Hard Books

Some books are really really hard - if I throw them on somebody's head it is very likely you'll witness a large bump forming instantly. But then why read them - I mean there are easy books (not to be confused with boring books, happy books, sad books, heavy books, light books etc.) - these are the books which I can enjoy without having to give up reading the book in your first "n" attempts. I have often put down a book, picked it up after a month, again let go and so on till I could finally finish it without letting it drift away (Every time starting from the beginning - because after a month I cannot remember a half finished storyline). As I have often wondered what is it in the book which beckons so strong that I keep searching for that elusive successful "n+1 th" read when I finally conquer it. And the best answer I can come up with is that I do not know. For once I have finished the book - no two books have ever left me with exactly the same feeling. So I never figure out what was so hard about them anyway but somehow in those first few attempts when I gave up, it feels as if I was perhaps not worthy enough for the book.

I do not know if I got across what exactly I meant by hard books but here are some examples off my list - Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Beautiful Mind - Sylvia Nasser, Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. I am still midway the last two! There is little common between these books - except that they all are hard and will leave a serious bump on your head if you ever get hit by any one of them ....