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Goodreads Most Difficult Novels: 2021 Update, Now Much Longer - Page 2

"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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Page 2 of 9
The Crying of Lot 49 (Thomas Pynchon)
The Crying of Lot 49
41
Thomas Pynchon
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë)
Jane Eyre
42
Charlotte Brontë
Pale Fire (Vladimir Nabokov)
Pale Fire
43
Vladimir Nabokov
2666 (Roberto Bolaño)
2666
44
Roberto Bolaño
Nausea (Jean-Paul Sartre, Trans. Robert Baldick)
Nausea
45
Jean-Paul Sartre, Trans. Robert Baldick
Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie)
Midnight's Children
46
Salman Rushdie
Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel García Márquez)
Love in the Time of Cholera
47
Gabriel García Márquez
Notes From Underground (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
Notes From Underground
48
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Silmarillion (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Silmarillion
49
J.R.R. Tolkien
Middlemarch (George Eliot)
Middlemarch
50
George Eliot
Steppenwolf (Hermann Hesse)
Steppenwolf
51
Hermann Hesse
Tess of the D'urbervilles (Thomas Hardy)
Tess of the D'urbervilles
52
Thomas Hardy
The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
The Bell Jar
53
Sylvia Plath
V (Thomas Pynchon)
V
54
Thomas Pynchon
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
Frankenstein
55
Mary Shelley
Bleak House (Charles Dickens)
Bleak House
56
Charles Dickens
Dhalgren (Samuel R. Delany)
Dhalgren
57
Samuel R. Delany
The Magic Mountain (Thomas Mann)
The Magic Mountain
58
Thomas Mann
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
Invisible Man
59
Ralph Ellison
My Name Is Red (Orhan Pamuk)
My Name Is Red
60
Orhan Pamuk
As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner)
As I Lay Dying
61
William Faulkner
The Recognitions (William Gaddis)
The Recognitions
62
William Gaddis
The Waves (Virginia Woolf)
The Waves
63
Virginia Woolf
Cloud Atlas (David Mitchell)
Cloud Atlas
64
David Mitchell
The Glass Bead Game (Hermann Hesse)
The Glass Bead Game
65
Hermann Hesse
The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
The Fountainhead
66
Ayn Rand
Mason & Dixon (Thomas Pynchon)
Mason & Dixon
67
Thomas Pynchon
The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway)
The Sun Also Rises
68
Ernest Hemingway
Against the Day (Thomas Pynchon)
Against the Day
69
Thomas Pynchon
Ada or Ardor (Vladimir Nabokov)
Ada or Ardor
70
Vladimir Nabokov
Dracula (Bram Stoker)
Dracula
71
Bram Stoker
Molloy (Samuel Beckett)
Molloy
72
Samuel Beckett
Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
Gone With the Wind
73
Margaret Mitchell
Tropic of Cancer (Henry Miller)
Tropic of Cancer
74
Henry Miller
American Gods (Neil Gaiman)
American Gods
75
Neil Gaiman
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson)
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
76
Stieg Larsson
The Golden Notebook (Doris Lessing)
The Golden Notebook
77
Doris Lessing
Nostromo (Joseph Conrad)
Nostromo
78
Joseph Conrad
Doctor Zhivago (Boris Pasternak)
Doctor Zhivago
79
Boris Pasternak
Vanity Fair (William Makepeace Thackeray)
Vanity Fair
80
William Makepeace Thackeray
Page 2 of 9
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