50 Tough Books for Extreme Readers

Description
From the Flavorwire post: "...for those of you who count yourself tough, here’s a list of books for you: some absurdly long, some notoriously difficult, some with intense or upsetting subject matter but blindingly brilliant prose, some packed into formations that require extra effort or mind expansion, and some that fit into none of those categories, but are definitely for tough girls (or guys) only. This list is limited to works of fiction, so straightforward philosophy is out, and a single book per author, so you’ll see Finnegans Wake (obviously) but not Ulysses. Don’t worry, the Ulysses is implied."
1
23,698 members
389 reviews
½ 3.6
17 Members
ablachly, amanda4242, engel25, merrystar, lewbs, si, peterveen, booksaplenty1949, cej1027, streetwa, ahef1963, matthewmason, lorannen, mspixieears, ManWithAnAgenda, nikolahall, CharlesTheB,
Explanations
booksaplenty1949: We studied this in high school, for heaven's sake. Serious, but hardly in the "extreme" category.
2
35,606 members
545 reviews
3.8
3
17,343 members
226 reviews
4
4
22,078 members
169 reviews
½ 3.7
5
29,001 members
460 reviews
½ 4.3
11 Members
amanda4242, WSB7, thecoroner, lewbs, Dilara86, peterveen, booksaplenty1949, matthewmason, lorannen, J.Pdelms, ManWithAnAgenda,
Explanations
booksaplenty1949: Long, but otherwise not notably demanding.
7
17,704 members
271 reviews
3.9
8
7,961 members
140 reviews
4.2
9 Members
WSB7, ithil_1, thecoroner, Gregorio_Roth, Dilara86, CGlanovsky, peterveen, booksaplenty1949, CharlesTheB
Explanations
Gregorio_Roth: This book really takes my whole attention... I have read it three times and never finished it. I think it is fabulous though.
booksaplenty1949: Very clever, but very readable, I thought.
9
7,772 members
79 reviews
4
10
3,140 members
58 reviews
½ 3.5
11
5,133 members
102 reviews
4.2
12
4,305 members
57 reviews
½ 3.6
13
15,811 members
377 reviews
4.1
14
13,248 members
244 reviews
4.2
15
10,799 members
141 reviews
4.1
16
5,355 members
60 reviews
3.9
17
446 members
3 reviews
3.1
18
24,083 members
213 reviews
4.1
19
21,881 members
188 reviews
4.1
20
11,679 members
274 reviews
4.2
21
53,392 members
477 reviews
4
22
40,184 members
387 reviews
4
23
29,647 members
331 reviews
½ 4.4
24
8,000 members
85 reviews
3.9
5 Members
thecoroner, peterveen, lorannen, CharlesTheB, MadaDursma
Explanations
CharlesTheB: I'll read anything by DeLillo
25
6,650 members
185 reviews
4.1
26
3,810 members
55 reviews
½ 4.3
27
2,989 members
74 reviews
3.8
28
1,385 members
19 reviews
4.2
30
8,285 members
93 reviews
3.9
31
3,759 members
74 reviews
3.8
32
2,470 members
49 reviews
3.9
33
35,125 members
273 reviews
3.9
34
23,025 members
199 reviews
3.9
35
14,260 members
231 reviews
3.8
36
4,455 members
67 reviews
4.1
37
2,563 members
24 reviews
3.8
38
2,525 members
41 reviews
½ 3.5
39
2,226 members
36 reviews
½ 4.3
40
1,533 members
35 reviews
3.9
41
1,141 members
22 reviews
4.2
3 Members
peterveen, lorannen, CharlesTheB
Explanations
CharlesTheB: Lydia Davis focuses on odd aspects of things that so many authors either don't notice or, perhaps, choose to ignore.
43
3 Members
Gregorio_Roth, CGlanovsky, mspixieears
Explanations
Gregorio_Roth: Man that sounds interesting enough...
44
10,329 members
292 reviews
3.9
2 Members
ahef1963, lorannen
45
6,151 members
163 reviews
4
46
6,013 members
87 reviews
4.1
47
3,714 members
76 reviews
4.2
48
1,514 members
29 reviews
½ 3.5
50
912 members
11 reviews
4.1
51
801 members
23 reviews
3.2
2 Members
ahef1963, lorannen
52
409 members
9 reviews
4.1
53
406 members
8 reviews
4
54
384 members
4 reviews
3.2
55
4,238 members
113 reviews
4.1
56
1,219 members
35 reviews
3.8
Member
lorannen
57
946 members
14 reviews
3.9
Member
lorannen
58
472 members
10 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
lorannen
59
237 members
6 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
lorannen
60
214 members
1 review
½ 4.3
62
114 members
5 reviews
½ 3.4
63
27 members
½ 3.3
64
5 members
5
65
2 members
5
66
3,315 members
129 reviews
3.9
67
2,436 members
54 reviews
½ 3.5
68
960 members
79 reviews
½ 3.4
69
951 members
14 reviews
3.8
70
642 members
10 reviews
4.1