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The Retired English Teacher Lists Some Deep, Dense, and Possibly Difficult Novels

What the title Says - 50 Novels that are considered by many to be "difficult ", which can refer to length, diction, prosody, plotting, or concepts. Some are mammoth in scope, while others a short, dense, and perhaps obscure. Have fun!
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made by James Loranger
avg. score: 7 of 50 (14%)
required scores: 1, 2, 4, 6, 11 
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1Q84 (Haruki Murakami)
1Q84
1
Haruki Murakami
An American Tragedy (Theodore Dreiser)
An American Tragedy
2
Theodore Dreiser
As I Lay Dying (William Faulkner)
As I Lay Dying
3
William Faulkner
Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
Atlas Shrugged
4
Ayn Rand
August 1914 (Solzhenitsyn)
August 1914
5
Solzhenitsyn
Demons (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
Demons
6
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Dhalgren (Samuel R. Delany)
Dhalgren
7
Samuel R. Delany
Finnegan's Wake (James Joyce)
Finnegan's Wake
8
James Joyce
Gargantua and Pantagruel (François Rabelais)
Gargantua and Pantagruel
9
François Rabelais
Gravity's Rainbow (Thomas Pynchon)
Gravity's Rainbow
10
Thomas Pynchon
Group Portrait With Lady (Bõll)
Group Portrait With Lady
11
Bõll
Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Heart of Darkness
12
Joseph Conrad
Her (Ferlinghetti)
Her
13
Ferlinghetti
House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski)
House of Leaves
14
Mark Z. Danielewski
How It Is (Samuel Beckett)
How It Is
15
Samuel Beckett
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (Italo Calvino)
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
16
Italo Calvino
In Search of Lost Time (Marcel Proust)
In Search of Lost Time
17
Marcel Proust
Infinite Jest (David Foster Wallace)
Infinite Jest
18
David Foster Wallace
Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami)
Kafka on the Shore
19
Haruki Murakami
Kristin Lavransdatter (Sigrid Undset)
Kristin Lavransdatter
20
Sigrid Undset
Last Year at Marienbad (Robbe-Grillet; Tr. Howard)
Last Year at Marienbad
21
Robbe-Grillet; Tr. Howard
Man's Fate (Andre Malraux)
Man's Fate
22
Andre Malraux
March 1917 (Solzenhitsyn)
March 1917
23
Solzenhitsyn
Melmoth the Wanderer (Charles Maturin)
Melmoth the Wanderer
24
Charles Maturin
Midcentury (John Dos Passos)
Midcentury
25
John Dos Passos
Midnight's Children (Salman Rushdie)
Midnight's Children
26
Salman Rushdie
Moby Dick (Melville)
Moby Dick
27
Melville
Nausea (Jean-Paul Sartre)
Nausea
28
Jean-Paul Sartre
Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami)
Norwegian Wood
29
Haruki Murakami
Nostromo (Conrad)
Nostromo
30
Conrad
November 1916 (Solzhenitsyn)
November 1916
31
Solzhenitsyn
Orlando (Virginia Woolf)
Orlando
32
Virginia Woolf
The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
The Brothers Karamazov
33
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Castle (Franz Kafka)
The Castle
34
Franz Kafka
The Dance of Genghis Cohn (Gary)
The Dance of Genghis Cohn
35
Gary
The Erasers (Robbe-Grillet)
The Erasers
36
Robbe-Grillet
The Magic Mountain (Thomas Mann)
The Magic Mountain
37
Thomas Mann
The Master and Margarita (Mikhail Bulgakov)
The Master and Margarita
38
Mikhail Bulgakov
The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)
The Name of the Rose
39
Umberto Eco
The Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie)
The Satanic Verses
40
Salman Rushdie
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