I read both
War and Peace and
Anna Karenina multiple times in my teenage years (although I skimmed the war parts in
War and Peace on re-reads, IIRC). I found neither of them particularly difficult, but I think with books one reads in translation, a lot will depend on both the quality of the translation and general familiarity with the era / cultural background in question.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazella
I find it interesting that these are books that were actually bestsellers and popular (still are) when they first released and in terms of the classics, mentioned in a lot of 'must-read' lists.
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I think this makes a lot of sense - it's the popular, mega-selling books, or the "must-read" classics that will have the most people giving them a go -
because they're best-selling or on multiple "must read" lists.
Obviously these are going to be the books that will be picked up the most - and that will include people with only a passing interest in the book or even in the entire genre, people who figure they might as well see what all the fuss is about, and then decide/realise it's really not to their taste after all.