Top Ten Tuesday is a Meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish where I will be picking from their top tens and attempting to reveal what my thinking is behind these choices.
Top Ten Most Intimidating Books:
The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R Tolkien
Have you seen the size of those books, and the style of the writing? This monster of a book took me three months to read, and even then I may have skim-read parts.
Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
A miserable story about miserable people, lasting over decades and detailing one man's life as he struggles to become a better person. In three parts, and none of them are particularly short.
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
The most massive book I've ever seen, and the title really puts me off.
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Maybe it's the title its-self that is part of the unsettlingness, but this is also a pretty hefty book. It's on my to-read list though, so keep an eye out!
The Glass Books of the Dreameaters - GW Dahlquist
An 800-page steampunk adventure, written in a corresponding victorian style that hurts your head if you read it for too long. Clever too, and therefore oh-so scary to start.
The Luminaries - Eleanor Catton
Unsolved crimes and twisting plots, this book has me written all over it but, again, with its 800-or-so-pages, it won't be the quick reads I'm so used to.
The Iliad - Homer
Greek mythology all wrapped up into one sprawling epic poem. Yes, it will be interesting and it will be full of terms I probably won't understand, and so to tackle it is going to be a massive, but doable, feat.
Richard III - Shakespeare
Let's be honest, since when to plays truly appeal to anyone just wanting to read it for the sake of it? I'd much rather allow people to act it for me than having to read a script. As much as I love learning about history, reading a play-shaped history lesson is my idea of scary. Needless to say, unless this is made into a novel, I won't be trying it. I also have no doubt that I won't understand half of it.
Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
An immense read with plenty going on, and in terms of content, I think it will be pretty hard-going. Will it be worth it? I think so.
The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
With a whopping 14 books, this is a massive series. It also happens to be a series that my boyfriend adores, and I'm terrified of disliking it. So far though, I've loved his recommendations, so fingers crossed for these.. when I eventually take up the challenge, that is.
