What’s The Most Difficult Novel You’ve Read?

What’s the most difficult novel you’ve ever read?

With that question, I don’t mean the “book you hated most.”

I think you can like a book while simultaneously believing it to be a difficult read. For example, Infinite Jest was overwhelmingly difficult, but I thought it was worth the read.

However, as difficult as Infinite Jest was to read, I would say The Sound and the Fury is the most difficult novel I’ve read to date. And, coincidentally, I hated it.

I just wasn’t a fan of Faulkner on this one. In fact, The Sound and the Fury is currently ranked 74th out of the 76 novels I’ve read from the Time list so far. I tried. Lord help me, I tried.

So what’s the most difficult novel you’ve read? And, better yet, were you able to finish reading it?