1Cecrow
I anticipate Ulysses will be rough and Middlemarch may be challenging when I get to them, but anything I've tried so far has only been a pleasant surprise. War and Peace I read many years ago and don't remember well, but I enjoyed it at the time.
When I know in advance that a book may be tough, I try to find good pre-reading that will prepare me. In the case of Ulysses for example, I'll precede it with Homer and with the author's earlier works, Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
When I know in advance that a book may be tough, I try to find good pre-reading that will prepare me. In the case of Ulysses for example, I'll precede it with Homer and with the author's earlier works, Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
2therealdavidsmith
i found under the volcano frightfully challenging and immensely rewarding and i am glad to have read it. your warm-up method is certainly inventive, i would recommend tristram shandy in this instance.
3Cecrow
Under the Volcano isn't on the 501 list but you have my attention, if Tristram Shandy can be considered a warm-up! I'm presently reading The Pickwick Papers and wishing I'd read Tristram Shandy first to see if there was any influence there.
4Cecrow
Along these lines, I've just completed The Turn of the Screw as my introduction to Henry James. I won't get to The Portrait of a Lady any time soon, but this was my approach to understanding his style. From what I've seen so far, in terms of language I'll find a full-length novel by him to be enjoyable - but slow.
5Cecrow
Everything I anticipated above with some trepidation, I've since read.
Ulysses was just over a month to read, aided greatly by some supplementary reading.
Middlemarch was another month-long read, and a pleasure all the way. Nothing difficult about it.
The Portrait of a Lady was not terribly difficult, and among the novels of Henry James it is considered his most accessible. I'll be reading more by him.
Others I might have mentioned that were tougher:
Clarissa took me eleven months. Granted, I read it on the side but I could not have done it any faster and been happy about it.
In Search of Lost Time took me three and a half years, in the sense that I read one of its seven parts every six months, interspersed with other reading. At that rate I was never sorry to pick it up again, but I might have been if I'd returned to it any more frequently.
I've taken some shortcuts with others:
Les Miserables is all pleasure in an abridged version. Same for The Count of Monte Cristo.
Goethe's autobiography does not seem worth my pursuing, beyond reading its first part.
Plutarch's Parallel Lives would overwhelm me, I went with an abridged version there as well.
Pepys' Diary is better abridged, but I did accompany its reading with an excellent biography of the man.
Ulysses was just over a month to read, aided greatly by some supplementary reading.
Middlemarch was another month-long read, and a pleasure all the way. Nothing difficult about it.
The Portrait of a Lady was not terribly difficult, and among the novels of Henry James it is considered his most accessible. I'll be reading more by him.
Others I might have mentioned that were tougher:
Clarissa took me eleven months. Granted, I read it on the side but I could not have done it any faster and been happy about it.
In Search of Lost Time took me three and a half years, in the sense that I read one of its seven parts every six months, interspersed with other reading. At that rate I was never sorry to pick it up again, but I might have been if I'd returned to it any more frequently.
I've taken some shortcuts with others:
Les Miserables is all pleasure in an abridged version. Same for The Count of Monte Cristo.
Goethe's autobiography does not seem worth my pursuing, beyond reading its first part.
Plutarch's Parallel Lives would overwhelm me, I went with an abridged version there as well.
Pepys' Diary is better abridged, but I did accompany its reading with an excellent biography of the man.
6Darth-Heather
>5 Cecrow: oh boy, I have Ulysses on my TBR and am still intimidated about starting it. What supplemental reading do you recommend to help?
7Cecrow
>6 Darth-Heather:, had to go back and consult my 2016 notes. Looks like I followed along with a couple of online sources as aids:
Wikipedia offers chapter summaries without delving far into details. I mostly looked at this as I was reading, to confirm I understood as I was going along: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_(novel)
Sparknotes has a more detailed chapter-by-chapter analysis, and I read those for each chapter after I finished them. Often it brought stuff to light or made connections that I'd overlooked: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/ulysses/section1/
Less important to mention maybe, but fyi, before I tackled it I'd also read:
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, to get a sense of Joyce's style. Afterwards I felt it was also the better book, imo.
Also, the Iliad and Odyssey by Homer. The Iliad wasn't important except to set up Odyssey. Odyssey matters, since Ulysses follows its outline.
Wikipedia offers chapter summaries without delving far into details. I mostly looked at this as I was reading, to confirm I understood as I was going along: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_(novel)
Sparknotes has a more detailed chapter-by-chapter analysis, and I read those for each chapter after I finished them. Often it brought stuff to light or made connections that I'd overlooked: https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/ulysses/section1/
Less important to mention maybe, but fyi, before I tackled it I'd also read:
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, to get a sense of Joyce's style. Afterwards I felt it was also the better book, imo.
Also, the Iliad and Odyssey by Homer. The Iliad wasn't important except to set up Odyssey. Odyssey matters, since Ulysses follows its outline.
8Darth-Heather
>7 Cecrow: I have enjoyed The Odyssey but that was many years ago. Hopefully I remember enough to have some bit of preparation. Sparknotes and Wikipedia are great ideas - thanks for that!
