25
Charles Dickens
A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
A Clockwork Orange
26
Anthony Burgess
To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf)
To the Lighthouse
27
Virginia Woolf
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
Great Expectations
28
Charles Dickens
Don Quixote (Miguel De Cervantes)
Don Quixote
29
Miguel De Cervantes
The Stranger (Albert Camus)
The Stranger
30
Albert Camus
The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
The Scarlet Letter
31
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Blood Meridian (Cormac McCarthy)
Blood Meridian
32
Cormac McCarthy
Beloved (Toni Morrison)
Beloved
33
Toni Morrison
Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë)
Wuthering Heights
34
Emily Brontë
The Idiot (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
The Idiot
35
Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie)
The Satanic Verses
36
Salman Rushdie
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Milan Kundera)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
37
Milan Kundera
The Trial (Franz Kafka)
The Trial
38
Franz Kafka
The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
The Count of Monte Cristo
39
Alexandre Dumas
The Man Without Qualities (Robert Musil, Tr. Sophie Wilkins & Burton Pike)
The Man Without Qualities
40
Robert Musil, Tr. Sophie Wilkins & Burton Pike
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