Congratulations Sun Surfer. I read Ulysses straight through shortly after I graduated college and worked for a few years before returning to graduate school. I was working in a very small town in South Carolina, and while the job was enjoyable and challenging, life outside of work was like being in a state of stasis. It took me almost six months to get through it and while I had already read Homer in college, much of Ulysses was lost on me. I consider that I am fairly well read, but not literate enough for Ulysses I guess. I fought Ulysses to the conclusion, but did not conquer it I'm afraid .


War and Peace and Don Quixote are long, but not difficult to read or difficult to follow and comprehend. I found Gravity's Rainbow every bit as difficult as Ulysses and would never have gotten through that without really just skimming large passages. Any people considering reading Gravity's Rainbow would be doing themselves a great favor to read a long summary of what it is about first.

I've never read Tristam Shandy, checking it is a long book at the least.


The Bible is not difficult to read except for great passages of it being mind numbing trivia and, in the New Testament just several slightly different versions of the same story.