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
23,449 members
385 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
35,291 members
539 reviews
3.8
3
17,167 members
224 reviews
4
4
21,848 members
168 reviews
½ 3.7
6
28,597 members
451 reviews
½ 4.3
10 Members
WSB7, thecoroner, lewbs, Dilara86, peterveen, booksaplenty1949, matthewmason, lorannen, J.Pdelms, ManWithAnAgenda,
Explanations
booksaplenty1949: Long, but otherwise not notably demanding.
7
17,491 members
269 reviews
3.9
8
7,888 members
139 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
7,714 members
80 reviews
4
10
3,106 members
58 reviews
½ 3.5
11
5,081 members
99 reviews
4.2
12
4,255 members
57 reviews
½ 3.6
13
15,518 members
373 reviews
4.1
14
13,240 members
243 reviews
4.2
15
10,691 members
142 reviews
4.1
16
5,302 members
57 reviews
3.9
17
442 members
3 reviews
3.1
18
23,724 members
212 reviews
4.1
19
21,615 members
187 reviews
4.1
20
11,486 members
271 reviews
4.2
21
52,694 members
470 reviews
4
22
39,680 members
384 reviews
4
23
29,306 members
324 reviews
½ 4.4
24
7,949 members
85 reviews
3.9
5 Members
thecoroner, peterveen, lorannen, CharlesTheB, MadaDursma
Explanations
CharlesTheB: I'll read anything by DeLillo
25
6,582 members
183 reviews
4.1
26
3,779 members
54 reviews
½ 4.3
27
2,962 members
74 reviews
3.8
28
1,363 members
19 reviews
4.2
30
8,278 members
93 reviews
3.9
31
3,707 members
74 reviews
3.8
32
2,439 members
49 reviews
3.9
33
34,703 members
269 reviews
3.9
34
22,750 members
197 reviews
3.9
35
14,059 members
229 reviews
3.8
36
2,546 members
24 reviews
3.8
37
2,488 members
38 reviews
½ 3.5
38
2,201 members
36 reviews
½ 4.3
39
1,513 members
35 reviews
3.9
40
1,123 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.
42
3 Members
Gregorio_Roth, CGlanovsky, mspixieears
Explanations
Gregorio_Roth: Man that sounds interesting enough...
43
10,272 members
290 reviews
3.8
2 Members
ahef1963, lorannen
44
6,098 members
161 reviews
4
45
5,968 members
87 reviews
4.1
46
4,365 members
66 reviews
4.1
2 Members
peterveen, pixxiee
47
3,673 members
75 reviews
4.2
48
1,493 members
29 reviews
½ 3.5
50
903 members
11 reviews
4.1
51
791 members
23 reviews
3.2
2 Members
ahef1963, lorannen
52
404 members
9 reviews
4.1
53
403 members
8 reviews
4
54
377 members
4 reviews
3.2
55
4,197 members
113 reviews
4.1
56
1,208 members
34 reviews
3.9
Member
lorannen
57
932 members
14 reviews
3.9
Member
lorannen
58
471 members
9 reviews
½ 3.7
Member
lorannen
59
237 members
6 reviews
½ 3.6
Member
lorannen
61
187 members
1 review
4.2
62
112 members
5 reviews
½ 3.4
63
26 members
½ 3.3
64
5 members
5
65
2 members
5
66
3,280 members
128 reviews
3.9
67
2,396 members
53 reviews
½ 3.5
68
941 members
14 reviews
3.8
69
931 members
79 reviews
½ 3.4
70
636 members
10 reviews
4.1