This prompt comes via The Broke and the Bookish!
I’ve chosen these books based on a combination of length and content. The most intimidating of all books, in my opinion, are those that are both long and difficult to comprehend. I plan to attempt these in the future!
10. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Having read The Fountainhead and enjoyed it, I’m not terribly afraid of this one, but the length is nonetheless intimidating.
9. Crime and Punishment by Leo Tolstoy. I love Anna Karenina, so I have high hopes for the rest of Tolstoy’s big clunkers, despite their length.
8. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I just watched the film version of this, so I am slightly less terrified of the book than I was previously.
7. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Despite knowing and loving the story, I have a (possibly irrational) fear that I just won’t be able to get through the book.
6. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. The only thing I know about this book is that it doesn’t offer your everyday prose, style, or layout.
5. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. A frightening challenge, but one I hope to take on soon.
4. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. It’s just something in which I’ve never really been interested. Plus, it’s long. Really long.
3. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. The most I have read of this was an excerpt during my sophomore year of high school, and it greatly bored me, despite Matilda’s insistence that it is lovely.
2. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Long, and probably over my head.
1. Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. I’m quite certain I wouldn’t have any idea what was going on in this book.
And there you have it. What books do you find most intimidating to read? Which ones have you already conquered?
Madeline the Librarian 
[…] Top Ten Most Intimidating Books (matildaallgrownup.wordpress.com) […]
Les Misérables is also on my list too. Crime & Punishment is on my Classics list but it doesn’t really appeal me to me lately- even though its been sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be picked up for the last six months.
Same! Crime and Punishment has been on my shelf for about a year now. Sigh.
What a heavy list! All those books are so complex! While I’m afraid of all of them, I put on my list The Count of Monte Cristo, Les Miserables, and War and Peace.
I liked the recent movie of Les Miserables. I really liked The Count of Monte Cristo – it is a lenghty book, but I enjoyed reading it. A friend gave me the DVD of the movie and told me I cannot watch it until I finish the book (I already started when she gave it to me) so I read. Loved the book, loved the movie! The story is so well written, I read the unabridged version
This makes me more eager to read the book!
I enjoy stories about Revenge so I enjoyed reading it. Also, I didn’t rush to finish it, or became bored hence I liked the book. I thought because of the length I was going to be bored but I wasn’t. I’ve heard the opposite of Les Miserables though 😦